Last week we saw some news regarding the government rulings about the self financing engineering colleges. There was certain minimum pass percentage that the government wants the self financing colleges to ensure in order to continue with the right to run the colleges. Although the merits and demerits of such a scenario are to be debated in public, there are certain things that the situation indicates to the serious engineering aspirants.

1. There are certain colleges where the pass percentages are very likely to be poor

2. There are a lot of students who have finished college but are not graduates

Just looking at the first case tells us that there is a lot to ponder about before joining a college. Petty things like proximity to the college should take a back seat for the serious candidates. More research needs to be done regarding the performance of the college in general and the departments in particular before joining a college. An argument that one can put forward is that” if I am good, college just doesn’t matter”. There are counter arguments to this

1. Peer pressure always works in colleges. So if the general result is low, chances are more likely that your result will also deteriorate or at best remain stable. There is no scope for improvement and that itself renders you uncompetitive.

2. The image of your degree is the image of your college and therefore you will always be viewed sceptically when you name your college. It is therefore hard work, after that, to create a positive impression.

The lot of people who have completed college and are not graduates are the ones who are going to bear the brunt of this. They are engineers in the eyes of the society but not in the eyes of the corporate. They have to be satisfied with the local jobs that are on offer. There may be the occasional Bill Gates from college dropouts but the majority will struggle. It is also wise to remember that Bill Gates was a dropout by choice!! The problem with the set of people who have completed but not passed is that they cannot go for a blue collar job because of high public expectations. There is the problem of repayment of educational loans also. Ask the banks about defaulters and they will give you a big list. Most of the people in these lists will be people who are not having degrees after their education.

The quality and more importantly the attitude of an educational institution will decide if there is a good ambience in the college for a professional to develop. This goes beyond the glossy buildings that you see and is more intellectual than physical.

So, when you evaluate your choices for joining an engineering college make sure that you do not look only at the buildings and infrastructural facilities but the intellectual and professional ambience also. A certain parameter that will be of good use will be the academic results and the placement details of the college. If you cannot do the research yourself take professional help lest you make a mistake and then regret it all life.