Trials for extra-curricular activities to begin today
DU received 20,207 applications under ECA quota this year. NCC got the highest with 3,281 applications; dance appeared to be second popular choice
NEWDELHI: Students who have applied for admission in Delhi University under the Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) quota, will have their preliminary rounds of trials beginning on Saturday.
Many students who may be intimidated by the skyhigh cut-offs at DU colleges, find solace in the ECA quota to realise their dreams of studying at one of these prestigious colleges. The DU relaxes its cut-offs by up to 15% depending on the colleges, based on one’s prowess in the various extra-curricular activities such as dance, music, debate, theatre and creative writing, among others.
Last year, there were 865 seats under the ECA category, which may rise up to 1,000 this year, according to DU sources.
Admissions to these seats are based on performance in ‘trial’ rounds, which will begin on Saturday. Students can apply under 12 different categories to the ECA quota, with dance, music, debate and theatre being some of the more popular choices, according to Shalini (who goes by her first name), head of ECA admissions at DU.
Most of these trials, especially for the more popular activities, happen over a span of a few days and in batches. “Students will be notified of which batch they will have to attend on which day, on the admissions portal,” said Shalini.
This year, the DU had received a total of 2,21,309 applications, with 20,207 applications for the ECA quota.
National Cadet Corps (NCC) has received the highest number of applications, with 3,281students opting for the activity. The trials for these will be held on June 22, 23, 24 and 27 at Ram Lal Anand College.
The second popular choice appears to be dance, with 2,797 students applying for this. There are four sub categories under dance — Indian classical, Indian folk, western dance, and choreography, with over half of these students opting for Indian classical dance.
For most of these activities, the students are not required to bring their certificates or other documents, however, they are advised to read the guidelines available on the portal to ensure the requirements. “During the final round, we do check all the certificates a student has,” Shalini said. Students are expected to bring their original certificates and self attested photocopies to the final rounds of trial, if they are shortlisted.
Students who are shortlisted after the preliminary trials will be notified on the website, and the final rounds of trials are expected to begin tentatively on June 30. Students in the final round will be evaluated at 75% for the trials and 25% for the certificates.