As of writing this piece, the trial allotment for engineering admissions has been done. The trend is very clear. Mechanical Engineering rules the roost. Civil and electrical engineering has also improved in perception. The hit is borne by the Computer Science and the IT branches. Both of them have fallen in favour. Why?

India still raves about her IT professionals. Information Technology is one of the major sources of Income for India. Technically qualified people are absorbed by the IT sector in numbers that no other industry can match. Statistics from the engineering colleges show that maximum placements happen in the IT sector. Still why has it fallen out of favour?

One argument that one can say is that the IT industry does not have preference for any branch and therefore even if you take any branch, it is fine. But the other question is that if you have to go to that sector why not study in the corresponding branch? Another argument is that one can look for a core job and if one does not succeed, there is always the chance of getting into the IT sector. If you want to compromise; why at the end and not in the beginning? At least you get used to what can be expected!!

But that is not the topic here. This trend lets out an opportunity for the so called back benchers to get their act straight. If you have fumbled with your entrance and got a low rank you can set it straight here. IT branch is available and the seats that are vacant are in numbers. Just go and get one of those seats, study hard and you are in the reckoning for a job as any other engineering graduate will be. This is a golden opportunity for those people who have missed out on the study track in the plus two levels.

Looking at the previous years’ trends we can find out that some seats in the government controlled self financing colleges is vacant. If you belong to the class of students who have not got a good rank but still want to do engineering, utilize these available seats. Get an entry into these colleges by entering your options. Get the IT branch and study hard. Ask any professor, the IT branch has better syllabus than many other branches and is as sought after by any software company as any other branch.

Popular perceptions are not always correct. So if you want to really become an engineer and get into the software sector and you have not got a good rank, you still can cherish your dream of becoming an engineer in an MNC by just selecting the IT branch and working hard towards it. As far as colleges are concerned, although some of them may have an edge, there are a vast majority of colleges in the same rankings and there is opportunity for good performers from every college, in the IT industry.

Once outside the college everybody is treated as same and if you are good you will be considered. The underlying thing is that you cannot miss out on your studies once too often. This time it is fine. You can redeem it by following the above strategy but a second coming may not be there once you goof up here also.