What's the right course?
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At a crossroads and faced with a muddled situation, aspirants to engineering and medical courses found some light at the end of the tunnel at the pre-counselling programme, says K. Ramachandran
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QUESTION TIME: Every student who attended the pre-counselling session had a question that needed an immediate answer. — Photo: N. Balaji
THE BIGGEST round of applause from the 1000-plus crowd that had gathered at the Music Academy on Friday, came when a panelist disclosed the hottest news in educational circles: some top colleges including SSN Engineering and Mepco Schlenk have surrendered 40 per cent of the management quota seats to the single window counselling by Anna University.
"It means 90 per cent of the seats (including 50 per of cent government quota seats) will be available for counselling. Now, is it not a big relief?" the career counsellor asked. A wave of relief and a round of big applause was the response.
Before the applause died down, a screen on stage lit up. A table showed the probable cut-off rank for each branch and in the top colleges. Students and parents began furiously scribbling down the numbers forecasting their chance of entering their dream college.
The pre-counselling guidance programme organised by The Hindu EducationPlus in association with AIMS Gateway and co-sponsored by the State Bank of India proved timely to bring clarity to a muddled situation. Not exactly a situation that the nearly 1,50,000 aspirants to medical, para-medical, engineering and other professional courses would like to be in. That too in the beginning of July when in a normal year the admissions would have passed the first round.
With many questions about the admissions this year floating around and very few answers and guidance available, students flocked to the venue seeking some light at the end of the tunnel. They certainly went back, if not with all answers, at least more aware of the complexities.
The parents were in a tizzy too. Many had taken the day off from work to get answers to the questions in their mind. "We parents need guidance too — that way we can guide our children properly," said the mother of a 17-year-old. The uncertainty about the admissions was troubling them and many queued up near the mike for clarifications on courses.
Even during the snack break, several parents and students were not diverted from the topic of the day, and they exchanged more notes about college admissions, compared ranks and checked out the offers at the State Bank of India's educational loan stall.
During the session, the panelists tried to get the students away from the beaten path and choose to specialise in lesser-known alternatives instead. Engineer wannabes can head towards food technology, fashion technology, pharmacy, mechatronics and geo-informatics, said one expert. Ayurveda, siddha, naturopathy, physiotherapy and nursing were alternatives thrown up for the medically-inclined.
A sample of the fare that was offered in the form of pre-counselling guidance lay in the Q and A session that came after the presentations by three eminent panellists: Prof. P.V. Navananeethakrishnan, a former Professor of Entrance Examinations and Admissions; Dr. C. Ramachandran, a former Secretary for Medical Admissions, and Mr. Jayaprakash Gandhi, a career counsellor and analyst.
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