Mumbai colleges declare second merit list for UG admissions

But the cut-off for the BSc course dropped to 58 percent from 60 percent in the first merit list.

At St. Xavier’s College, the cut-off for BA stream is 89.83 per cent in the second merit list, marginally lower than 90 per cent in the first merit list. But for BSc, the cut-off has dropped to 50.17 percent.

According to colleges, traditional science is majorly hit with a smaller number of students applying for it. Principal of St Xavier’s College Dr Rajendra Shinde, said, “There’s been very little movement in the cut-off for Arts courses–the list has barely dipped. Only the traditional BSc programme has seen a noticeable drop. The number of applications we receive for BA remains very high, which explains the minimal change in cut-offs. However, the trend in Science stream is concerning. Our new self-financed courses are seeing significantly higher demand compared to traditional BSc programmes. This pattern is emerging across many autonomous colleges, where innovative, self-financed courses have started and as a result traditional courses are facing the hit.”

Colleges are also seeing a smaller number of applications this year, which according to some of them has resulted in lower cut-offs in second merit list for a few. While generally popular city colleges see seats getting filled by the end of the second merit list, some of them are expecting the third merit list to see further drop.

Principal of Ramnarain Ruia College Dr. Anushree Lokur said, “The second merit list reflects an inconsistent shift in cut-off scores across various courses, with most cut-offs seeing a decline. Several factors are contributing to this trend. A major reason is the wide range of options now available to students—not only in terms of courses but also due to the growing presence of private institutions. Additionally, the early declaration of results this year means many students are still in the process of deciding or initiating admissions. To complicate matters further, a significant number of students remain unaware that undergraduate admissions require separate registrations with both the university and individual colleges, which has led to some being left out of the process entirely.”

While most popular city colleges affiliated to Mumbai University declared their second merit list on Saturday, K C and HR College which are under HSNC private university declared their second merit list on Friday.