Mumbai, July 18 -- The second merit list for the First Year Junior College (FYJC) online centralised admission process was released on Thursday, offering college allotments to 251,804 students out of the 553,903 who had applied for this round across Maharashtra. Of these, 79,403 students are from the Mumbai division. Several city colleges have recorded a marginal dip in cut-offs for the commerce stream, while some science and arts colleges have seen a more notable drop (see box). Admissions based on the second list will begin on Friday, with students required to confirm their seats by July 21 by reporting to the allotted colleges. The majority of students allotted seats in this round have opted for the science stream, which continues to attract the highest number of applicants across the state. However, due to increased competition and a significant number of high-scoring candidates in the second round, many top colleges in Mumbai have maintained high cut-offs, leaving several students still waiting for a seat in their preferred institutions. This round also included 138,101 newly registered candidates who had been left out of the first cut-off list due to technical issues. Many of these students had scored above 90%, which contributed to the minimal change in cut-off marks for prominent Mumbai colleges, especially in the science and commerce streams. A college principal from Mumbai explained that students are now allowed to apply for colleges anywhere in the state, not just in their home division. "This wider access is leading to higher cut-offs compared to previous years. At the same time, integrated courses, particularly in science, are becoming more popular, which has brought the cut-offs down in a few colleges," the principal said, requesting anonymity. In the Mumbai region, a large number of students have secured admission in colleges of their choice. According to official data, 37,845 students got their first preference, 13,177 received their second choice, and 8,960 secured their third option. As per admission rules, those allotted their first-choice college must take admission, failing which they will be disqualified from the next round of seat allocation. Education officials have urged students allotted seats in this round to confirm their admissions at the respective colleges by July 21....