What are the most common questions asked by students at the time of UG admissions?

By Govind Sharma

Asking questions is important but asking the right questions is even more important. The course you choose after your 10+2 decides your career ahead. You must definitely have a zillion questions in your mind and the only way to ensure a clear path to tread, after your Class 12, is to get the correct guidance from experts so that you can make a more informed decision, while deciding your future course of action.

Here’s a list of the most common questions that students post on Shiksha.com. These answers will provide you the guidance you may need at the time of UG admissions:

Question 1: Which course should I pursue after my 10+2?

You may get different answers from different people on this. Somebody may tell you to go for BBA, somebody may suggest you to do CA, and somebody will ask you to go for engineering and so on.
There is no hard and fast rule for the same. Few people may advise you to do something relevant and many may dissuade you and give you the traditional answer to pursue the course attracting most money. However, I advise you to:

1. Go to a good online portal providing free aptitude test or visit a good psychologist conducting such psychometric tests.

You may choose following:

• Do a career test
• What is the right career for me
• How to selectt a college course after Class 12?

You may also search for other various paid and free tests.

You may also visit a career counselling link.

However, I am not convinced with a too generalised approach of the questions there, however, it is a great tool to explore career opportunities.

Please note, results of these tests are indicative and also subjective. You need to honestly reply to all the questions. Once done move to step 2

2. Check whether you really have interest in the subject and career suggested. Once done, move to step 3.

3. See your passion. Whether you are really passionate about the subject matter of the course. After that move to step 4.

4. Job/ prospects of the course: Check what kind of career prospects you have after completing the course. Once done move to final step

5. Top institute and the requirement for the course.

I am sure this will help you.

Question 2: Which courses will give me more money and 100% placement? I need an MNC job and good salary.

Answer: There are multiple options. First of all apart from the course, an aspirant must have required qualities like communication skills, confidence, other qualities and of course qualifications from a good and reputed institute. Without this, both are not possible. Alongwith this, to get success in that particular job, you need to have passion about it otherwise you may get a job but may not be able to retain it.

Question 3: Which engineering branch is the best/ which MBA branch is best for job opportunities?

Answer: There is no specific rule for this. The importance of qualification is dynamic and changes with time, depends on the job market, industry conditions, performance of that particular specialisation professionals in the past etc. Always remember to choose a reputed institute with impeccable quality and placement record.

Question 4: Should I choose X engineering/ BBA college?

Answer: These are common questions and asked very often. Please note that out of the overall engineering and MBA colleges, hardly 4% are able to provide quality education and placements. So you need to be very careful. Always check the following:

1. Ranking of the institute
2. Whether it has approval from all necessary bodies like AICTE, AIU, UGC, NCTE, PCI, CoA, MCI and so on.
3. Total fee of the institute
4. Minimum salary its students get
5. Maximum salary
6. Average salary
7. Time taken to get ROI (Return on investment). Students have suffered badly after taking education loan and failed to repay it due to lack of employment after doing courses from institutes with much hyped advertising.
8. Check complaints against such institutes online and always speak to its alumni.

Question 5: I want to do MBA, which course should I take in graduation?

Answer: There is no prerequisite for MBA. Graduates from any stream can apply for an MBA programme. The highest number of students are from engineering (for top institutes), then from commerce and business studies, then science and a small percentage is from arts stream (hardly 4%). You need to understand that you have to appear for entrance examination to pursue MBA and one of the requirements is quantitative analysis. Considering this, you should opt for a course with subjects like mathematics, statistics and operation research.

Question 6: I got X percentile in engineering/ medical CET/ JEE/ NEET and X percentage in my HSC. In which college will I get admission?

Answer: You should refer to the official website of concerned state departments conducting and handling such entrance exams. For example, in Maharashtra you should refer www.dtemaharashttra.gov.in and refer http://apeamcet.org/ for Andhra Pradesh. You should analyse last years’ trends and accordingly choose an institute. If you become over optimistic and choose an institute with higher cut off, possibly you may lose your seat. So choose wisely.

Question 7: I have course A and B in my mind. Which course is easier? I do not want to study a lot.

Answer: I have seen students asking this question too. For a science student, studying Economics or Political Science seems to be very difficult and same for an arts student to study Biology. It all depends on your own interest, aptitude and dedication. Please never follow an easy way, always follow your passion. If you have interest in a particular subject and you are passionate about it, you will definitely find it easier and you will succeed in it.

Question 8: I have X per cent in HSC, which subject should I pursue?

Answer: Choosing a subject is never dependent on percentage. It all depends on your aptitude, interest, passion and career goal. I never had been academically brilliant as I hardly used to study other than the exam days but I always preferred to update myself with current affairs, knowledge and learning from newspaper and novels. However, I opted for MBA in Human Resources. Nobody would have ever thought that I’ll move in my career like this and today, I am well placed with a well known brand. So it all depends.

You need to be alert and careful while choosing a course and a university as it is a turning point in your career. You may be asked questions about your decision for choosing a particular course, you may not be able to pursue higher education in the field of your choice due to a wrong selection. You may opt for a course for money but you may not find it interesting later and may even end up leaving it halfway. Therefore, it is better to take calculated decisions than regretting.

All the best!

About the author:

Govind Sharma is a HR professional with over 10 years of experience in career planning, guidance and management.He is a leading Shiksha Counsellor.