Rourkela: The first cut-off marks for the Plus Two admission have come out and the trend shows that the Government Autonomous College, Rourkela, Municipal College and the Ispat Autonomous College remain the top three destinations for students.

"This is a proud moment for me and my college that this year again we are receiving the meritorious students as they believe in our quality. Here, we can assure them that they will have the best study atmosphere and they are safe," said Government Autonomous College principal Debendra Behera.

This year, the cut-off marks remain above 70 per cent for both commerce and science streams, while for arts, it is in 60 per cent bracket. "The above all selection for science remains at 78.83 per cent and commerce 70.83 per cent, while for arts, it's 67.2 per cent. The arts stream is witnessing higher percentage students enrolling into it. The science and commerce are maintaining their standard," he said. "I want to study arts, and I have applied at Government Autonomous College, Rourkela as I have all the subjects of my choice there. Besides, it has a rich and old tradition of being a better institution as my father also completed his postgraduation in English from there," said Santosh Mohanty.

Ispat Autonomous College co-ordinator Amiya Kumar Panda said: "Our Plus Two results are improving with each year, and that shows our commitment towards quality teaching. This year, the first cut-off remain at 63 and 62 per cent in science and commerce, while for arts, for which students are showing little less interest, it is 52 per cent," said Panda.

The college has 256 seats with two sections in science and commerce, while in arts, it is 126.

The cut-off marks were not available in the Municipal College. "I am trying for commerce and want to pursue MBA with specialisation in finance.," said Shyam Agarwal.

He said four of his friends had applied in the commerce stream and his other batch mates were into science.