With an increase in the overall pass percentage and a substantial rise in the number of top scorers from the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations this year, the cut-offs for admissions to first-year junior colleges (FYJC) in the first merit list – declared on Sunday evening – have skyrocketed across streams.
The highest jump is in the cut-offs for science stream, with prominent colleges witnessing a rise of 6-8 percentage points compared to 2019.
Of the total applicants in MMR this year, 19,437 FYJC aspirants have scored 90% and above – an increase of about 20% from 2019. The number of aspirants who have scored 95% and above is 3,802, which is a jump of about 28% from last year.
Principals said that as there are more number of high scorers from SSC board this year, students from the board stand at an advantage over those from the other boards.
“This trend was expected as students, especially those from the state board, have scored so well in the board exams this year and this is indicated by the high cut-offs across streams,” said Vidyadhar Joshi, vice principal, VG Vaze College, Mulund.
Churchgate’s Jai Hind College saw a jump of 6 percentage points in science cut-offs, from last year. Principal Ashok Wadia said that although the cut-off percentage for the stream has risen from 2019, it is still lower compared to this year’s commerce and arts cut-offs.
“Students and parents have realised that technology has a huge role to play amid the Covid-19 situation and there are a lot of opportunities opening up in the science and technology sector. This might have encouraged high scorers to take up science,” he added.
In the arts stream, St Xavier’s College at Dhobi Talao saw a rise in the cut-offs by 0.6 percentage points compared to 2019. The college closed its first list at 94.6%, while Matunga’s Ramnarain Ruia College recorded a jump of about 2% points from 2019, closing the first merit list for arts at 94.2%. A similar surge in the cut-offs was also seen at Jai Hind College, which closed its list for arts at 92.6%.
In the commerce stream, all prominent institutes such as Vile Parle’s NM College, Matunga’s RA Podar, Mulund College of Commerce, Churchgate’s HR College and Vaze Kelkar in Mulund closed their first lists above 90%.
Around 2.12 lakh students had applied to colleges across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) this year, of which 1.17 lakh students have been allotted colleges in the first merit list. More than 40,000 students have been allotted the college of their first preference and will have to take admission in that institute. If they fail to do so, they will be able to apply only after regular admission rounds are over. As the entire admission process has been ‘zero contact’ owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, students can confirm their admissions online by September 3.
