College Chitchat

In collaboration with collegedunia

I am soooo sorry for doing the disappearing act. Totally unpardonable….but I have been so uninspired and lethargic lately that it seemed like a severe case of writer’s block. So I did what is most prescribed in this situation…took a break. I took a couple of days off from work and went to a city where I lived; Mumbai, but this time as a tourist to explore the city like I never did while I was living there (I know I was pretty boring while in college :D). And this trip down memory lane (literally!) has fully charged me with the inescapable Mumbai energy and I am ready to roll! :D

 Mumbai being a melting pot of people from varied backgrounds, cultures, education and professions, gave me a chance to gain an insight into this cross section of population from close quarters (One word – Mumbai locals, ok two words but it can’t really get any closer than that! :D). What really fascinated me was the sheer number of career options people were considering and following and the sheer number of institutes/courses available (information gleaned from random chats with strangers in the locals and considerable amount of eavesdropping:D). I cringe every time I think back about how I made my career option. Before even exploring other options, I just decided that I was going for Engineering because I was from “Science” stream and most of my classmates/cousins were doing the same. As per the usual drill I wrote a few entrance exams; IIT JEE (who was I kidding :D), AIEEE (proud CBSE student :P) and MHCET (backup :D). The final admission process was literally a blur as I had no clue what I was supposed to do (did everyone but me know about the so called “Vacancy Round”!!). Finally I stumbled upon SIES college and after a brief chat with a girl who did her MBA from the same institute (yup that was all the research I did about my college :D), I hopped and skipped into the college.

 Back then I don’t know if I was naïve (rather dumb actually) or really there was no information available but through some sheer stroke of luck it did work out for me. But in this age of cut throat competition (ok I am not as old as this sentence sounds :D) and cutting age students for lack of better word, I don’t think this kind of haphazard planning is going to work out. In fact the overload of information available now can be quite overwhelming (as I found during my brother’s admission five years down the line). There is a lot of information available out there but to weed through all of it to come to any conclusive decision is a herculean task. And that’s where portals like collegedunia come into the picture. This amazing site is a ready reckoner of colleges across various courses and streams with detailed information from cutoffs, fees, eligibility, placements, and amenities available etc. One can find college brochures, find application deadlines and even get phone alerts and also get questions answered by counselors. It has information on colleges for Management, Engineering, Medical, Arts, Science, Commerce, Law as well as Agriculture, Architecture, Fashion Designing, and Vocational courses. Do check this website out if you are a student or a parent. It truly looks like it will ease up the decision and the admission process to a great extent. 

Image from here