Six Presi departments return to own admission tests after a decade

Kolkata: After a decade of conducting admissions through the West Bengal JEE board, Presidency University will return to its own undergraduate admission process this year, with the application portal opening on Monday and forms to be accepted till June 1.Of the 17 departments, six — chemistry, statistics, life sciences, economics, history and political science — will conduct entrance tests and admit students solely on the basis of those scores. The remaining departments — English, Bengali, Hindi, philosophy, sociology, performing arts, geography, geology, physics, mathematics and biotechnology — will admit undergraduate students using a formula based on class 10 and 12 board marks.The eligibility criterion for science subjects is 70% aggregate marks, while for arts subjects it is 60%. The entrance examinations will be held from June 11 to June 14. Two examinations will be conducted each day in separate slots on the College Street campus of the university."The OMR-based entrance tests will comprise multiple-choice questions and will last two hours. There will also be negative marking. The admission test papers have been moderated by external experts to ensure fairness," said chemistry department head Arnab Halder. "The chemistry entrance exam will test students' knowledge of mathematics, physics and biology, while the statistics examination will assess a student's aptitude mainly in mathematics."Political science professor Zaad Mahmood said, "The political science entrance exams will test a student's basic knowledge in politics, logical reasoning, analytical ability and English comprehension. In economics, students' acumen in maths and English will be tested." The English department will admit students on the basis of board marks, using a formula that gives 25% weightage each to the aggregate marks in class 10 and class 12, and 50% weightage to marks obtained in English in class 12.The sociology department has devised a matrix that takes into account 25% each from the class 10 aggregate, class 10 mathematics marks, class 12 aggregate and class 12 English marks. "We want to assess students' quantitative aptitude through their class 10 mathematics scores and their English writing skills through class 12 English marks, along with their overall academic performance," said sociology dept head Suhrita Saha.Dean of science and geology professor Sankar Bose said, "The formula comprises 25% class 10 maths marks, and 75% weightage will be given to the best three subjects among class 12 physics, chemistry, maths and biology."