Common queries from students Delhi university

As Delhi University, with its labyrinth of colleges entwined across the city gears up for the admission season that is set to begin on Monday, some common questions from prospective students that kept cropping up during the “Open Days” or counselling sessions this past week must be answered in detail.

The most common question was: “What is the admission process?” The first step is to procure and fill out a pre-admission form, mentioning all the courses and colleges that you may be interested in. After the forms are collected, candidates will wait with bated breath for the colleges to come out with their cut-off lists. If your cut-off matches any of the colleges and course that you applied for, then you will have to go with your certificates and admit yourself in the college. There is a time limit of three days within which the admission process will have to be completed, but there is no policy of first-come-first served, and all colleges will have to admit all students meeting their cut-offs if they come within the stipulated time.

Many students wanted to know whether dual courses were possible. “No, it is illegal, and if the student is found out, the admission will be cancelled. However, courses from the School of Open Learning can be pursued along with regular courses,” was the repeated warnings of Deputy Dean of Students' Welfare Gulshan Sawhney while conducting the open days. The School started selling application forms on Friday, with the last date for applying being July 31. It offers courses like B.Com, B.Com (Honours.), B.A English (Honours) and B.A Political Science (Honours).

“What do I do if I am eligible for a course in the first cut-off list, and admit myself, but I qualify for another course that I am more interested to pursue, in the second cut-off list?” – was the worrisome question that kept cropping up repeatedly.

APPLICATION

The university said that the admissions will have to be cancelled in the first college, which will be done immediately on application, with the original certificates being returned almost immediately. The refund of fees may take up to a month, with fine being imposed depending upon the time taken to cancel admissions. The candidate may proceed to take admissions in the next college immediately after cancelling admissions in the first. The time limit given for admissions in the second list will have to be adhered to as the university is unwilling to give concessions for any reasons.

Another common question was whether all colleges in DU come under the common admission procedure. There are few courses for which independent entrance exams are conducted by the department. For example, Journalism, BA English (Honours) and Music. Colleges like St. Stephen's and Jesus and Mary College follow their own admission procedure. There are also some unique courses like Music on offer for which it is best to contact the individual departments.

The question of which additional subject from the CBSE exam is counted for admissions is decided by individual colleges. The Colleges will also have to be contacted individually for hostel accommodations and sports and ECA quotas.