Anxious students throng city campuses

MUMBAI: College campuses were overflowing with anxious parents and students finalising their admissions, comparing notes, etc. For a majority of students, the entire process was a nail-biting experience, this being the first year of the online admission system.
The marks of all students were brought to a common base of 650, which added to the confusion, and authorities spent the better part of the day convincing parents that their children's marks had not been tampered with.Many students realised, rather belatedly, that seats had been allotted on the basis of a college preference system. However, while filling up their forms, they had added colleges randomly, paying attention only to the first few institutes they were keen on enrolling in.
"My son had put in a preference for Siddharth College before Hinduja for commerce. Now, because of that mistake, he is stuck with Siddharth College even though he has cleared the cut-off for Hinduja College,'' said Jaywant Padelkar, whose son Gaurav scored 86.46%. Gaurav, who put in H R, Podar and Ruparel Colleges before listing Siddharth as an option, now has to wait for the second list. But his chances of entering the top colleges are slim. His parents have been asked to refer the matter to Jawahar Bal Bhavan office, which is addressing students' grievances.
Others are hoping to better their choice of college in the second merit list. Priyanka Nagrecha, who had listed two streams while filling out the forms, was allotted a seat at Mithibai College for commerce, and Sophia College for science. "I want to get into N M College in the commerce stream, `' she said.
For many, enrolling in a junior college was as nerve-wracking an experience as sitting for the board exam.