Admissions on hold, MBA aspirants a confused lot

MUMBAI: Confusion prevailed among students as well as colleges on Friday, just a day after the Bombay high court, in an interim order, stayed admission to MBA courses in private colleges across the state.
Several students took to social media as they were unsure whether colleges would go ahead with the admission process—group discussions (GD) and personal interviews (PI) according to the plan.
A candidate from Gujarat said, “I’m travelling for the GD on Sunday but am unsure if the college will hold it. The college, however, says that only admissions are on hold, not the process.”
Some colleges expressed hope that the court verdict is out before the admission process begins. “Our GD/PI is in the first week of May. We hope the court gives its verdict soon so that our schedule is not affected,” said an official from Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Matunga.
One of the court petitioners, however, said that the academic year might not be affected by the stay. “Those concerned about the delay must look at last year’s admission schedule. There was a gap of nearly 35 days between submission of grievances and start of the first round.”
The court has scheduled the hearing of the matter, filed before different benches in Mumbai, Nagpur and Aurangabad, for April 28.
Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, which attained autonomy this year, has started accepting admission forms. “We won’t go ahead with the admission process but we had received complaints that students had missed the opportunity to fill up the form. We’re are giving them a chance until the verdict is out,” said Kavita Laghate, director. JBIMS will accept offline admission forms till May 2.