It is that time in your life, where you have to choose from a platter. Whether you choose college A over college B should not be a random decision and instead be based on research on these colleges. It is time to start envisioning your life and understanding the basic premises and deciding factors for a choice you are about to make. Here is a list of certain things that you should find about colleges on your list, before you finally.
What defines a good institution is the quality of its teachers: Research the website of any college to find out the number of full time vs. part time faculty members, student to teacher ratio, background and qualification of the teachers. Dig and find out if faculty is from the same college, if yes, that’s a red flag, especially if a lot of senior (M.Tech and PhD) faculty is from the same college.
R&D department is the root of a college: Faculty quality can also be judged by the research output of any department. If the faculty is regularly churning out research papers, it indicates two things. One – that the faculty is up-to-date which would reflect in their teaching. Two – that the institution takes research seriously and would care to provide for the needed infrastructure.
Infrastructure reflects the aesthetics of a college: Maintaining a healthy study environment, in today’s day and age includes an up-to-date computer lab, good internet bandwidth, library, subscription to journals, hostels and accommodation facility, extracurricular activities. Consult the alumni or current students of the college and find out details about these facilities and more.
The Curriculum defines you: Is the college a deemed university, does it allow electives, how many electives are included. All this speaks of the quality of curriculum of the college. A good college will try and teach you less, and allow you to learn instead of spoon feeding you all the time. With a deemed university status, a college gets the flexibility to alter the curriculum and not necessarily subscribe to the university to which they are affiliated. Also check if the college includes humanities and social science courses. One cannot be a complete engineer without understanding economics, sociology, psychology, etc.
Alumni are a true reflection of the college: There is no debating this point. But do a reality check by finding out about 5 year old alumni of the college. Are they pursuing higher studies? You can check on social networks and try and connect via groups of alumni of that college. If a larger number of students are pursuing higher studies it means it means that a larger percentage of students are going to do well in their respective careers a few years down the road.
Count the chickens before they hatch: Well, there is no point in underplaying placements. As it s colleges play high on the placement figures of their institute. Again, do a reality check. Which companies visited campus? How were the placements in colleges with similar ranking? What type of companies visited campus? Do companies also hire Research Assistants from the college? What is the median and average salary offer ? Also, connect with college students to do a quality and quantity check.
Another important thing to note is whether the alumni association of the college is active and participating in college affairs. For most prestigious colleges, the alumni play an active role in the college, investing, interacting, and participating in bringing the latest of the world back to the college.
In general, do check word of mouth of the college: Do people talk well of the college. What are the rankings in surveys by third parties? Don’t go too much by the rankings; however consider them along with other factors mentioned above. Do check the standing of students of the college in inter college competitions, check latest news reports on the college, exchange programs with foreign universities, among other things?
Lastly, never make your final college selection without visiting at least your top two or three choices. No matter how well you think you know a college or university, you can learn a lot (good or bad) by spending a few hours on campus, including whether or not the college feels like a good "fit" for you. Having family members accompany you on college visits is a great idea because it gives you extra "eyes and ears" and people with whom you can discuss your impression.
Not the least, choosing where you want to go to college is an extremely personal -- and frequently stressful -- decision those teens and their families have to make. Let me add here that the eventual goal is to do find success in big and small things, and be happy in life. It depends on you and your passion to learn and secure knowledge, not just today but during your lifetime that will make you a success.
What defines a good institution is the quality of its teachers: Research the website of any college to find out the number of full time vs. part time faculty members, student to teacher ratio, background and qualification of the teachers. Dig and find out if faculty is from the same college, if yes, that’s a red flag, especially if a lot of senior (M.Tech and PhD) faculty is from the same college.
R&D department is the root of a college: Faculty quality can also be judged by the research output of any department. If the faculty is regularly churning out research papers, it indicates two things. One – that the faculty is up-to-date which would reflect in their teaching. Two – that the institution takes research seriously and would care to provide for the needed infrastructure.
Infrastructure reflects the aesthetics of a college: Maintaining a healthy study environment, in today’s day and age includes an up-to-date computer lab, good internet bandwidth, library, subscription to journals, hostels and accommodation facility, extracurricular activities. Consult the alumni or current students of the college and find out details about these facilities and more.
The Curriculum defines you: Is the college a deemed university, does it allow electives, how many electives are included. All this speaks of the quality of curriculum of the college. A good college will try and teach you less, and allow you to learn instead of spoon feeding you all the time. With a deemed university status, a college gets the flexibility to alter the curriculum and not necessarily subscribe to the university to which they are affiliated. Also check if the college includes humanities and social science courses. One cannot be a complete engineer without understanding economics, sociology, psychology, etc.
Alumni are a true reflection of the college: There is no debating this point. But do a reality check by finding out about 5 year old alumni of the college. Are they pursuing higher studies? You can check on social networks and try and connect via groups of alumni of that college. If a larger number of students are pursuing higher studies it means it means that a larger percentage of students are going to do well in their respective careers a few years down the road.
Count the chickens before they hatch: Well, there is no point in underplaying placements. As it s colleges play high on the placement figures of their institute. Again, do a reality check. Which companies visited campus? How were the placements in colleges with similar ranking? What type of companies visited campus? Do companies also hire Research Assistants from the college? What is the median and average salary offer ? Also, connect with college students to do a quality and quantity check.
Another important thing to note is whether the alumni association of the college is active and participating in college affairs. For most prestigious colleges, the alumni play an active role in the college, investing, interacting, and participating in bringing the latest of the world back to the college.
In general, do check word of mouth of the college: Do people talk well of the college. What are the rankings in surveys by third parties? Don’t go too much by the rankings; however consider them along with other factors mentioned above. Do check the standing of students of the college in inter college competitions, check latest news reports on the college, exchange programs with foreign universities, among other things?
Lastly, never make your final college selection without visiting at least your top two or three choices. No matter how well you think you know a college or university, you can learn a lot (good or bad) by spending a few hours on campus, including whether or not the college feels like a good "fit" for you. Having family members accompany you on college visits is a great idea because it gives you extra "eyes and ears" and people with whom you can discuss your impression.
Not the least, choosing where you want to go to college is an extremely personal -- and frequently stressful -- decision those teens and their families have to make. Let me add here that the eventual goal is to do find success in big and small things, and be happy in life. It depends on you and your passion to learn and secure knowledge, not just today but during your lifetime that will make you a success.
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