Ram Lal Anand, Delhi University

The admissions to Delhi University at my time were strictly based on merit (except for some courses like BMS, BBA, BFIA that selected students based on DU JAT entrance exams) Admission forms for DU open during the time the Board results are released. The application fee is very nominal approximately Rs.100. It is a common application form for all colleges in DU and you can apply for any/all colleges in a single application. The application forms are available on www.du.ac.in When I applied, my score (best four subjects) in class XII board exams was the criterion. For Bcom Hons, some colleges in DU required us to have at least 50% marks in the maths exams. Approx 8 cutoffs and merit lists were released in total specifying the marks required for each course in each college in DU. The cutoffs were lower for reserved categories. The lowest cutoff for Bcom Hons in my college went to 92% in the general category. Some colleges also give a 1% concession to girl candidates applying to the college.

The course has several subjects from various disciplines like economics, accountancy, marketing, tax, etc. Each semester brings in a new subject which becomes very interesting. Optional subjects are ability enhancement subjects that are also included in the curriculum. The course aims at the holistic development of students and prepares them for different jobs in the corporate sector and also enhances entrepreneurial skills. The teaching staff is very qualified, experienced, helpful and co-operative. The teaching method is very friendly and multiple tests and assignments are given on a frequent basis to help the students prepare for final exams. The faculty-student ratio was decent, with 1 teacher for every 50 students. Internal exams were conducted within the college throughout the semester and counted for 25% of the total marks. Semester exams (with 75% weightage) were conducted every 6 months for which the question paper was common for all colleges in DU. It’s easy to pass with distinction.

Very few companies, mostly startups came for internship placements at the internship fair held in college. However, most of them offered low-skilled clerical jobs in fields of sales, marketing, etc. most of them being unpaid internships.

Generally, by the start of the 5th semester, companies start coming for placements. Companies like Amazon, Jindal steel, etc came during the last semester and the highest package offered was approx Rs.4 lakhs. The average package is about Rs.3 lakhs but the jobs offered have similar profiles (particularly customer service department) Big four firm KPMG also visited but it was after we had written our last semester exams and the final results were rolled out by then The percentage of students getting placed was a meager 12% in my course. However, I planned to pursue CA after my graduation and went on to complete my Articleship.

The course fee was over Rs.10500 per year which is very reasonable. There was no fee hike policy and the fees approximately remained the same for all three years. Students who topped in the course were given a decent scholarship amount. Since there is a reservation for students from backward classes and the EWS category, the fee structure varied for them and was much lower than that paid by the General category. Campus placements need to improve. There were only 4-5 companies that came in our college placement drive and offered jobs in similar profiles (to be precise, under the customer service division). The average package offered was Rs.3-3.5 lakh p.a.

There’s an annual fest that takes place on the college premises. Sometimes singers are also invited to the fest. The fest usually takes place in the month of February. Apart from this various fests and carnivals are held on the occasion of Diwali, Holi, etc which have fun competitions, interesting stalls, and performances by students Some classrooms have projectors. The labs are well equipped and air-conditioned There’s a huge library with seating space of over 350 students at a time. There’s NCC and a sports room. The colleges have a lot of societies for students to participate in like Debating, Drama, Commerce, Photography society, etc, and Enactus. These are fully managed by students and offer great opportunities.