merit list cut-offs for online admissions to FYJC were announced on Wednesday evening.

Growing popularity of Arts and Commerce has raised first general merit list cut-offs for online admissions to First Year Junior College (FYJC), which were announced on Wednesday evening.
Cut-offs for Arts saw a 1-6% rise and those for Commerce a marginal hike. While cut-offs for Science also remained above 90% at popular city colleges, these have dropped by around 1% this academic year.
At St Xavier's College, one of the most popular ones for Arts, the cut-off rose from 91.66% to 93%. "A lot of students are turning towards Arts and Commerce as there are plenty of career options available now. On the other hand, Science education is becoming more expensive and popularity for pure sciences has reduced. This trend is likely to continue for a few years unless there is a policy overhaul, which will promote pure sciences," said Jyoti Thakur, vice-principal, Jai Hind College, Churchgate. At Jai Hind, the cut-off for Science dropped from 89.27% to 88% and that for Arts rose from 85.4% to 86.4%.
At N M College, the cut-off for Commerce was as high as 93.4%. "A lot of high scorers have started opting for Commerce and therefore the cut-offs are getting higher every year," said principal Sunil Mantri. The highest score in N M College merit list is 97.2%.
Several colleges saw a leap in the Arts cut-offs. "While Science cut-offs have remained unchanged, those for Arts have risen considerably," said Marie Fernandes, principal, St Andrew's College, Bandra. Those for Arts at the college rose from 71.64% in 2013 to 77.2%.
She added, though, that the second list will stabilize the high cut-offs. "For the first list, students apply to multiple colleges and opt for a better option in the second list," she said.
Almost 1.8 lakh students were allotted seats in the first merit list. Of these, as many as 44,806 students made it to the college of their first preference.
While students were worried the increase in 90%-plus scorers in CBSE and ICSE boards would mean tougher competition for students from the state board, of the 2.03 lakh students applying to junior colleges, only 4,004 and 6,192 were from these boards, respectively.
Students who have been allotted a seat in the first merit list should visit the colleges on July 3, 4 and 5 up to 3pm and secure provisional admission.