For long considered a last recourse by students, Delhi University's School of Open Learning (SOL) is becoming first choice for many this admission season. The school has been selling admission forms and prospectus simultaneously with regular colleges from the first day of admission. SOL has sold 10,000 admission forms and prospectus.

Looking at the increasing popularity of the school among students, SOL has also made its admission forms available on the website. "It was only in the last week of June that SOL would start selling forms. But from last year it was decided that students who have decided to pursue studies from the open learning mode should not wait till the end to take admission," said Dinesh Gupta, deputy director, south study centre, SOL.

And they are not just students with low marks who want to take admission in SOL. "We have received applications from students with very high percentages too," confirms Gupta. Explaining the reasons behind this new trend, HC Pokhariyal, executive director, SOL, said: "Today's generation has started making strategic moves in terms of their future career prospects. There are many students who do not want to spend their three years in a regular course. There are three types of students who are coming to take admission. The first category is of those who want to work while studying and open learning method suits them best. The second category consists of students who want to pursue a professional course simultaneously like CA. And third category is of those with low percentage."

With the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) changing requirements, SOL is expecting flow of more students from the commerce stream. "We used to get applications from students who wanted to do a BCom simultaneously with their chartered accountancy. But recently ICAI has made it compulsory for students to gain work experience. We are expecting students who are doing BCom from regular colleges and CA side by side, would also migrate to SOL, because they are required to work as per ICAI's new regulations," Gupta said.

Students should not consider it as a home for the rejected lot. While clearing the image of SOL that students and parents usually have, Pokhariyal said: "Delhi University is divided into two branches. One branch is that of regular colleges and another is SOL. It was created to impart education to those who could not get admission in DU due to capacity constraints. SOL has the same course structure and examination pattern. You also get the degree from DU."