Delhi University holds webinar to answer questions related to college admissions (representative image)
From queries on how to calculate the 'best of four' percentage to the anxiety of not being able to choose colleges while filling admission forms, a webinar by Delhi University saw a flurry of questions from students on the admission process on Tuesday, a majority of whom are awaiting their Class 12 results.
This is the first time that the varsity hosted a webinar to counsel the students, a situation necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were some technical glitches which arose but the teachers were satisfied with the kind of response they received. Till last year, the university would hold Open Days where parents and students could come and interact with the varsity teachers and get answers to their queries.
The registration process for admission to the varsity commenced on June 20 and will go on till July 4. Over 94,000 students had registered on the portal till Monday. However, only 22,355 aspirants completed their registration by paying the fees.
A majority of the students had queries about selecting courses and colleges while filling the online registration form for admission.
Shobha Bagai, Dean (Admission), said, "Since the results have not been declared, there is no question of currently choosing the course or the college. Once you have filled the form, you are eligible for admission to any college or merit-based course. It's only after the cut-offs are announced that the choices will come into the picture."
Some questions also revolved around procuring EWS and OBC certificates at this time.
The aspirants were informed that they can upload the acknowledgement slip or previously issued certificate while filling up the form.
However, at the time of the admission, the applicant must produce current financial year's certificate issued on or after March 31, 2020. They were also informed that the certificates are currently being made online by authorities.
However, if any changes are made to the criteria, the information would be uploaded on the admission portal.
Students also asked the professors about how they will calculate the 'best of four' percentage, and they were advised to read the information bulletin which has all the information regarding this for all the courses.
"There is no provision for rounding off Best Four percentage. For instance, if the Best of Four percentage is coming to 95.66 per cent, in no way, it can be rounded off to 96 per cent," said a professor.
Delhi University has six minority colleges-- two Christian and four Sikh -- where seats are reserved.
For admission to Christian minority colleges, Jesus and Mary College and St. Stephen's College, candidates have to first fill the university registration form and then fill the respective college form available on the college website with the details already filled in the university form.
Students were advised by varsity counsellors to keep an eye on the portals of the two colleges if they wish to apply there.
However, there is no need to fill a separate form for admission to Sikh minority colleges.
The varsity plans to hold more such webinars to counsel students on the admission process.
The first webinar had almost 6,000 registrations, Bagai told PTI, adding that they had to close the registrations and had the webinar live streamed through Facebook so that students could participate.
"Me and my colleagues made an effort to answer all queries that were received. We were also tracking the Facebook comments and trying to answer the queries. We were coordinating over WhatsApp on the queries," she said.
