The University of Delhi (DU) this year saw a jump of nearly a lakh in applications for its undergraduate courses (UG), according to data released by the administration on Monday. While in 2019 the AU received 2.58 lakh of requests, this year the number has increased to 3.53 lakh.

• At a time when COVID-19 has made the physical admission process impossible, the university is now preparing to process a record number of applicants and determine how to complete the entire admission process online, while remaining no problem.

What explains the sharp increase in UG applications?

• While it’s difficult to say for sure what could have been the cause, the university administration believes that one of the main reasons is that the admissions portal is open longer than usual. Registration started June 20 and closed August 31.

“We started the process much earlier than any other central or state university and we were open for almost 10 weeks. So this could have led to an increase in applications, ”

said Dean of Admissions Shobha Bagai.

• Last year, the registration portal was open for just under a month.
• Bagai said another reason could be that many students who would have otherwise gone to study abroad applied to the AU.

“Maybe they weren’t sure about their intention to study abroad, so they applied. In addition, the entrance exams for technical courses, such as JEE, NEET and CLAT, had not yet been taken, so students who scored well in these exams could also have applied, ”

Dean said.

Has the apprehension of interstate movement affected the demands?

• The data suggests that there has been no real change in the number of students applying from outside Delhi to the AU. This year, around 60% of applicants are from out of state and those from Haryana are seeing an increase. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are the other two states with a large number of applications.
• Bagai believes COVID-19 did not affect apps because classes had been moved online. “This semester it will be online, as the government has also stated. Applicants may have been assured that they will not be invited to come to Delhi until the situation improves, ”he said.

If the overall demands have increased, why have the demands for ECA decreased?

• There was a drop in the number of applications in various categories of extracurricular activities (ECA); from 2,031 last year to 1,282 in debate, from 1,704 to 1,090 in questionnaires and from 1,626 to 709 in fine-arts.
• The AU initially canceled ECA’s admissions to categories other than the national service system and the national cadet corps, citing difficulties in the conduct of trials.
• After a lot of pressure from outside and from the university, all categories were finally opened in August, but admission will now be based on certificates rather than judgment.

“Many students who learn to dance, for example, give up their activities to concentrate more on their studies. These students may not have the appropriate certificates in the past three years, which was an admission requirement this year. It could have turned out to be an obstacle, ”

Bagai said.

When are limits expected and when will classes start?

Bagai says the cuts aren’t expected until the first week of October, and classes likely won’t start until November. “Almost 80% of students come from the CBSE. We also asked state councils to provide us with a link to their results. Once we got those grades, they handed them over to the universities and they pushed the boundaries, ”he said.

What will the admission procedure be this year?

Once the reduction is announced, the candidate will be invited to choose a university and a course to which they are eligible on their portal.

“Once the students have made their choice, the data will be sent to the head of the university’s department and they will be asked to verify all the documents. Once satisfied, they will approve it, then it will go to the coordinator of the school admissions committee and finally to the principal. After the final approval, the student will be notified to pay the fees online and the process will be completed, ”

Bagai said.

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