Come November, engineering campuses are going to be in the exam mode once again. This is a half yearly phenomenon and there is nothing novel about it. However a casual approach to the exams has led many students into trouble in the past and will do the same this time as well. Though the university exam scores are no more green cards to a bright future, it will definitely act as a visa in many situations.

A single number that will portray your academic orientation to the outside world is going to be your aggregate percentage. Now-a-days this number is playing its role much before the final exam. During this placement season, where the companies profiled the 7^th semester students from campuses, they had the scores only up to the fifth semester to shortlist the candidates. The shortlisted students became eligible to take part in the company’s recruitment process which essentially consisted of an aptitude test followed by personal interviews or at times group discussions before the interviews.

 If we track the recruiters and their selection procedure over the last 5 years we can see that the vast majority of them had the academic cut off set in the range of 60% to 70%. The future job aspirants, especially the third semester and fifth semester students, should look at how their seniors were shortlisted by the companies. If you have any dream company where you would wish to work, understand their eligibility requirements and ensure that you meet those prerequisites. 

Another statistic that has gained importance due to the campus recruitments is the number of backlogs.  It indicates the number of papers which a student has not cleared on a given date.  Some companies do not consider students with standing backlogs; some allow one standing backlog while some allow a maximum of two. There are companies that even look at the history of failures in the student’s academic tenure.

Taking the aggregate up by even a percentage will be a herculean task if you are not on to it on a consistent basis. The four year engineering course as it is followed in our country consists of roughly 45 theory papers, 10 labs, a couple of projects and seminars.  Total marks come close to 5500 from the university exams and around 3000 from the internal evaluations. Improving the final percentage score by even one basis point would warrant an addition of 85 marks to the total. And if your want to lift your aggregate by 4 to 5 percentage points, it is going to be a hard task and may not be possible in a semester.

One should understand that the recruiters do not rely on the academic scores alone.  They have their own tested means of selecting the candidates – aptitude tests, GDs, role plays and interviews. Even though many recruiters have lost faith in the university system, in the absence of other reliable and easily available parameters, they continue to use the university scores as the first level screener.

A decent academic performance is important as it will fetch you an opportunity to prove your mettle to the recruiters and get you considered for the selection process of your coveted higher study option.  Academic debacle can put stone wall between you and your dreams and might prove irreparable. So tread with caution.