Sunday, June 8, 2008

PLEASE BE RATIONAL- FOLLOWING WILL HELP YOU TO FIGURE OUT WHICH ROAD TO TAKE

The journey doesn't come to an end after cracking some entrance exam, in fact it just gets a heads up form there;There are so many branches which paint the canvas to become even more illusory.
Think rationally, THE WHYs::

1) Why have you chosen engineering?

2) What are your interests in here or what are you really up to?

If the picture is not clear here are some checks which may help you-

1) if you are passionate about engineering- go for the branch of your interest, name and reputation of college takes the back seat, the 2nd priority.

Now how to decide the branch of your interest?

Well if you are some comp geek, there is absolutely nothing wrong in being one (already have some languages up your sleeve) or have some real passion for games and the Internet then you are expected to have a coding gene or two in you. Or if you have some coding experience and it was to your liking go for Computer science as your first preference and Information technology as your second. Note IT is not available in IITs. The drawback with IT is, it is not much recognized as a branch but is seen like something that has manifest itself due to demand and boom in IT sector. The smart money is on rather normal growth and potential in this sector or even some dip following the economic crisis that has been lurking for quite a while now.

Well not a coding warrior? You can go for Electronics and communication/telecommunication (ECE/ ETE), the ever green branch with good scope as well as nice pay checks. Please note it is different from Electrical and electronics (EE), the difference being the scale of electronics involved while the later has heavy electronics under its purview, ECE has semiconductors. The stress in case of the former is on the small components that make our electronic devices like semiconductors, ICs, chips, printed boards, example being the core hardware of any computer. In case of the later you will take on giant electronics which we see all around us, the line cables, transformers, motors etc. it is a millennium long trend that people prefer ECE over EEE in NITs and EEE is one hot branch in IITs only after comps (There is no ECE in IITs).

The hardware fantasy, the very base of the world we see around us, Mechanical, is arguably the coolest branch in engineering, definitely not for most girls (Said at the risk of sounding Chauvenist) due to the heavy duty, physical pain and prosaic dresses that these warriors have to wear during those eternal long hours in their labs. From robotics to automobile to aerospace all has mechanical at its heart. It is not all sweaty hard work in non-ac labs but has a fair share of auto-cad designs and other easier on glucose activities. Has a lot of scope with specializations in Aeronautics, Automobile, Thermodynamics etc.

Civil is expected to become one major player in the infrastructure and construction boom in most developing nations including India. Architecture is seeing growth like never before. Fascination for structure and skyscrapers a must for any aspirant.

Chemical is an evergreen branch and boosts a constant growth. Do you have some interest for chemistry the mystery? Higher studies and you will be among the most sought after few.

Metallurgy can be preferred over mining engineering because it has a wider scope.

2) Not a genuine engineer inside? Go for the coolest ones the ones with good packages and yet involve minimum effort. Comps, IT, Mech, Civil make the cut. They are listed in order of my preference. Name, reputation of college takes control, tags really matter in your case. I made a mistake in this regard. You are anyway going to take a different road, non engineering one. So it will be better to be known by the reputation of coll, that establishes you as some sort of performer, a guy with apti or tenacity or whatever. For example an IITian tag is much better than some good branch in non IIT coll when your concern does not involve branch, at least the tag signifies you cracked JEE.

But as is the case with most people, we have little idea afresh from high school if we do have an engineer inside or what we want to do with life in the first place + the madness about engineering/medical and a rather misplaced euphoria doesn't help the cause either. So consult, open your heart to people who want the best for you in order to realize what you want.
Google all your doubts and concerns.

I can sum up for the time being with a well realized statement: sooner than later you would end up with what you deserve, just don't let your ill-choices or circumstances to bog u down.

12 comments:

  1. it s good t see u r trying 2 help freshers.I think you shud keep this work up n write more informed and insightful articles ..
    though u r writin ur personal view i think ur knowledge n perspectives abt some branches are quiet vague n may misguide ppl..
    Your view towards EE branch is specially seems 2 be stereotype n lop-sided

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks satyajit...
    yup its my personal view, but by no means a skewed one... i don't have stereotypes with EE... it may be like that only in our coll...u seem to be some EE guy or prospective EE!! Hhehe..nothing personal...

