Being a parent today in a world filled with gadgets and info overload is a challenge. And as parents of teenage kids on the threshold of getting into college becomes a greater challenge. More so for the parents who happen to serve in the Defence Forces who only have seen a straight path, straight from school to NDA. For them the College admission choices are bewildering. Even for parents who have had the opportunity to go through colleges to find their calling, the number of options were far lesser two decades back.
As parents we may be bombarded with numerous applications forms that pop up everywhere. Which one is the best college? What is ideal? Should I apply for everything? Which should be my priority?….these are few of the questions that must be taking your time and mind space. As a Career Counsellor who has seen this cycle for past many years, I would like to assure you that your child will find their sweet spot sooner than later. So let us now decode how to go about it systematically.
Find Your Passion. The first thing to decide is what your child wants to do. Its about finding the child’s IKIGAI. Many kids have that clarity and for those who do not have, get in touch with a Career Counsellor who would assess the child using the best Psychometric Assessments and then inform us which path works best. Please ensure that they tell you not only the stream but even the specifics. Because the requirement of an IT Engineer is far different from a Mechanical Engineer even though both are Engineering Stream.
Identify Choices. For most kids the main choice would be IIT JEE or NEET or NATA or IPMAT or CLAT or UCEED as the first option. So naturally the best colleges like IITs, AIIMS, IIM Indore, NLU or IIT Mumbai would be one’s target. However, it is also good to have a standby college option in case the desired result do not come as expected in the chosen main stream college. It’s also good to keep a Subsidiary choice which may be from a different field which could be the child’s second career option.
Select the Best College. We must do our best to help our kids focus on the main exam for the chosen main stream, and try to get admitted in the best colleges which are of national repute. One can find the best colleges from various sites like Shiksha.com, CollegeDunia.com etc. The NIRF 2021 rankings are also a great help to find the reputed colleges in each field. India Today 2021 survey and similar such surveys also gives us a deep insight. Placement data is also a best dipstick to get a feel of the colleges repute.
Alternate Plan. Simultaneously one should also keep an alternate admission going on, should the Main Choice Stream and College plan not work out. This is where the plethora of private colleges come handy. There are a few reputed colleges like BITS / VIT/MIT/SRM who have an entrance exam and it is good to get a seat booked there. Other Private Universities offer admission from Early Bird till last day of their new semester. The dilemma comes here. Should we apply in all colleges or not?
It is best to target no more than 2-3 colleges. Apply in those selected 2-3 private colleges for the main choice stream and secure an admission with a clause that fee if paid should be refundable should the child get into better colleges. UGC has made it clear that refund must be provided less any authorized deductions that are declared initially. It is good as Parents to secure this ‘refund of fee’ aspect in writing so that you can apply for refund later.
Medical Aspirants. The above strategy may not really work for the Medical students because they are strictly bound by the one and only NEET exam. The option left here is to secure private college admissions after the results are declared or plan for alternate careers in Bio Science Research or other streams.
Defence Quota. It is also good to apply for the 5% Defence quota (if applicable). As per UGC, all centrally aided colleges are supposed to provide this quota. Many private colleges also extend this. Some like Neemrana University/ Ashoka even provide fee concessions.
So in short, Identify the Passion, Decide the main choice of Stream, Identify and try our best to get to the Best College. At the same time secure admission in private college of Main Choice stream (at the best 2-3 colleges). Those of you who would like to play safe may also apply for the Subsidiary choice too.
We wish you a stress free, relaxed college admission time where the child and parent are happy spending less money in traveling to various colleges or writing exams. We wish your child a successful satisfied future, while remaining Happy. We hope they find their IKIGAI!
For more info you may visit www.renergetics.com/careercounselling
