The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Corporate colleges adopt new methods to enlist admissions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 21, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Corporate colleges adopt new methods to enlist admissions

R. Ravikanth Reddy

Prospective students are lured even before they appear for the exam

HYDERABAD: Corporate colleges are known to come out with innovative concepts in teaching and getting good scores for their students. But they are also scoring heavily in enlisting admissions by adopting novel methods and the latest from their armoury is catching the prospective students even before they have appeared for the examinations.

Strange it may sound, but a lot of 10th class students have already been admitted in corporate colleges in M.P.C. and Bi.P.C courses, though their examinations are beginning on Wednesday.

Representatives of corporate colleges who used to target students after the declaration of 10th class results have changed their strategy and are approaching parents with promises of heavy fee discounts if they book the seats now.

The deal is that parents have to pay Rs. 2,000 now and the remaining at the time of admission. The achievements of the college and the ranks obtained by its students are drilled into the minds of parents.

Along with it some fear is also instilled that if the 10th class scores are not good the student may not get admission or the fee concession later. Of course, scores of parents are falling for the bait.

"I am impressed by their statistics and paid the money," agrees Venkat Reddy, a small businessman in Amberpet. "They offered 25 per cent discount if the seat is booked now but if the marks are above 90 per cent concession would be as high as 80 per cent," he said explaining the offer given to him. Almost all the corporate colleges are offering similar packages.

Strategy

"This is a part of our admission strategy," says a lecturer of a corporate college and argues that there is nothing wrong in promoting their achievements. "It is for the parents and the students to decide and we don't force them."

Lot of parents find no fault with such offers as their first option is anyway a good college.

But is it advisable for parents to books seats in advance?

Officially it is illegal to start admissions before the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) announces the dates but parents should also remember that only a few out of the lakhs of students get ranks. No college can create a ranker but they can only assist in enhancing the learning abilities of students with good teachers.

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