    ReplyDelete
  3. See man..Your topic name starts with rational,n i guess u r just trying to protect the ego n arguing without any logic..N for the hell sake i m not ee
    I m CS frm IIT Roorkee ..
    I guess u r really biased against EE..
    Man,u got to collect info abt any branch b4 writing it down under n there is no need to promote EC branch vehemently..C..it may be dat u may ve got sm friend in ee whom u do nt like
    "Electrical and electronics (EE), the difference being that the later is less cool and more hectic as I have seen, less rewarding too."
    Read above lines again n scratch ur head twice ..What s rewad?What is coolness?
    Sm 6-7 lakh package.

    ReplyDelete
  4. no coolness has nothing to do with package ... its all about how much effort u put in and what reward u get in lieu.Its definitely more hectic as i see and i've one of my best friends in ee, who says explicitly dat it sucks @ NITK... Its demanding, very demanding, taking a toll sometimes but not very rewarding(in terms of package, opportunities, satisfaction)... u do stuff thats lot smaller in ECE as compared to EE, and as many say small is beautiful, cool, less toiling.
    i hate to sound like a cynic but u seem to be some dude who is definitely not CS, EE perhaps lol...
    look forward towards worthy communication, thanks for ur interest.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think u 2 should stop fighting like kids...Behave responsibly...methinks u r not serious abt this at all...

    ReplyDelete
  6. hey it takes a lot to get hold of some data and write... give it a try and u ll know... not serious, haaaaaaa.... u got to be kidding me...my soul aim is to help freshmen... pardon if we went too far...

    ReplyDelete
  7. How is ece as a branch in NITK?Are we forced to slog our butts off or is it manageable?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi, Sachin, ECE NITK: MAN!!!I believe u r a 1st/2nd year... it is ofcourse manageable..nobody got killed as far as i know... but when muggus from all over the country come to sloggin temple then u better shed some weight off ur ass too...to just survive...

    my personal experience with ece is not what you shud get into.... very dark there... no FFs, average CGPA but pretty disappointing...

    Now it is up to u... do u feel the call, some ppl mug coz they don't feel any calling for the subject, they just see marks ie CGPA, which a decent enough muggu can earn a plenty... but now coz this secret is out, muggu land has become very crowded and sloggin has embarked new heights...

    if u like the subjects, get the feel then u don't ve to mug, just concentrate on those u like and score average or about in rest... part yourself from the herd mentality...

    but if you are not feeling very psyched up about ece all in all, chill, study so as not to flunk and keep ur self busy looking into something you might like...

    ReplyDelete
  9. grewal bhaiya, i read your blog and found it quite fascinating and informative. I am at the place where one would be more confused than excited. So yeah, i need your advice for my college. i am from bihar (but never lived in bihar). I had studied in KVs till my 10th grade in india then i came to islamabad, pakistan as my dad was posted here in the embassy. Now i have recently completed my 12th grade from the international school here. Now i am lucky that I am getting a quota for the NITs . My mom and dad wants me too study ECE.

    NOW THE MAIN TWO QUESTIONS :-
    a) college
    b) branch

    I am getting seats in ECE branch at NITK and nit allahabad and DCE. My top 2 preferences are nit allahabad and nitk. My parents are worried about the culture, language, food etc. etc. at NITK, so they are preferring NIT Allahabad over NITK. or is NITs better than dehli college. However I am quite fluent in Hindi and English. but no Kannada. ... :(
    Rankings on the different sources also suggest that they are pretty close. So i have no idea. PLEASE HELP ME. Also let me know about the ragging in these two colleges as i am really paranoid.

    My plan is to do MBA after my 4 years of engineering
    either by cracking CAT
    OR by getting a scholarship to any BUSINESS SCHOOL in the US.

    So u please suggest me which is better among all these three colleges.
    I will be grateful for your detailed reply. please reply AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

    PARANOID AAKASH.

    ReplyDelete
  10. hi pramod,
    above comment is a mail i recieved... following is the response that i want to share with everyone... it is really helpful to learn from others experiences as all of us face very similar issues..

    Good that you are having so many choices...am putting across some questions, answer them asap and will come up with some suggestions...

    some of the questions u mite not like or think of as what the hell is this related to? Trust me, put forth your response, honest. they do divulge very imp info...

