Class 12 examination results have been declared. It is time to get enrolled in a good college that would shape students’ careers and lead to success in their professional lives. Every year, after the declaration of class 12 results, students look forward to DU admissions. Braving the heat, DU aspirants and their parents are usually seen in serpentine queues, hoping to grab the 63,000 seats on offer at the varsity.
Some popular colleges of Delhi, especially the North campus colleges such as Hindu College, Sri Ram College of Commerce, Lady Sriram College for Women, Miranda House, Delhi, Ramjas College, St Stephens’s College, Hansraj College, Indraprastha College for Women etc. are some dream colleges for young college aspirants.
However, the sky high percentage of popular subjects becomes a hurdle for most aspirants to make it to the final list. This is the thought that worries most parents and students. Even getting a 97% in boards may not hold a good enough value to get admission in the above mentioned colleges. There are hundreds of universities and thousands of colleges in India. With so many options including Central Universities, State Universities, Private Universities and a myriad of institutes to select from, choosing a college to attend becomes a major decision.
One solution that a student often opts for is to consider the college rankings and the marks they have scored, opting to go to the highest ranking institute possible based on their marks. This has been the trend regarding college selection. Delhi University recently came out with its first cut off list for admissions into undergraduate courses and the cut off in some of the colleges have touched the ceiling of 99%. Despite the high cut of marks, there were 2000 plus admissions in DU on the first day after the cut-off release, according to the data provided by DU.
With aspirants coming from every nook and corner of India for admissions, the cut-off criteria have increased manifold. Some are happy about meeting the cut-off criteria and getting enrolled in their favourite colleges, while some are dismayed that despite scoring high marks they could not make it to the top notch colleges of Delhi University.
Sree Raghav, a DU aspirant from Tamil Nadu, according to a media report, wished to study in either Hindu College or Sri Ram College for Commerce, but could not get into either because his language subject Sanskrit was not included in the top 4. He plans to try for Hansraj or wait for the second cut-off list. His mother added, “We will stay in Delhi for 10 more days and figure out what’s best for our son.”
Hindu College has come out with the highest score of 99% for Political Science Honours course, while Lady Sri Ram College is asking at least 98.75% for the BA programme and Psychology Honours courses. Sri Ram College of Commerce has also announced a cut-off of 98.75% for Economics Honours. Even science courses are starting at 99% ceiling, with Hindu College seeking 98.3% for physics Honours and 97.5% for Statistics and Mathematics.
If they don’t belong to the 99% club, students will have to fare well in the second cut-off list of their favourite college.
Delhi University’s most popular colleges in North Campus offering popular courses like BA (Hons) in Political Science, English, Psychology, History and even BA (Prog) have received a good number of students and have already filled up about 49-50% of seats. Some colleges, like Hindu, have even enrolled more students than the seats in various courses, while colleges like SRCC have enrolled over 130 students for about 170 seats available for BA(Hons) Economics and 266 students in BCom (Hons.) for 692 seats available.
Course vs. College: The Real Battle
Students did look confused when it came to deciding the courses over colleges. Most decided to opt for the college rather than the course. Most of them gave up admissions into their preferred subject for the sake of getting admissions in the reputed colleges.
I read in a media report which mentioned one such example of compromising the subject over the desired college.
“My daughter always wanted to study Commerce. She even met cut-of criteria of some colleges in South Campus but then decided to take admission in English(Hons) of Ramjas, as the college is reputed one,” said Pranay Kanojia who was standing outside the institution waiting for his daughter to get enrollment in the college according to a news website.
In this cut-throat competition, securing a seat in esteemed colleges and universities has become a common aspiration among students. Students face a common dilemma of whether to prioritise preferred subject in a lesser known college or settle down in a dream college with a less preferred subject. Most of the students opt the latter – Choose the dream college over subject preference.
This is where they fail to take the right decision, in my opinion. Finding the right college is important in a student’s life to make a successful career. But when students give more priority to a college over their favourite subjects, it increases the likelihood that they will end up with careers that they are not passionate about.
A three year old graduation course is not an easy course to pursue if one is opting for a specialisation or Honours in it. It is even more difficult with the constant semester exams one after another, a huge pile of assignments, practicals and viva interviews to go for. If the subject you choose is the preferred one, it helps in securing good academic scores and in building your overall personality. The name and fame of a college last for two days until the fresher’s party ends after that students have to themselves look after their studies and live up to their career expectations. College alone can’t make a successful career. Passion and interest are the key factors for a successful career.
For example, if a student wishes to take Economics in a reputed college, but can’t secure a seat because he doesn’t meet the cut-off and then decides to take up English Honours in the same reputed college, instead, he will most likely not do well. Because he has probably never read English novels and dramas and always found it difficult to keep his interest in the subject. As a result, he will perform poorly in exams.
A brilliant academic record in a preferred subject in a mediocre college is way better than having a mediocre academic record from an exceptional college. Not having the name of a good college name in CV can be compensated by a good academic record and overall personality development.
Consider The Example Of Satya Nadella
We all are familiar with the current Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella. A man of Indian origin is ruling a software giant like Microsoft. This man did not pursue his graduation from IITs or NITs. He pursued it from Manipal Institute of Technology. It was his hard work and intense passion for the course that empowered him to reach the pinnacle of success.
The right decision at the right time leads to success in one’s career and life. Ideally, the career selection process should first begin with selecting the career we want to pursue then move on to deciding the most suitable college offering the subject of our choice. The decision should be made considering our own strengths, weaknesses and interests. If one is not passionate about the subject they choose at the beginning of their career, then this will affect them later in their working life. There will be a low work satisfaction and chances of success will drop. There are many examples of work stress among professionals today and one of the major factors behind this is lack of work satisfaction. In this career selection process, if you lose the steering wheel of your life, then you will have to resign to your fate.