Getting in to Engineering

From last few days the weather has changed and it seems that Rain God might shower some water on us. This is also the time when engineering aspirant students (and more so their parents) are eager to know where would they get the admission ?  Every year during this time I receive so many phone calls from students or their parents for giving them "guidance" on which college to opt for. I recall one of my teachers at MSU saying when you are doing your research two extremes are bad, 1) when you do not find anything related to your topic in the open literature and 2) when you find hundreds of research papers about the topics of your interest. Right now the condition is like point (2). Main two questions students facing are,

1) There are so many engineering colleges in Gujarat only and the question is which one is better ?

2) Which branch one should opt for ?

Now basically the answers to both the questions may vary from person to person. So, it would be difficult to provide any general or specific answers. But, I would try to list some basic points which one should keep in mind before zeroing on the institute and/or branch.

1. Choice of branch or choice of Institute ?

This is the most common problem people come across. Most of the time it is the branch which students (and hence parents) opts for and not the institute. However, it is the other way round. The reason I am writing this is because most of the times our choice for branch is based on trends and not by real choice. I have observed students saying the branches of their preference as, Mechanical, Computer, Electronics and Communication and if not then Information and Technology. Now this order does not make any sense to me. If a person is really interested in Mechanical then the branch which gives similar subjects are Chemical, Production engineering. Similarly for EC the better alternative branches are Electrical or Instrumentation and Control and letter on one can specialize in Masters degree. 

As I have written earlier most of the times the choices are based on trends and trends are always changing hence it is better to be with an institute where you get overall good learning environment. So, if  the choice is not based on a very solid ground always prefer Institute over Choice.

2. How to rank an Institute ?

The next thing comes to mind then how to rank an Institute. There are many ways to know about an Institute .  There are Institutes that does  not require any great deal of knowledge to say that they are better than others in the state. Some of them are, IIT-G (of course you must have passed JEE for getting into it), NIT Surat, Nirma, DDU (DDIT), MSU, L D College of Engineering, and some others but the real problems starts when we are not sure that are we going to get in to any of these or not. Providing some of the yardsticks for ranking various other institutes,

a) The fee structure of an Institute (The fee structure is decided by the Committee of Governing agencies). A common thumb rule is more the fees better is the institute in terms of providing infrastructure, good faculty members and complying other norms required for a good engineering institute. 

b) The fee structure is decided for some fixed period (mostly for three years) and hence it is possible that an Institute few years back may not be the same so the other thing one may check is the GTU resutls (if the Institute is GTU affiliated). [This is not very accurate yardstick as results is the joint outcome of many persons teachers, students ,examiner, but still gives a fair indication of the teaching learning process of an institute in general]

c) See the website of the shortlisted institutes and try to check the qualifications of the professor of the departments you are interested in. Common activities done by them. Most of the Institutes keep their websites updated so it should give you a good idea about the environment of the Institute. Also try to visit some of them which are near by to get an idea about the physical infrastructure. During the visit always visit the department interested, library, canteen (of course) and if possible meet some senior faculty members of the department. 

d) Check the placement records (if possible). This is one of the most important criteria. However, not the topmost. Placements are important but, see branch specific placements. Most of the engineering students are welcomed by software industries. Now if that is what you intend to end up with its fine otherwise check the placement of the branch you are interested in. Having 100% placements does not mean having the placements in branch specific industries. Be aware of it. To check it one may contact the placement officer of the college.

e) One of the most important aspects of ranking an Institute (according to me) is our own financial conditions. Though I said that the more fee structure is better that is not true for government engineering colleges. If one feels that our financial conditions limit our self in getting in to an average or above average SFI chose the similar ranking government college. [This may be a bold statement but, I think is practical]. Never take the decision emotionally because ultimately it is not going to help our cause. So, be double sure before getting in to an average SFI.

3. Selecting a branch

This again is a very Interesting thing. This is where we generally do not follow our own thinking. I think sparing some of the students and parents most of those who called me are not able to answer my question why any specific branch ? Depending upon our own liking we must opt for the branch. Not only our liking of the subjects but also after getting the degree what kind of job we are going to get. So do a basic study. Now in the era of google one should not have a problem of getting the information about any branch and its future. Also decide weather you wants to go for post graduate degree or not. Selecting a course for long term benefit is better than just going with the trends. 

4. Always verify very good or very bad opinion about an institute from non authorized persons.

Though the students studying in a college are the best source many a times there opinion are biased.  There are so many people who are willing to give you free guidance on which college is good or bad depending upon the experience of their neighbors daughter's (or son's) friend's cousin.  So be aware of such opinions. I have seen very educated people falling in such traps. Now, the other person has nothing to do with the final outcome he might have told just for time pass but it might ruins ones future. So double check when they give either of the above mentioned opinions.

To sum up 

1) Select an Institute

2) Make a list of branches you are comfortable with and make a matrix of institute and branch according to your liking

3) Never base you decision on the opinion of a person who is not entitled (authorized) for it

4) Look in to your pocket before investing a huge amount. We always invest our hard earned money after looking at the interest rates (if any bank gives 0.5% more we run to get our FD account there) So, check the returns here as well

5) Never be emotional for getting in to engineering. If you have got less marks accept the fact and get in to good science college, that will make your future brighter

Best of luck to all the students and parents for proper selection of the engineering branch and/or institute.

Ideas, views,suggestions and additional information are always welcome