Mumbai
Edition, 16th July 2008
Cut-Offs Barely Drop In Fourth Merit Lists. Many Students
Still Left Seeking Seats. Final Lists Expected This Evening
Mumbai:
Hundreds of students, with fingers crossed, thronged colleges
on Tuesday to get a glimpse of the fourth merit lists. Many
returned unhappy as cut-offs barely dropped by half-a-point
from the third lists. The mood at several colleges was of
disappointment and resignation to joining second-choice
colleges.
Fourth merit lists were pasted on notice boards in the evening,
almost a week after the stay on admissions came into effect
and a day after the Bombay High Court vacated the stay.
At HR College, the cut-off for commerce dropped from 90.27
to 90.15 percentile. “This is not even by half a point.
I was keen on securing admission here, but now it looks
like I have to forget it. It’s a waste coming all
the way to see the lists each time,’’ said Divyanka
Singh, an SSC student who secured an 80 percentile. “I
will have to use influence for a seat. I’m under a
lot of stress,’’ said Singh, who has not made
it to any college.
Krunali Shah, who scored 84.5 percentile in SSC, did not
make it to the fourth list of HR College and has now decided
to take a seat at Hinduja College. “I’m left
with no choice. I can’t risk losing that seat too.
The effect of normalising was cancelled out by high cut-offs,’’
said the resident of Arthur Road.
At Jai Hind, the mood was similar. The turnout of students
was high as compared to the declaration of the second and
third lists, but the dip in cut-offs was a let-down. Commerce
fell from 87.5 to 87.39 percentile, and science from 90.59
to 90.13.
“I’ve had sleepless nights since admissions
were stopped. The 70:30 controversy was unnecessary and
normalisation is the only way for the government to woo
the large number of SSC students. The uncertainty and delay
is frustrating,’’ said Alisha Mody, who secured
an 86.47 percentile in ICSE.
Abhishek Agarwal, who scored 89.98 percentile in ICSE, echoed
the sentiments of many when he said he felt humiliated.
He did not make it to Jai Hind’s fourth list for science.
“I can’t believe I’m waiting to get into
college after getting close to 90%. It’s ridiculous,’’
he said.
Prateek Jhaveri, who scored a 50.99 percentile in SSC, has
given up hope of making it to any merit list, “I didn’t
even get into Siddharth College, where cut-offs are normally
low. I’m now banking on my father’s help. Otherwise,
I will try the cultural quota or pursue studies in Pune,’’
he said.
Cut-offs at Ruia too fell barely, from 94 to 93.96 for science
and 81.03 to 79.39 for arts.
