UG Students At US And Canada Talk About How To Choose The Right Course

Question: How should a student go about choosing the right course? What was your experience like as a prospective student?

Akash Sethi: Initially it seems difficult to pick the right course because you feel you will be stuck with it for the rest for your life. I was mainly confused between computer engineering and software engineering. Although they are interrelated courses, I picked software engineering mainly because I’m interested in problem-solving using computers and this course gives me the opportunity to do so. Computer science is more research and math based.

If you are interested in any course apart from computers, don’t be worried about its scope and how it will turn out in future. I feel there is always scope to grow in your field if you are passionate about it.

Vedant Jain: I was confused about my course till the very end. So I researched a lot and by the end of my 12^th grade, I knew what I wanted to pursue. So you need to research really well about what course you are interested in. Biology stream has more than 500-course options so I had to research each and see which one I wanted to pursue.

My chosen field, biology, is research based so I followed similar magazines and journal. There is a magazine in India called Science Reporter, and I read its issues every week. It helped me spot interesting fields like Botany, Horticulture etc. That and the internet was my method of researching.

Iqra Khan: From what I have seen over my years as a counsellor, is that students are not confused about the stream but the course. There are so many course options in every stream that students have a hard time selecting one. Usually, I ask the students to go for a career assessment test or a psychometric test. It isn’t the most comprehensible method but it helps students in narrowing down their career options. I strongly suggest taking one such test. The test results will give you three to four career options to consider. From those options, the student can consider which is the best match for them based on their interests.

Udit Narang: I would like to add that most private schools have an in-house career counsellor nowadays. So all those students who are looking to get admission abroad right after their 12^th grade should get in touch with the admission counsellor. They might recommend a psychometric test like Iqra mentioned. The test results may not be 100% accurate but they will give you a glimpse and an idea about your strong areas.

Question: How important are rankings when it comes to choosing a university? How should one consider rankings?

Iqra Khan: Before looking at rankings, you should consider what are the parameters on which the rankings are based on. There are some rankings which are sponsored, where the university has tie-ups and partnership with the survey company. So you shouldn’t depend solely on one ranking. Some universities are rated the highest based on certain courses like research courses for example, and they may not be the courses you wish to pursue. So you should look at subject rankings, and parameters like student satisfaction, faculty, placement etc.

My advice would be to consider rankings, but not rely solely on them. If the university provides the right kind of exposure, placement, and is good at teaching the subject you have chosen then you should go for it.

Udit Narang: In the US, the universities and departments are separate as far as rankings are concerned. What I mean is that you should be looking at the department ranking. For example, if you wish to pursue a management course then you should look at the department ranking rather than the university ranking. There are US universities which are in the top 50 rankings, but they are not good at teaching management courses. On the other hand, there are universities which rank average overall but are in the top 50 list of the management department rankings.

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Question: I’m confused between pursuing Gaming Design course and Culinary Arts course. Please advise which one is better.

Udit Narang: Gaming Design has been a very popular upcoming field in the recent years. The demand for gaming designers has increased tremendously in the last decade, and those who have a degree in gaming design are in a lot of demand both in India and the US.

Iqra Khan: For the game designing course, apart from the US you can consider Singapore. It is an upcoming destination for IT, Computer and Designing courses. Apart from universities, there are a lot of polytechnics which have very good placement records.

To be a chef you need to pursue Hospitality Management course with specialization in culinary arts. Switzerland is considered to be the top destination for this course, or you can consider New Zealand, Australia and Canada as well.

Aakash Sethi: I have a classmate in my Software Engineering course who pursued a chef course from Algonquin College here in Ottawa. I have worked with a gaming designer during my internship, he also did his course from the same college. Both your course options are very practical classes, and you need to have some prior industry experience. Because of that, I would recommend looking at colleges rather than universities. Universities focus more on research-based education rather than industry based. These skills are in demand here in Canada

Question: Which course should I choose – Computer Science or Mechanical Engineering?

Udit Narang: It all depends on what career you wish to pursue in future and what kind of job you want after graduation. If you are fascinated with machines and engines, then engineering is better suited. However, if you are into robotics or embedded systems, then computer science will be the better option. Since it all depends on your interests, figure out which areas of these streams interest you the most and then make a decision.

About the Expert Panel

Vedant Jain

Vedant is in his first-year of the Biology undergraduate course at Pittsburg State University, USA.

Aakash Sethi

Akaash is currently pursuing the course Baccalaureate of Applied Sciences in Software Engineering from University of Ottawa, Canada.

Udit Narang

Udit is a student admissions counsellor at Shiksha.com with 4+ years of experience and is an expert of the US and Canadian universities.

Iqra Khan

Iqra is a student admissions counsellor at Shiksha.com with 8+ years of experience in study abroad counselling. She is an expert of European universities and Rest of the world universities.

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