Getting into Engineering Colleges

Gauri Chhabra
Today, the singular mission that has reached the height of criticality in our lives as parents, as teachers and students is the Mission of admissions. It has become herculean and next to impossible…of getting into colleges of choice. Today, the schools say” You got 95 % marks Wow we have made you so qualified. We are so proud of you. “Students are playing tick cross, parents are playing a flip flop of what college and colleges are playing slip slop of spiraling cut offs. All three stake holders are caught in a whirlwind of their own.
After Engineering Entrance Exam:
Course Cursor:
The perennial dilemma that haunts every student after the Entrance Exam is which course/stream and thereafter which college.
After you have taken the Entrance exam, the next search that starts is that of choosing a stream. Here are a few tips that would be handy to you as students before choosing a stream.
Placement Prospects:
This is the most important criteria for choosing a branch in a cut throat competition environment. This is true that branches like Computer science, Information Technology and Electronics are amongst the most sought after. But it does not mean that other branches are less important as far as job opportunity is concerned, other branches are equally good. The only difference is that IT and ITeS recruit in terms of head counts whereas core industries do not.Although these aremass recruiters but the pay package depends on individual talent not on your branch. It does not mean that if you are in computer science, Information Technology or Electronics then you will make a lot of money….even in other branches like Mechanical, that software engineer are making more money. Only few of them are able to do it and again it’s depend on your talent and hard work so no particular branch is moneymaker and in every branch you can make money.
Interest:
This is the most important and worthy factor which is ignored by most of the parents and students. As mentioned earlier that each and every branch is okay. It Is your interest that make money and satisfaction. Because after four year of your graduation u will be in industry and then whole of your life will be with same branch and work which u have opted today…..if you are interested in it then ii is good but if you are not then the words tension,stress,dissatisfaction, depression will come into picture because you are working for money not for your interest and hobby.You are working with those things which you have not liked in your four year of graduation but now you have to pass whole of your life with this branch. So always keep your interest first.
Choosing a Stream:
Once you have zeroed in on your interest, you need to be double sure whether the stream you have chosen for yourself is the one for you. For those who opt for Computer Science ask yourself the following questions:
Do you like computer ?
Do you want to do something new in computer ?
Do you always experiment with your computer and surprise others ?
Are you strong enough in mathematics and logic making skills ?
Do you like puzzles and algorithms?
If your answer to the above questions is yes, then this is the choice for you. Computer Science requires logical skills, innovative thinking and hard work .It is one of the best paid branches of engineering owing to its dynamic nature and ICT becoming an integral part of our lives.
For students who wish to go in for Electrical and Electronics ask yourself : Are you interested in making your own robot or want to know the functioning of your home electrical appliances? If yes, you can opt for it. There is a little difference in the content and pedagogy in electrical and electronics, with Electronics being the subset of Electrical Engineering.
Another dilemma that confronts most of the students is that of making a choice between Mechanical and Production engineering. If you are interested in bike and car design, or have been diving deep into the fundamentals of Physics, this is the right branch for you.It involves a lot of patience and hard work, if you feel that the placement opportunities in this field are not as high as in other fields, you are mistaken.This is an evergreen branch where most of the auto majors continue to hire in bulk for their assembly line production. Another branch that has earned the sobriquet of ‘not so good’ placements in parentheses is that of Civil engineering. If you are interested in sky scrapers and buildings and are ready to rock the world because of your talent, this is the branch for you.
College Telescope:
The question arises how to decide a college when there are thousands of engineering colleges in India. It is like looking for a needle in the hay stack.
Infrastructure: This is the most important factor while choosing a college. Infrastructuredoes not mean good looking building only. It means that whether a college has sufficient amount of infrastructure according to its intake capacity. It includes classroom, administrative building, workshop, computer labs, various laboratories etc. Because during your four year of graduation you need all these things, so keep it your first preference while choosing a college.
Faculty: Having a good infrastructure is not enough. After having a sufficient infrastructure it is the faculty that make it useful, otherwise it will be a school without a teacher. Always have a look on college faculty which includes Professors, reader, lecturer, teacher-student ratio, visiting faculty, teaching experience etc. Also take into account the Research Papers undertaken by the faculty and opportunities provided to them.
Opening Salary:
The singular paramount factor that students look for while deciding a college is what would be my opening salary? Here, the placement record of the college comes into play. Even if the college is able to call top notch companies to campus , the corporates will handpick only those candidates who have the skills and the qualification for the job. And more importantly-the attitude to go there, and no college gives you a degree in attitude. Do not go blindly by the placement record of the college The candidate who got the highest package last year may be 1 out of a batch of 60 who in any case would have bagged the highest package- with or without the placement cell. Instead look at the faculty- the kind of research papers they have presented opportunities provided to students for research etc.As students, always remember the college is not a placement agency. Look for quality education and the jobs will flow down your way.
So dear students, pat yourself on the back and introspect to see where you fit in.
Just carry your unique insignia to this entire world and say, “I refuse- yes I refuse to be eliminated”.