Admission is a long drawn process

MUMBAI: More than two lakh students across the state are on tenterhooks as they await the results of the Maharashtra Engineering, Medical (MBBS), Pharmacy Common Entrance Test (MHT-CET).

Come June 14 and they will know their fate. With professional courses becoming more popular, the number of students appearing for the MHT-CET has gone up over the years.

Around 1,35,000 students seeking admission to various medical courses appeared for the examination this year while 1,20,000 had appeared last year. The competition is bound to be tough, considering that there are just 3,785 seats in 58 medical institutes and approximately 6,935 seats in 118 pharmacy institutes across the state.

With the examination results just a day away, the authorities are doing all they can to make the admission process simple for students.

“We will prepare a detailed booklet with information on the number of colleges and seats available in each course and circulate it among students,” says an official from the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).

The selection process for admission to government and government-aided colleges is conducted through a centralised process in which students have to fill preference forms at Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, and Aurangabad.

“Students have to list 90 choices from disciplines such as medical, dental, ayurveda, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy, and prosthetics,” says Rajesh Jain, coordinator of the Parents' Association of Medical Students (PAMS), Maharashtra.

“What students must keep in mind is that they must fill up preferences in descending order.”

While MBBS and BDS courses continue to be hot favourites among students, many are now opting for courses like physiotherapy and pharmacy.

Once students submit their forms listing their preferences, the data is centrally processed and allotment of seats and colleges is done on the basis of merit in three rounds. Jain says students should never opt for a course they are not interested in.

He says students should not lose hope in case they fail to get a course or college of their choice in the first round. “After the first round, forms are scanned again,” he says.

“There is a high probability of the student getting a better deal based on his or her merit if there are vacant seats.”

While the results of the first round will be declared in July, the second round results will be announced in August followed by a third round in September. “Last year, the procedure began around July 3,” says the DMER official.

“This year the selection procedure will begin either in the last week of June or the first week of July.”

The last date for admissions to medical and dental courses is September 30, while for other courses it is usually October 31.
b_mihika@dnaindia.net