First merit list for Mumbai junior college admissions out today, higher cut-offs expected

The first merit list for admissions to first-year junior colleges (FYJC) in the city will be announced on Thursday. With the number of students scoring 90% and above seeing a marked increase this year, cut-offs for admissions at most colleges in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) are expected to rise.

In 2018, a total of 2.31 lakh students have registered for the 3.1 lakh seats in the MMR. While the 100% club seems to have shrunk this year(with just four students scoring a perfect 100 as opposed to 15 in 2017), the number of students who have scored 90% above has seen a rise of about 20% compared to last year.

Principals said that with the number of high scorers going up, cut offs at top colleges in the city are likely to be higher those of 2017. “With the high scores, we are expecting the cut-offs across streams to go up. While science remains the most preferred stream for top scorers, the number of takers for arts and commerce are also seeing a sharp increase over the last few years. With many top scorers choosing to opt for these two streams, there would be tough competition for these students to get into top colleges,” said Ashok Wadia, principal of Jai Hind College of Arts, Science and Commerce, in Churchgate.

On June 29, the office of the deputy director of education announced a provisional merit list in which all the 2.31 lakh applicants were allotted ranks. Students were asked to make corrections (if any) before the announcement of the first merit list on July 5. Data from the office of the deputy director reveals that this year, a total of 16,462 students with scores of 90% and above have applied for FYJC in MMR. Rajpal Hande, principal of Mithibai College in Vile Parle, said “With the number of top scorers going up, we are expecting a surge of about 2-3% in cut offs across streams.”

Admissions under the first merit list will take place between July 6-9.