TEN COMMANDMENTS WHEN CHOOSING AN ENGINEERING COLLEGE

5,500+ engineering colleges, nearly 3,300 polytechnics and over 200 design and architecture colleges in our country. Confusion in choosing an ideal engineering college is but natural as it can be daunting not just for the student but for the family as well. Though not entirely, but a lot depends on the college chosen as it could impact one’s career. The natural choice is to clear the JEE with high scores and be selected to the top tier engineering colleges in the country. But let’s face the facts – at least 2.5 lakh students appear for the JEE exam each year competing for 25,000 seats available in these top-ranking engineering colleges - that’s a mere 10%; which means that 90% of the students who aspire to pursue their engineering opt for other colleges. Here are a few pointers that could help in selecting the right engineering college.

1. Thou Shalt Begin Early – Most students wait until their entrance exam scores are declared to begin their search for engineering colleges. Ideally, the selection process should begin early – at least in Class XI. The search begins with choosing a stream of interest. Currently there are hundreds of specializations in engineering; most popular being Computer Science / Engineering, Information Technology, Electronics & Telecommunication, Mechanical and Civil. Narrowing down one’s preference is the first step.
2. Thou Shalt Set Thy Priorities – Rather than compromising on one’s engineering education, one should start by listing one’s priorities for pursuing B.E. / B.Tech. Every individual would have his/her own criteria like location of the college vis a vis proximity to home/city or accreditation, University to which the engineering college is affiliated, financial implications, etc. Making this list is important as it can help rearrange the list of colleges bringing one closer to one’s choices.
3. Thou Shalt Categorize Thy List – The next step would be to categorize the shortlisted colleges into three categories
a. Target Colleges – these include one’s top 4 colleges which are one’s dream choices that could be the driving force for a student to work harder and aim for higher scores.
b. Meet & Reach Colleges – next up would be 4-5 colleges that a student would aspire to. The academic profile of these colleges and their requirements are slightly higher than the present performance of the student.
c. Safety College – Way down on the selection totem pole should be 4 colleges that a student would feel confident about being selected into, based on his scores and GPAs.
At this point one should also read up about the Program Details of the courses including curricula for all the years, the evaluation pattern, specializations available, etc in colleges that fall in all the above categories. This will help understand if the course being offered is a perfect fit for the chosen career.
4. Thou Shalt Find Out About the Colleges – Based on the shortlisted colleges in all three categories, the subsequent step would be to do a thorough online research about each college in the list. Often, students and parents just visit the official website. One needs to look further into online chat rooms, discussion forums, social media presence and Google reviews. Information gathered from these sources could help in reassessing the preferred colleges and coming up with a new list.
5. Thou Shalt Visit Campus – Validating the information found online can only be done with a visit to campuses. This is a vital step as one gets to experience and verify what one has read online. Ideally, visiting the campus with prior appointment with the student counsellor / admission team would help maximize the visit with a tour of the facilities like academic building, labs, library, student residences, sports and fitness centre. Though time consuming and travel-intensive, this step could be extremely helpful in selecting one’s college of choice.
6. Thou Shalt Interact With Academicians – While gathering information online about various colleges, it is imperative that one visits the departmental pages and learns more about faculty profile, domain specializations available, research facilities, funded projects, etc. All this information can help when interacting with the department team members and discussing the scope of one’s choices as well as getting to know about one’s career options. This is a MUST DO step in the selection process and grab the opportunity to converse with student’s could be professors and mentors.
7. Thou Shalt Meet Up with Students On Campus – Spontaneously chatting with present students on campus will provide the prospective student with a 360 degree view of the college and life on campus. Professional courses like engineering isn’t all about academics alone. One needs to explore one’s skills and engage in various activities, clubs, committees, study groups during the four-year stint on a campus. And who better than present students to share the complete download about all co-curricular and extra-curricular activities on campus. This feedback will help one decide and plan on how best to engage one’s time on campus.
8. Thou Shalt Plan Thy Finances – Many students rely on educational loans and/or financial support to pursue their college degree. College fees, hostel charges, living expenses, additional academic and non-academic expenses can take a huge toll on one’s finances. And that is exactly the reason why one should take this into consideration while choosing the college. There are many governmental and private scholarships and aids available; but one needs to spend time researching and reaching out to various foundations and apply for scholarships. Various ‘Earn And Learn’ schemes are also available which could ease the financial burden of day-to-day expenses.
9. Thou Shalt Connect With Placement Services – Like many courses, engineering is a ‘professional course’ which means that one is tutored and trained to be ready as a professional, to be productive and contribute to the organization which implies that the placement department plays an important role in connecting students with the industry. What is important to note here is that most prospective students and parents who visit the placement department want assurances of placement in leading companies which is nearly impossible for any ethical placement co-ordinator to give. So, what one needs to gather from the placement team is the activities and support that they provide to students to help them become better professionals and of course the industry partnerships that the college has forged that could provide students will exposure and opportunities.
10. Thou Shalt Create Thine Own Merit Ranking – With the top nine steps completed, it is time to put all the information gathered in a matrix and arrive at one’s own ranking of the colleges of choice. It has become a trend for various media houses to conduct surveys and rank colleges based on various criteria and many parents and students rely on these rankings to choose or justify their decision. While these external rankings can be a small factor in decision making; nothing can be better than doing one’s own research and learning first hand about one’s preferred colleges.

Deciding and investing in one’s professional education isn’t something that should be taken lightly. It is also a part of the Indian culture to reach out to friends of friends or relatives to gather information and base one’s decision on what they say. While testimonials can be an added factor in the decision-making process, one should always rely on doing one’s own homework and be confident about one’s decision.

Like they say, “Choose Wisely”!
Engineering college in Pune
Madhuri Reddy