Plan A and Plan B
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Plan A and Plan B
Ask a student what is his biggest anxiety and he will say choosing the right career and getting into the best institute!
With a plethora of courses and mushrooming of institutes, it becomes important to pick a good institute and if possible the BEST one.
While there is an increase in the number of courses and seats one also sees a marked increase in the student population. Along with all the courses comes the
important aspect of entrance exams, high on competition. Take any of the premier courses such as Hotel management, medicine, engineering and you will have an
entrance exam attached to it.
'Entrance exams are a part and parcel of a twelth standard students life'. A lot of students start planning in 9th grade itself and plan to appear for an entire
multitude of exams.
So why this emphasis on entrance exams? "Yes today's students allot high priority to entrance exams. The reason being that though there are many more
courses than before but also lesser seats and more students than appearing for entrance exams."
This more in those students who have opted for the science stream. Many of them appear for engineering and medicine exams, and are not sure of the results and
appear for a wide variety of entrance exams to increase their chances of getting into courses.
So what does one do when admission time comes and you are short of marks??
Plan your academic year and most importantly set up plan A and plan B!
So What's plan B all about?
Plan B is a back up career option that must be considered incase you are unable to take up your first and your most preferred career option. Take into consideration
that last year or this year too nearly 13 lakh students appeared for the JEE mains exam but only 9,885 seats in 17 IITs are available. Similar is the situation with
medical seats. Most JEE aspirants also consider other engineering exams such as the BIT-SAT or the VITEE.
So how does one draw up plan B
Get your aptitudes assessed and profiled
Getting an aptitude test done will help in profiling a student's strengths and weakness. An experienced vocational counselor will be able to guide you with
regards to choosing a career and also alternative careers and their routes. It will profile an entire gamut of careers based on your aptitude strengths. A student
interested in medicine can consider paramedical options or pharmacy. For a students who wishes to consider a career in computers and is unable to secure
admission to the BE program, a computer applications or a B.Sc-IT course can be an option considered.
Consider a gamut of entrance exams
Since the competition is fierce, consider giving multiple exams that will allow you to choose the institutes as well as the seats
Research institutes
Do a thorough research of all institutes offering the same course. Research their admission formalities, entrance tests (some colleges have their own entrance tests
as in the case of deemed universities), accreditation status (whether they are AICTE or DTE or Mumbai university recognized or they possess as deemed university
status).
The diploma alternative
In some cases you can also consider the option of a graduate diploma course in case you are unable to get into the degree program. Take for instance the hotel
management degree course, which is much sought after. A graduate diploma from a recognized college can be opted for.
Be aware
Be aware of the second rung of educational institutes least you are not able to get into an institute of your choice. Research admission procedures, documents
required and cut off marks of the last year, campus placement tract record. An example that can be cited if students cannot get in to the BMS courses in Mumbai, the
BBA course could be an option.
Information sources
A surfeit of information is available on the internet which can be easily.
For technical institutes and courses list (Maharashtra).
Log on to www.dte.org.in
For a comprehensive list of medical colleges and courses in Maharashtra log on to www.dmer.org.in
Almost all newspapers run a career and education supplement that contain a wealth of career information. Think divergently in terms of educational institutes.
Sometimes other cities can have competitive courses which are equivalent to the existing ones.
Benefits of planning
There is a sense of control.
Pre-planning will help prevent losing a year as you would take admission to an alternative course.
Better stress management of the situation.
Remember plan B should be as full proof and well thought out as plan A.
do not give it secondary treatment as maybe it would be plan B that you would implement ultimately.
