St Stephen's College fills all unreserved seats in round-1

NEW DELHI: Almost all unreserved seats across undergraduate courses in St Stephen's College were filled in the first round of seat allocation, said Delhi University's Dean of Admission Haneet Gandhi on Tuesday. The admission to minority seats reserved for Christian candidates is underway.

There are 450 seats across 11 undergraduate courses in the college. The first round of allocation of seats in Delhi University colleges ended on Tuesday with over 59,100 students having secured their seats by paying fees. The admission process in St Stephen's was the matter of the bone of contention between the college and university for several months. It was only after the Supreme Court's order early this month that admission to the prestigious college could be started. The court refused to stay the Delhi High Court's order asking St. Stephen's College to follow the admission policy prescribed by Delhi University.

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This year, the university is admitting students through CUET scores instead of their Class 12 marks. "In the first round of seat allocation, all the unreserved seats (in St. Stephen's College), which are over 200, have been filled," Dean of Admission Haneet Gandhi said. "Meanwhile, the admission for the rest of the seats (reserved for Christan candidate) is underway. We have provided data to the college. They are holding admission based on the interview," she added. The high court had directed the college to follow the university's admission policy, according to which 100 per cent weightage has to be given to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-2022 score while granting admissions to non-minority students in undergraduate courses.

St Stephen's College, however, wanted to give 85 per cent weightage to CUET and 15 per cent to interviews for admitting students across categories. The DU began admissions for over 70,000 seats last month. On September 12, the university released its admission-cum-allocation policy called Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS).

The admission through the CSAS is being conducted in three phases -- submission of the application form, selection of programmes and filling of preferences, and seat allocation and admission. Around 59,100 candidates have paid fees and secured admission in various undergraduate programmes in Delhi University's first round of seat allocation, Registrar Vikas Gupta said on Tuesday. Tuesday was the last day for the payment of fees by those who accepted the college and course allotted to them. "Of the 72,800 students who accepted the college and course, around 59,100 have sealed their admission by paying fees," Gupta said.