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Drop Year
Drop year is becoming a buzzword among students who are appearing for the final board exams and who have already appeared for final board exams, competitive exams like NEET , JEE.
In this post, we will discuss on what is drop year, who are the potential students who decide to take a drop year. We will also cover the advantages and disadvantages of drop year. We will also help understand whether is it really worthwhile to go ahead with a drop year.
Drop year means a student deciding that he is not going to join the college in the next academic year and instead will continue to write the competitive exam like NEET or JEE exam once again. We have come across students taking up drop years for even 3 years continuously.
Who are the potential drop year students :
- students who want to pursue MBBS based on NEET scores
- Students who want to join IIT based on JEEE scores
- Students who want to join Engineering in reputed colleges like NIT wherein admissions are based on JEE scores.
- Students who have taken up the above mentioned competitive exams but did not get the desired scores suitable for them to get admissions in their preferred colleges
Advantages of drop year :
- Students get additional one more year to prepare for the competitive exam
- Students have gained the experience of writing the competitive exams and an opportunity to correct their mistakes in their next attempt
- Their chances of improving the scores in NEET /JEE or others
Disadvantages of drop year :
- They will have to keep themselves motivated and study on their own or through the coaching centres
- They loose one or many years of valuable experience and thereby Seniority
- There can also be possibilities of their scores becoming lesser compared to the previous year
- Competition will become tough each year compared to previous year
If a student aspires to pursue MBBS , he has to understand that MBBS alone will not be sufficient in the competitive world. He /she has to be prepared to spend at least 10 years in pursuing higher degrees to be a qualified doctor. Under such circumstances, drop year is going to widen the gap further between him and his colleagues .
We have also seen trends were students do not even apply for admission after seeing their NEET scores. However there have been several instances of even MBBS vacancies coming up due to admitted students moving to their home state or other states due to multiple reasons. Many of these students who had not applied , would have got MBBS admissions had they continued with the admission process.
Similarly in the case of IIT , if students fail to get admission for B. Tech courses in IIT , they can always join some other Engineering college complete Engineering and later join IIT for Post Graduation or Doctorate.
Hence our suggestion is to always look at alternative options rather than taking up a drop Year.
Please consider a drop year only iff :
- You have exhausted all alternate options
- Even in the case of a drop year, you will not spend beyond 1 year in chasing your dream
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Medical course counselling
In one of our previous posts, we had mentioned about the difficulty in getting MBBS seats. Here we will be discussing on medical course counselling and about multiple options in Medicine beyond MBBS.
A report says that 23.3 Lakh students wrote NEET exam across country whereas total no. of seats available across the country is just 1.09 Lakhs. Out of this just 55,880 seats are in Government medical colleges.
From Tamil Nadu perspective, 1.59 Lakhs students had written NEET exam, whereas the total no. of medical college seats in Tamil Nadu is just 11,600. While no. of government medical college seats is just 5250.
So, overall, nationally only 2% of those who had written NEET exams get seats in Government medical colleges. In Tamil Nadu, 3.3 % of those who had written NEET exams get seats in Government medical colleges.
Now let us look at the Scenario in alternative medicine- namely Homeopathy, Siddha and Ayurveda.
Those who practice these streams are also called as Doctors only . They also have a good work life balance as they do not handle many emergency cases as Allopathy ( MBBS). These Doctors provide holistic treatment and without any side effects. They know what can be cured and what cannot be cured in these streams.
We had the opportunity to interact with 2 Senior Homeopathy doctors. A reputed Child specialist ( Allopathy) had referred us to one of them. She had mentioned that for a particular problem, it is better to take treatment through Homeopathy. It proved to be right as well.
Similarly we also had an opportunity to get treated in a Government Siddha hospital wherein a long pending issue got solved within just 3- 4 days.
The above examples prove that they can really cure the problems in areas where they are strong.
Students assume that they do not command respect equivalent to MBBS. However for getting an appointment with the two Homeopathy Doctors whom I had mentioned, we had to wait for minimum 2 weeks. They were also treating patients from other cities and sending medicine to their residences by courier.
The best part is getting an admission for these streams is much much easier. In Tamil Nadu, counselling data shows that students with NEET score between 127-147 are ranked between 4114 to 4340 for the government college seats and government quota seats in private medical colleges. They offer Homeopathy, Siddha, Ayurveda and Unani. The last ranked NEET Score who will be getting a seat in Government or Government quota seat in private college is 127 as per a report.
While it might be late to think about medical course counselling for this Year, you can very well prepare for appearing for AYUSH counselling next year and become successful Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Siddha Doctors
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Preparation before attempting job change
In this article, we will be explaining about the preparation before attempting job change . Few employees, looking for a job change, do not know, the home work that they need to do first, before looking for a change.
First , employees need to be aware that their medical insurance taken through their current employer will expire on their last working day. This implies that if there is a gap between the Last working day of the current organization and the date of joining of the new organization, then employees run the risk of any health related issues. Please take a separate medical insurance policy covering entire family to avoid any medical risks.
