Delhi University cutoffs are out! A higher cutoff trend was already predicted this time. However, the hike in LSR cutoff was more shocking than anything.
Lady Shri Ram College for women is one of the most reputed colleges in the country. Currently, it holds a NIRF ranking of 2. The institution offers 13 Honours courses and 9 combinations in B.A. Programme. Cutoffs for the same are high every year and start from at least 95% in the first cut-off for the General category. But the cutoff has reached an entirely different level this time. The college demands 100% from students of general category seeking admission in Economics (Hons.), Political Science (Hons.) and Psychology (Hons.). Other subjects like History (Hons.) require 99.5 % while English needs the best of four of 99%.
The increase in LSR cutoff or in fact DU cutoff is not a new phenomenon. Other colleges have increased the bar as well. NIRF Ranking 1, Miranda House demands 99% for both English (Hons.) and Political Science (Hons.). While the prestigious SRCC requires 99% and 99.5% for Honours courses in Economics and B.Com respectively. The north campus college- Hindu, demands 99.5 for Political Science (Hons.) and 99.25% in three others. But with a 100% cutoff, LSR has created much buzz. So how are LSR students reacting to it? What are the issues and most importantly why LSR cutoff has reached 100%?
Reactions
DU Cutoffs shock everyone all the time. However, reactions on social media centered largely on the LSR cutoff. Critics of these large numbers included LSR Students. Memes arrived and opinions flooded. Moreover, all the reactions ran along the same line and raised questions of ‘elitism’.
The concern of Elitism
While thousands aspire to be a part of this prestigious institution, the college comes with its own sets of issues. The experience differs for everyone. But a common question and concern that is often expressed is the prevalence of elitism. The institute accompanies with the expectation of students being a fluent English speaker and academic genius. Hence, survival can be tough.
High Category Cutoffs
For many courses in LSR, even the cut-offs for different reserved categories are as high as 99%. This raises questions about the inclusivity of education. While state and central universities aim to offer equal opportunities to students from all categories, such measures by colleges can have a deterrent effect on the same.
High Cutoff Explained
As per the statistics, of all the DU applicants, around 5500 students have scored a perfect 100. Thus, the sky-rocketing cut-offs can be a response to the same. It also somewhat results from the limited number of seats and resources in the college. For example, the Psychology department at LSR offers just 14 seats in the general category. The cutoffs, therefore, can be seen as a battle between the increasing trend of CBSE marks and limited seats in the college.
Suman Sharma, principal of LSR, explained, “The cutoff for a particular course is decided after analyzing the profile of the applicants. In addition, several local factors are also considered, including the number of seats being offered for that course in the college.”
Not just LSR, but many top-notch colleges of the Delhi University including SRCC, Hindu, Miranda House have released an escalating cut-off. Higher cut-offs is more of a precautionary measure undertaken by many colleges in response to the uncertain Board results this year.
However, students are resenting against the cut-off trend this year. A lot of students find this practice to be exclusionary. It is seen as an attempt to make public education less and less accessible to the ‘public’. LSR Cutoff 2020 received similar concerns and criticism from the student body.
Response from LSR
Arpita Chowdhury, a second-year student of English at LSR feels, “In the past few years, we have seen the education system is somewhat being flawed in assessing the intellectual capacity of the student. We have been observing that students are getting 100% percent even in language subjects. Therefore it is sort of increasing the competition and hence the high cutoffs. I think it’s high time that we change this. We need to see how inclusive are we, concerning students we are calling from all over the country and outside.”
This is just one response, however, similar voices are being heard across many departments in the college.
-Devanshi Batra and Kanika Gupta