    1) How would you term yourself on studies... in what percentage of class were u in ur school days? Now u may be a top ranker of ur class even without hard work coz the class envo might not have been very studious!
    so be honest, i just want to know how good ur at studies, do u like it? How much u scored in 10th board, i believe u were in India that time, in a kV. that will provide really useful info esp about how much of a hard woker u r...in 10th std ppl really don't have much incentive to study, a science stream is up for grabs at 75%, but ppl still slog presumably due to parental, social pressure or coz they are brougt up with a feel to study and work hard...

    2) Why are u not taking up DCE? what are the choices avbl there?

    3) Did u give any competitive exams? ur ranks? (believe u r taking up MEA quota)

    P.S. kannada (local language), ragging are no issues... they should not deter u from selecting ur coll.... coz the situation is not that bad anywhere!
    And try not to get too ahead of time... all freshers tend to make this mistake, not excluding myself when i was one...


    there is lot of uncertainty wrt competitive exams esp CAT and no international colleges of some repute esp in US accepts applications from freshers for their MBA program..min 2 yrs of exp mate on top of a good resume and decent marks in qualifying exams!

    for now this information about ur dreams serves well to show u want to switch fields... that is fine and in that case, coz u r anyway not going for IITs, so brand of college is not a concern, nobody knows any Indian coll except IITs or (big may be) BITS outside India... Plus u don't
    have to stick with the branch (coz u want to go for MBA), so really have a free hand here with ur choice... i think u should go for college envo, city culture etc

    ECE, esp has little to give for MBA, i would rather recommend Comps, generates scope in IT sector managment thereafter (that is if u have some interest in coding, computers apart form just games)
    or civil, mech. A mba degree with these branches do produce additional opportunities...

    mail me the answers..will get back with final thing...

    u can call me at 9043039241..for more

    ReplyDelete
  11. hi pramod,
    above comment is a mail i recieved... following is the response that i want to share with everyone... it is really helpful to learn from others experiences as all of us face very similar issues..

    Good that you are having so many choices...am putting across some questions, answer them asap and will come up with some suggestions...

    some of the questions u mite not like or think of as what the hell is this related to? Trust me, put forth your response, honest. they do divulge very imp info...

    1) How would you term yourself on studies... in what percentage of class were u in ur school days? Now u may be a top ranker of ur class even without hard work coz the class envo might not have been very studious!
    so be honest, i just want to know how good ur at studies, do u like it? How much u scored in 10th board, i believe u were in India that time, in a kV. that will provide really useful info esp about how much of a hard woker u r...in 10th std ppl really don't have much incentive to study, a science stream is up for grabs at 75%, but ppl still slog presumably due to parental, social pressure or coz they are brougt up with a feel to study and work hard...

    2) Why are u not taking up DCE? what are the choices avbl there?

    3) Did u give any competitive exams? ur ranks? (believe u r taking up MEA quota)

    P.S. kannada (local language), ragging are no issues... they should not deter u from selecting ur coll.... coz the situation is not that bad anywhere!
    And try not to get too ahead of time... all freshers tend to make this mistake, not excluding myself when i was one...


    there is lot of uncertainty wrt competitive exams esp CAT and no international colleges of some repute esp in US accepts applications from freshers for their MBA program..min 2 yrs of exp mate on top of a good resume and decent marks in qualifying exams!

    for now this information about ur dreams serves well to show u want to switch fields... that is fine and in that case, coz u r anyway not going for IITs, so brand of college is not a concern, nobody knows any Indian coll except IITs or (big may be) BITS outside India... Plus u don't
    have to stick with the branch (coz u want to go for MBA), so really have a free hand here with ur choice... i think u should go for college envo, city culture etc

    ECE, esp has little to give for MBA, i would rather recommend Comps, generates scope in IT sector managment thereafter (that is if u have some interest in coding, computers apart form just games)
    or civil, mech. A mba degree with these branches do produce additional opportunities...

    mail me the answers..will get back with final thing...

    u can call me at 9043039241..for more

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello Happy sir, i have got state rank of 175 in AIEEE for karnataka. I want to do a Comp oriented course. I can easily get IT i think, but i am hoping for CS. i have got a very good rank in KCET and i can get a CS seat in RV and pesit. So please tell me which is better? IT at NITK or CS at RV.
    I aim to do my masters abroad, so which might look better on my CV?

    ReplyDelete

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