The first merit list of undergraduate (UG) degree courses was declared by colleges affiliated to Mumbai University on Tuesday. This year, many courses have seen a considerable dip in cut-off scores, especially traditional degree courses such as BA, BCom and BSc. City colleges have seen increased interest for new-age professional courses launched recently. At St. Xavier’s College, which is among the most popular for Arts, the first merit list cut-off for this year is 90 per cent which is a considerable drop from last year’s 92.33 percent. A similar situation has occurred at Ramnarain ruia College too, where the cut-off score for the first merit list of Arts has dropped from 92 per cent to 90 percent. Ruia College has seen a drop in cut-off score in B.Sc as well as in Biochemistry, whereas cut-off for Biotechnology has increased from 92.2 per cent to 94.6 per cent. Story continues below this ad Highlighting the various factors contributing to the drop in cut-off scores this year, Dr. Anushree Lokur, Principal of Ramnarain Ruia College, said, “Students …