Saturday, June 05, 2010
This year cut-off levels up as state board students score high marks in Commerce & Accountancy

Chennai: After class X when students make their first big career choice, joining the commerce stream is not among their favourites. Many students prefer the first group (Math with computer science) followed by pure science stream and reluctantly eye the commerce stream only as a back-up.

However, in arts and science colleges the scene is just the opposite. A seat in the Bachelors of Commerce (BCom) degree programme is the most sought after course in arts and science colleges and getting it is next to impossible. The competition levels for BCom admissions is so intense that it would not be an exaggeration to say that students can even get an Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) seat in engineering colleges but not a BCom seat in an arts and science college.

While there has been a traditional craze for the course since the 1960s, this year the cut-off levels have gone up with the state board students scoring very high marks in Commerce and Accountancy. “This year 968 students scored a centum in Commerce and 851 students secured full marks in Accountancy, which is the highest in the last four years in the two subjects. Since the marks scored in these subjects plays a vital role in determining the cut-offs, the competition has got tougher,” said an analyst.

Talking about the demand for the BCom course, T Sumitra, principal, SDNB Vaishnav College, Chromepet, said,“This year, in the day college alone for 140 seats we have received around 2000 applications. The rush is equally heavy for the self-financing BCom course offered in the evening college. Our campus was teeming with students as our placement record too is good.”

According to C R Ravi, associate professor of commerce, A M Jain College, almost every college receives applications equivalent to at least 10 times the number of seats available.

“Traditionally BCom was sought after by students as it was felt that it would lead students to jobs as an accountant or enable them pursue Chartered Accountancy (CA), Cost Accountancy (ICWA) or Company Secretaryship (ACS). This craze has not dwindled so far. But in terms of the percentage of students who take up CA, ICWA or ACS, it is still less at around 5% or so. However, a BCom is now looked upon as a ladder to pursue MBA,” he explained.

Sumitra pointed out that nowadays BCom graduates enjoyed a greater scope for employment in the fields of Information Technology, Banking and Human Resources too. “A BCom degree programme is a wholesome course with elements of costing, administration, mathematics and computers. Therefore it leads to multiple career options,” she said.