Admission procedure at work

Mubasir Raji *

10th EDU XPO 2014 - educational fair by LRS India at Lamyanba Shanglen, Imphal on 3-4 June 2014 :: Pix - Dr. L. Robindro Singh

The Board examination's results have been declared, jubilation of clearing examination has been settling down; now students need to get to the task of getting admission to college. Which college to choose? Which course to apply for? What will be the fee structure like for a particular course? These and the other such questions are running in the minds of the students and parents.

'Is it desirable to move to bigger cities for further study' or another relevant question is 'whether to prepare for giving a shot to some common admission test'? Some students give up one or two year in the preparation for common entrance test, like that for medical or engineering entrance etc. If they crack it fine, if not then they go for general courses.

In fact, it is the first time that the children, who are fast becoming adults are expected to take a major decision for the first time in their life. Some children are fortunate enough to have well aware parents and counselors to guide in this important period of their life. Some children are not so fortunate; may be because their parents are not so well educated or because of other reasons, they have to take decision at their own accords.

In both cases, there are certain things which need reflection while taking any decision. If a child have well aware parents and advisors; it helps him avoids some of the mistakes which most people committed, early in their academic career like 'choosing wrong course' institutes etc. but sometimes too much of advises kills the decision taking ability of a child. At this stage children are eager to take decisions on their own. They are tired of people who are saying them to do things. They want to take life on their own.

One thing it is very important that parents do not thrust their desire or at least the child should not be let to feel that he has been sacrificing his own fancy for the happiness of his parents. This can be catastrophic for the child's future. He may carry this gloomy feeling for a long period of time. He will always feel; because of his parents he has not been able to do well in life.

In the other scenario, if a child does not have enough people to advise him; he will either get frustrated or he may take 'snap judgment' without knowing all the pros and cons. Decisions taking in these manner may hits or misses the target. Many students waste numbers of productive years, just by getting admission to a course and then abandoning it in the middle to take up another admission to other course; it may be because of lack of interest or other reasons.

By adopting hit and trial method, people get to learn about the right train when it has already left the station! This may lead to chronic regret, there are people who carry a major regret whole throughout their life. There are also many people who always feel life has been not fair to them, think, if they have the right people to advise them at the right time, they could have done so much better.

Advice is the cheapest commodity on earth; people keep on dropping in when one is not the least in the need of it. Unnecessary advices are very tiresome to ear. Good advises are rare thing; there is always a great gap between people who have the knowledge plus intention and the people who is in the greatest need. Right now, there is lack of proper education counseling; we don't recognize the importance counseling.

Sometimes peer pressure and the prevailing trends force people to take decisions which are not in the interest of themselves. After looking at glossy advertisements, people thought certain courses to be very glamorous but in reality, the job prospect of the same course may turn our very bleak. There are many institutes which publicize very well to attract people, but before getting admission, it is advisable that, talk to at least one person who studies there and if possible visit the campus personally.

Check all the facts and get it confirm about the promises and the facilities advertised. Always check accreditation; to which university the college is accredited. If it is a private university; it is pertinent to check for UGC accreditation. The list of the private and even the name of the fake universities are given in the UGC website.

One important thing to remember is no institution will lift a student to a glorious career, if he does not work hard. Getting admission to a good institute does not guarantee a cat walk to success. Hard work and right decisions may just did the trick that a good institute fail to do in many instances. Sometimes students from second rung institutes did very well if they work persistently.

The so called famed institutes provide a platform and better exposure to the industries, which is why people are going after them. Many of these fame institutes can easily attract best of students who are expected to perform better than the average students. So they are banking on these above the average students to perform well.

Another good thing about them is their good infrastructure facilities boost the morale of the students. Basically what has been taught there is the same content wise as well quality wise to many of the not so glamorous colleges. Sometimes not so glamorous type of institutes taught very well to their students; they bring best of result with the average students.

At times, the best of students perform poorly when exposed to bad academic atmosphere. There is no substitute for friendly faculties and competitive atmosphere. It is far better to have young and eager teachers willing to help all the time than the professors who take up two classes in a week and have no relationship with the students outside the class room. When there is no regular classes for long period of time, students get rusty; it kills motivation and creativity of the students.