Merits and Demerits Of Deemed Colleges

Like many parents, I too am pretty confused about admissions into deemed colleges. The main criteria  while choosing a good college  (apart from recognition by the UGC/AICTE)... are

1. Faculty

2. Infrastructure

3. Placements,
and I found all these in some of the deemed colleges in Tamil Nadu.

But it made me wonder .. why then do parents prefer to admit their children in Anna Univ Recognized college rather than the deemed colleges,  by paying  hefty one time capitation for management seats, when most of the state colleges lack the basic infrastructure, like a good library to a decent auditorium?...

The answer I got from many was "that the students from the deemed colleges when applying for higher education abroad are at a disadvantage over the Anna Univ colleges."

But, these deemed colleges are accredited by ABET USA which the other colleges lack ... and I have met a few alumni/students from these deemed colleges who have gone abroad for their masters degree, few of them are pursuing a Semester Abroad Program in their last year of their B Tech degree.

With all these questions pondering.. I approached a friend who works as an educational counsellor with my question

 " What is the difference between deemed and the other state recognized colleges?"

Her answer was..

1. The deemed colleges follow a method of Grade Point System using credits in their semester for assessing  students , whereas the state colleges follow the examination pattern, with the end semester paper from the Anna University.

2. The student needs to perform well in all the fields, from co curricular activity to project works to cycle tests and semester exams where the credits are marked accordingly and a final GP is arrived at the end of the semester. Whereas in state colleges only the end semester exam results are taken into consideration, which means the child need not participate in any activity, and just the scores in the examination is going to fetch him a good result.

3. When applying for higher education the colleges abroad assess the marks/credit equivalent  along with the GRE/GMAT scores. Hence to get a high credit in the deemed colleges the student has to be consistent throughout the semesters in all the activities of the college, whereas the state college student need not worry about all the co curricular activities and just be academic oriented.

4. When applying for the Class A colleges abroad the deemed colleges are not in the list of colleges in the world ranking, whereas  The Anna University stamped certificate holds a better  in these colleges though they too dont feature in the top colleges in the world. (IIT Bombay, Delhi is the only college ranked within the top 100 colleges in the world)
5. The student gets a BE Degree from a state college whereas the degree awarded to the deemed colleges is B Tech. 

This summed up to - the student has to attain a good rank in his GRE/GMAT scores as well as his marks from the state colleges when applying for the Class A colleges.

And I wondered-,whether the overall development or just securing marks was important in the long run for a student graduating as an engineer ?

.

My friend just smiled.. 

so I asked her with much curiosity ..... in which college she would prefer admiting her son,

she smiled again and said ANNA UNIVERSITY COLLEGES.. "I would'nt want my son to loose out on the little chance if ever he wants and qualifies to pursue his education in Class A colleges abroad".

But even the students from IIT and NITs do not qualify for an admission from these colleges ? was my next query...and she smiled wider (which only confirmed that she indeed was a good counselor).

I am still confused.. 

the only option I had was to apply for all the colleges and see how my son fairs and leave the option open to select the college and branch he finds himself eligible in the end....

CBSE Students Lag Behind In Tamil Nadu Counselling

A state which was known as the hub for producing brilliant engineers has gifted few of its brilliant students to its neighboring states towards their graduation in the field of engineering. This section of my blog will post links and my views on the downfall of the education system  in Tamil Nadu. Comments and opinions on this post is most welcome.

With both political parties not favoring the common entrance exam in the state, stating its reason as setting an equal platform for the students both in rural and urban areas, has resulted in discriminating the CBSE and ICSE students from entering the arena of Anna University Colleges. The government fails to note that option for these students who have selected the different boards other than the state board is mainly due to their parents serving in Central Government jobs and have to keep up with the common syllabus when being transferred from one place to the other, sometimes even in the midst of the academic sessions. Apart from the disrupted school years due to transfers of their parents these students have to stoop to the only option of seeking admissions in the Deemed colleges as most of them have an entrance exam which these children clear comfortably or  pay hefty amount for management seats in the state Pvt colleges, if they wish to pursue their education in Tamil Nadu. The only advantage they face is to have an edge in the competitive exams of IITJEE and AIEEE as they are more well versed with the concepts and fundamentals of the subjects and do well in these exams. Sad to say that a child clearing these competitive exams with a good rank finds her/his name at the bottom of the list at the State's single window counselling system  and is offered a college without reputed status in some remote corner of the state. Few of these students move to other states competing in their entrances and find a seat in a good college and graduate as engineers from the  neighboring states.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3391295.ece

Deemed Colleges Vs NIT-Trichy

The link below by The Hindu discusses why Tamil Nadu state students do not obtain a seat in NIT- Trichy which holds 50% seats as state quota.
The main reason apart from the facts discussed in the article is the delay in announcing the results of AIEEE   leaving the students to join deemed universities over NIT in spite of qualifying with a decent score in the AIEEE. (for instance this year the deemed colleges ask the candidate to pay the full fees much before the NITs announce their counselling list, and a particulat college starts its academic session even before the date of NITs first counselling, which leaves many continuing in the deemed college as there is no refund of fee after the commencement of classes).

Dates Of Counselling By Deemed Colleges

VIT - 30000/ at the time of counselling ( 14th to 19th May) 10000/ non refundable
The remaining of 93000/ before 18th June
The college reopens on 4th of July (10000/ + special fee + admission fee non refundable within one month of commencement of classes)

SRM - 75000/ at the time of counselling ( 12th to 18th June) 1000/ non refundable
The rest 75000/ + special fee + admn fee  before 30th June

AMRITA -  30000/ to be paid at the time of counselling (4th June to 10th June) 1000/ non refundable
                  The rest to be paid within 10 days from the date of counselling.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF AIEEE RESULTS ON OR BEFORE 15th JUNE 2012
FIRST ROUND COUNSELLING - 28th June TO 2nd  July
SECOND ROUND                        - 6th  TO 10th July

The Hindu : Education : AIEEE: Tamil Nadu needs to shape up for better results