Simplified DU Admission Procedure Sparked Mixed Reactions!

Delhi University (DU) came up with new admission guidelines from the 2011-2012 academic year that did away with the system of filling up the single common DU admission form and all the red tapism involved along with it.

Changes in DU Admission Procedure...

Earlier, students had to fill the DU admission forms before the cut-off lists for the colleges were announced. Hence, they had no idea which colleges would they really be eligible for. But now, the colleges will announce their cutoffs first and students can directly apply to the colleges in which they actually stand a chance to get a seat in their desired course.

The colleges are expected to reveal their cut-off lists and the number of seats they have in different courses by June. In fact, they will come up with as many as five cut-off lists, so that students whose results come late may stand a chance to get admission in the current academic year.

Relief only for General and OBC Category Students...

The new DU admission guidelines are only applicable to General and OBC category students. Students from SC, ST, and Physically Challenged categories will have to follow the former admission route, i.e., they have to fill up the university-level common admission form and then, the university will decide to which college they are assigned.

Also, the new system of admission may not apply for professional courses, for which students have to appear for entrance exams.

Loopholes in the New DU Admission Procedure...

Prof Vinay Srivastava, Principal of Hindu College, is worried that while the first cut-off list is not a problem and can be released on the basis of past experiences, releasing second, third, fourth, and fifth cut-off lists might become a problem and will largely be an arbitrary procedure. If the cut-offs are kept too low, there will be too many applicants and it will become difficult to deny them a seat. If the cut-offs are too high, the college might not get required number of applicants.

As expected, the new simplified admission procedure of DU has sparked mixed reactions for the academic experts:

For the Change...

Meera Ramchandran, Principal of Gargi College agrees that since Delhi University does not come out with a merit list, like Bombay University, admissions are already being done on the basis of cut-offs of individual colleges. Hence, filling up a pre-admission form at the DU level is entirely an unnecessary and time-consuming step and can be easily done away with.

The new DU admission procedure has not only been simplified but is expected to crack the back door entry system in the courses and give fair chance to all the eligible candidates.

Against the Change...

There are academicians who believe that DU has finally gone berserk by revamping its admission process, just as it did by introducing the semester system. Some of the principals believe that by keeping them out of the loop, the university is trying to crush their autonomy. Their argument is that without knowing the number of applicants and their cutoff scores, it will be impossible for them to come up with a ‘logical' cutoff list. They will have no data to work on.

Students and Parents Rejoice

DU aspirants and their parents are mostly happy with the new reforms. They feel that every year, it was a real pain to fill centralized forms for DU, and then apply again to individual colleges. With the first step out of the way, applying for a course at DU will become easier and much less tiresome.

What do you think of the new admission procedure of Delhi University? Do share your views and opinions with us.

Happy Admissions!

Source: Ruchi Shrimali (Shiksha Team)

Date: 13th April, 2011