Pune: The first round of centralised admission process (CAP) for entry into the first year of junior colleges across the state concluded on Monday, with 4,32,287 students confirming their admission. Altogether 6.32 lakh students were allocated colleges in round 1. For CAP round II, students will be able to fill the online forms from July 10 to 13. The allotment list for the second round will be published on July 17. Students who receive allotments can confirm their admission between 18 and 21 July, after which the vacancy list will be displayed on July 23.In Pune district, 62,812 students were given allotments in the first centralised admission round against a vacancy of over 2.01 lakh seats in junior colleges. Of this, 45,505 students confirmed their admission.Iqbal Shaikh, principal, Poona College of Arts, Science and Commerce, said that only 10% of seats in the arts stream, 35% in commerce, and 36% in science had been filled in his institution. “This time, the delay in the admission process and changes in the reservation policy created confusion among parents,” he said, adding that this led to a weak response in the first round. “Otherwise, we usually see around 50% of the seats being filled in the first round,” he said.Deepak U Powdel from Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC) said, “Almost 80% of the seats have been filled. We were allotted 80% students, and nearly all of them confirmed their admissions.” He added that apart from a few rejections due to incomplete or incorrect forms, the process went off smoothly. “I believe the remaining seats will be filled in the next two rounds.” As for cut-offs in the second round, they would only arise if students who initially chose science switch to commerce. Otherwise, the cut-offs may drop slightly, by 0.5% or at most 1%, he said.Richa Phondge, vice-principal of Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, said that around 35% of the seats were filled in both the arts and science streams. “This time, the number of rejections was slightly higher than last year,” she said, pointing out that several students had errors in their applications. “Some didn’t fill in their marks correctly, and in some cases, the best-of-five subjects were chosen incorrectly.” She added that the admission process would continue for a few more rounds before all seats are filled.
