WISE COUNSEL: Panelists at The Hindu Education Plus Career Counselling-2007 in the city on Saturday. — PHOTO: P.V. Sivakumar

Hyderabad: Its time again for students to gear up for forthcoming counselling in both engineering and medicine streams. After the declaration of the EAMCET and other entrances' results, both students and parents flocked to the career counselling event organised by The Hindu Education Plus and Sri Chaitanya group of Institutions here on Saturday.

"Civil or mechanical? Which course do I opt for and which college is better"? Asks P. Raju, an engineering aspirant, at the interaction session between students and experts at the counselling session. About 1,500 students turned up for the counselling held at Sri Sathya Sai Nigamagamam.

The conflict between colleges and branches persisted. Should one go for an average course in a good college or a good course in an average college? With more and more students opting for engineering, the youngsters were a confused lot. Moreover, with the recent upsurge in the IT field, students were curious to know about the job scene when they graduate. How long will the IT boom continue, a girl wanted to know. Quoting a NASSCOM study, Ghanta Subba Rao, Professor in Computer Sciences, said 500,000 jobs were going a begging for want of right persons.

"You must try and choose a stream or profession that would be good for you in the long run", said Srinivas Murthy, an architect.

The questions flew thick and fast. Many students sought to know about specialised courses such as mechotronics, bio-medical engineering and difference between biotechnology and bioinformatics. How would engineering help in getting into aeronautics? "No, you don't require engineering at all. Just pass the test held by NDA", the experts informed.

Gender-specific

What kind of branch suits girls? They are capable of studying any branch. The only difficult areas are mining and metallurgy. There was a question on choosing between a university college and a

private college. Somebody wanted to know about prospects of an average student taking CEC and ECE. "If you are average or below average in intelligence nothing to worry. But if you are average in hard work, it matters", said Kumar of Sri Chaitanya Institute.

Dr. Subba Rao stressed importance of soft skills, computer and Internet skills and learning skills. He asked parents to check the track record of placements of colleges before joining.

"A college that can provide students with better infrastructure, faculty, hostel and library is ideal one to choose", said T. Srinivasulu Reddy replying to a question.

Afternoon session

In the afternoon session, the questions centred around MBBS, BDS, pharmacy courses. Many sought clarifications about local and non- local status. L.Venkat Rao, former member, MCI, cautioned students about the pitfalls of doing medical course in China.

Medicine for money?

He told students that medicine was not for making money.

"It gives you honour and respect. If you want to make money go for IIT, IIMs and ISB", he advised.

"When I came in for the counselling, I was confused about which course to choose, now I know what I am going to do", remarked M.V.N Abhishek, an engineering aspirant echoing the view of many others.

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