High cutoffs push high scorers to ECA route

Updated on: Thursday, June 23, 2011

Vikas Aggarwal aspired to study economics (H) in a campus college in Delhi University. But his 94% in commerce in Class XII is not enough for any such college even after the second cutoff list. Now he is trying the ECA/sports quota route.

And Vikas is not an exception. Colleges like Hindu, Hans Raj, Kirori Mal, Ramjas, Sri Venkateswara are flooded with applications by high scorers trying their luck through extra curricular activities (ECA) or sports category admissions.

"I have already attained admission into Sri Venkateswara College for BA (honours) English, but English was my second option and my first choice is psychology. I have applied for psychology in LSR under both western music and Indian classical music. Hopefully, I will get through," said Shreya Adhikari who scored 92.5% in humanities in her school final exams.

"It is really unfortunate that after scoring such high marks, these students are still not getting the course or college of their choice. But I am personally not in favour of tagging any college better than the other and students should just concentrate on the choice of subjects. We have so far received around 15 applications for ECA/sports admissions with Class XII scores above 92%," said the principal of Kirori Mal College, Bhim Sen Singh.

Students applying through the sports quota are hoping that their talents would help them get admission into the college and the course of their choice. "There's always hope, but this is actually my last chance of getting into a good college in DU. I have played state-level football and am trying to keep fit for the trials. Hopefully, I will perform well enough to get into Venkateswara for BCom (H)," said Rahul Sharma who got a 93.2% in commerce.

While remaining hopeful, the students are also painfully aware of how tough the competition is, keeping in mind this year's high cutoffs.

"There are only a limited number of seats for the students applying through ECA and the competition is going to be intense. I got a 91.25% and I would ideally like to get through BSc (H) physics in either Hindu or Hans Raj. But I have no idea what I will up against, so I am quite nervous. I do have a backup in the form of mechanical engineering at Manipal University, but physics is what I would really like to study," said Abhinandan Antony who will appear in the debating trials of the two colleges.

Times of India

High cutoffs push high scorers to ECA route

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