New Delhi, May 28 — The admission process for undergraduate courses to Delhi University colleges kicked off on Friday with a whopping 40,559 forms being sold on day one. In comparison, the varsity had sold only 27,610 forms on day one last year.

The Faculty of Arts in the North Campus sold the highest number of forms at 5,400 and Kirori Mal College was next with 4,500. Students thronged the 16 centres across the city to collect the common admission forms for the 54,000 seats .

Some of the counters were opened before the scheduled time due to the long queues. “A lot of students came early to collect the forms, so we opened the counter at Dean Students’ Welfare at 9.20 am even though it was supposed to open at 10 am,” said Gurpreet Singh Tuteja, Deputy Dean, Students’ Welfare.

Though the form sale was officially supposed to end at 1 pm, counters were re-opened after 3 pm. “Students had come from far-off areas and would have to return without the forms, so we decided to re-open,” said Tuteja.

Accompanied by parents, siblings and friends, students collected and some even submitted the forms. The number of forms submitted this year on day one was 1,416 as compared to 800 last year.

“I submitted the form today itself. The form is simple and the DU booklet is also very helpful,” said Jyoti Shokeen, an applicant.

The cool weather too helped in the huge sale of forms. The day temperatures in the Capital reached a maximum of 37.7deg Celsius, which was three degree below normal.

Many out station students and their parents who came to collect their forms seemed worried about the unavailability of hostels till the Commonwealth Games.