Three days left, UG applications outnumber last year’s figures in Kolkata

KOLKATA: The number of undergraduate applications at Calcutta University colleges has been substantially high this pandemic year, some places already receiving more forms than that last year even though three more days are left for the portals to close on August 20.
The reasons for the deluge of applications seemed the same as last year. The high marks that Plus-II students received after boards and councils adopted “pandemic formulae” pushed up the number of candidates making it to the subject cut-offs, college principals said. Moreover, the absence of application fees removed the financial hurdles, adding to the number of students opting for multiple subjects in multiple colleges, they added.

At Scottish Church College, nearly 48,000 forms have already been submitted, a number substantially higher than last year’s 30,000. “The number of successful candidates has increased than last year. Also, students are free to choose as many subjects and colleges as they wish to,” said principal Madhumanjari Mandal Chaube.
Lady Brabourne, one of the sought-after CU colleges, has barred students from applying in more than four subjects but even then, 31,000 applications have already been submitted. The number, said officials, was significantly higher than that last year. “Free application forms and higher Plus-II marks are responsible ,” said principal Siuli Sarkar.
St Xavier’s College, Kolkata, has closed its portal, with 25,000 applications—around 2,000 submissions more than last year. Their first merit list will be published on August 23 and admissions will be held between August 24 and 27. The second list will be out on September 3. Principal Fr Dominic Savio said, “The rise in the number of students with high marks this year led to a huge number of applications. The departments have raised cut-offs by at least 1%-2% than last year. In Bengal board, the pass percentage is higher but the number of students scoring high is a bit lower than those belonging to ISC and CBSE. So, we made some adjustments while preparing the list,” said Fr Savio. Commerce, English and economics have been of especially high demand.
Like St Xavier’s, many CU-affiliated institutes closed their applications last week or beginning of this week. These colleges will now start the second round, which is scrutinising the applications and publishing a general merit index, listing out the names of all applicants according to their numbers and individual college’s admission formulae.
At Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, the application deadline was August 14. An initial merit list will be published on August 22.
“The initial merit list will be prepared after scrutinising all forms,” said principal Swami Ekachittananda. An online viva voce will be held between August 24 and 28. “Many colleges are holding online interactions before admission as entrance test was not allowed,” said an official. The first merit list for departments conducting viva voce will be published between August 26 and 29.
At Asutosh College, Monday was the last date for application. “Online reporting will be held on August 18, 19 and 20. The first merit list will be published on August 22,” said an official. The authorities will check the applicants’ credentials during online reporting, based on which the first merit list will be drawn up.