Many premier higher education institutions go raising the cut off marks for admission to certain courses. This is highly beneficial for such schools.

• How beneficial is it for such schools of repute?
• Do you think it is an encouraging trend if viewed from a student’s angle? High end academic institutions adopt many ways to screen students so that they can offset competition. Setting higher cut off marks is one such ploy. Needless to say, such institutions stand to gain great benefits, but students stand to lose. 40

The primary benefit, in my opinion, is that these institutions go lucky enough to groom the cream of the student community. Higher cut off marks means brilliant students whose ultimate aim is highflying careers. Secondly, the institution comes to experience smooth functioning in academic and administrative terms. This is by way of manageable students and their pre-set goals. Thirdly, these students are bound to fetch great results taking the reputation of the school to new highs. Frequent campus interviews, cent percent placement record and rising financial independence, to mention a few, are the other benefits. 100

However, when it comes to students, the story is dangerous. The primary danger is that it deprives many brilliant students of their chance for deserving education. For example, what is the difference between two students who have got 89.9% and 90% marks respectively? Besides this, many candidates without much merit may get in with their higher degree of exam writing skills. But who does not know that marks alone cannot evaluate a student and writing exam is a skill? Finally, higher benchmarks may divide students. This will make a few rich richer and the rest poorer. 100

In short looking the prospect of institutions and the problems of students, I tend to say raising cut off marks needs to be discouraged. Instead institutions much realize that higher education is meant for the deserving not for the high-scoring. 40

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