How to Pick the Right Engineering College: 10 Steps

Selecting the right engineering college is a daunting task both for the student and the family because the future of the child depends solely on this major decision. Thus, it becomes crucial that you take this vital decision with appropriate planning which should start right from the senior school and shouldn’t be left for the last minute. Below is a 10-pointer guide on how to pick the right engineering college:

1. Choose an engineering stream

The field of engineering has a vast scope with numerous upcoming technical fields every day. Thus, it is crucial to find an engineering field that matches your interests. Once you decide the right engineering branch, you will be more encouraged than before to take on the challenges in the next four years.

2. Consider and categorize colleges

While narrowing your search down to colleges, make sure you consider all the important points such as location, cost, accreditation, and engineering branch. You must also have a backup of a minimum three other engineering branch options so that you can opt one of those in case you are not able to get your selected stream. You can categorize your colleges into different categories such as – top-notch colleges, above average and average colleges in which you have higher chances of getting admissions.

3. List down your criteria

It is always wise to create a checklist of all the important factors that can help you narrow down the list of engineering colleges. Some of the factors that can be vital here are the distance from home, accreditation, location, degree, placement, financial aid or scholarships, educational qualifications of faculty members, campus life and campus facilities.

4. Prepare for an engineering entrance exam

With the growing competition to get admissions in the top-ranked institutes, it has also become a necessity for students to seek expert guidance to be able to qualify in the various engineering entrance examinations. Thus, it also becomes important to improve one’s core subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, from high school and join a coaching academy where you can be mentored on how to prepare for the engineering entrance examinations

5. Assess your priorities

Evaluate the pros and cons of each college that you are evaluating and then rank them on a scale of 1 to 10 on different parameters such as teacher-student ratio, college infrastructure, hostel facilities, the reputation of the institute, university affiliation, placement record, college ranking, recognition and more.

6. Check for eligibility for scholarships and financial aid

Check the eligibility criteria of scholarships given out by the engineering college so that you can have multiple options of getting into the best institutes without tuition fee becoming a constraint.

7. Take a campus tour

Whether you are planning to stay on or off campus, make sure you tour the campus once to assess the environment at the college. While touring the campus, you must specifically visit the laboratories, sporting facilities and the library. You can also interact with the students and faculty members to know their experience at the college.

8. Get adequate scores

Getting entry to a reputed college with self-preparation and proper coaching sessions is assured. Thus, aim for the merit quota colleges with affordable fee structure while writing the entrance examination to get the required scores.

9. Prepare for counseling

After clearing the entrance exam, the next step is counselling wherein you will be allotted a college based on your performance in the exam.

10. Finalize a college

Based on your counselling round and interaction with your seniors, you must finalize a college which matches your interests It is best not to select the right engineering college in a hurry. Thus, it is mandatory that students must start researching about their dream engineering college and courses right from senior school. India, being a vast country with close to 30 states and numerous streams offering industry- oriented programs and more than 50 engineering entrance examinations, every student needs to be proactive to secure his or her position in a reputed engineering college that offers excellent placement opportunities and ensure holistic development of students.

All the best!