Secondly, get clarity on the notice period. Employers share their notice period details while offering. However, Employers revise the notice during confirmation or promotion.
Third, please build a Corpus to manage the family expenses for at least 4 months. During the last month of the notice period, employees will not get their salaries. Organizations pay the last month salary along with final settlement. Depending on the organization it can take 2 – 6 months to get the final settlement. Also employers do not release salaries during the first month of joining.
Please prepare a list of all the major achievements done, team size, revenue managed during each year, projects handled etc.. All of these cannot be entered into the CV and we will forget them later.
Finally please prepare multiple CVs with sharper focus on one area each. You can send the relevant CV depending on the nature of the job that you apply.
Overall, our approach has been towards the preparation to be done before attempting a job change.
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Best time to change jobs
Any employee always thinks when is the best time to change jobs. This is a million dollar question and is applicable for every one right from freshers to CEOs.
We come across two extreme set of employees. There are employees who have joined as freshers and who will continue to work in the same company till retirement.
There is another class of employees who believe in Changing jobs every year.
In the case of first set of employees, they will find themselves difficult to adopt themselves to a new employer if external situation forces them to change like layoffs. Also they might not be having any idea what is their market value.
In the second category, employers will not be ready to hire them as they do not offer stability to their organization.
So, what is the best time to change jobs :
Ideally it is expected that one works in an organization for a minimum period of 5 years and look for a change after that.
However if you are facing the following challenges then it might be appropriate for looking for a change :
- You do not get any learnings in your current job
- You are repeating the same work every day
- You feel that you are not fitting into the culture of the current organization.
- Your CTC is lesser than 75 % of market average for the same job and same location.
- Your contribution is not at all getting recognized
Under such circumstances, it is advisable to look for a change . We will discuss the preparation to be done by you before starting to look for job change and how to clear interviews later.
Do the homework before changing jobs
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Internship
Internship has become a buzzword after the recent Union budget. It is becoming a must not only for Medical or law students but for Engineering as well as many arts courses as well.
First let us understand the benefits of internship for students.
It acts as a bridge between College life and real Corporate world. Students get a chance to understand how Corporates function and the nuances of Corporate life as well as the policies, politics involved through the same.
From Corporates point of view, it helps them get relatively easier tasks completed through Interns. Corporates also get a chance to assess the strengths of the interns . This helps them to choose the interns as an employee after completion of the course. Corporates can check the fitment of the interns into their culture and select suitable interns for job opportunities.
Several colleges request their students to identify internship opportunities themselves and work as interns without guiding them whom to approach for the same.
Let us list down how students can get internship opportunities :
- there are websites like in.indeed.com which shows multiple internship opportunities. You will have to search for internship in the search button.
- Websites like coursejoiner.com provides details for internship
- Even IIT provides paid internship opportunity for engineering students from other colleges.
- You can also do a google Search with the keyword Internship to identify more opportunities.
- Finally , reach out to all your colleagues and acquaintances about your search for internship opportunities.
Please identify suitable internship opportunities which will take your career to the next level.
Internship for students
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Engineering counselling for Students- branch
With Engineering counselling for students progressing in Tamil Nadu, students will be analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of taking Core branches like Electrical, Civil vs. technology branches like IT, AI, ML etc.
One data says that there are 1.9 Lakh seats available and around 2.3 Lakh students are competing for the same. This implies almost every one will get a seat. Another data says that nearly 1 Lakh plus seats are towards Computer Science and allied courses.
Students choosing Technology branches like AI, ML can get higher salaries however have a risk of technology changes impacting their career.
Two interesting courses that have emerged are
- Electrical with Computer Engineering
- Electronics with Computer Engineering
In the above cases, you get the advantages of stable career, higher salary and also not run the risk of technology changes.
It gives you wider choice including Electrical and Computer Engineering or Electronics and Computer Engineering respectively thereby getting the benefits of both Core branch and technology .
Thus, in Engineering counselling for students, it can be one of the choices for you in your pursuit towards identifying which is the best Engineering course.
How to decide the branch in Engineering counselling
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Family Budget
With the Government presenting Union Budget, it is important for each family to plan their family budgets.
Most of the time, we find families struggling to meet both the ends towards the end of the month as expenses are not planned properly.
To start with, let us introspect the following :
- When was the last time you had analyzed your bank statement for 6 months
- How many times have you avoided or postponed a purchase of a “good to have product or a service”
- Do you know that UPI transactions can also be analyzed in the form of a statement for 1 year or 6 months.
Mode of payments :
Earlier when payments were being made in cash, we were able to feel the impact of the money. Later through online banking we were still able to realize , though not to the extent of cash transactions.
UPI Payments:
However with UPI payments and door deliveries , families do not know how much money they are spending over a period of time as payments get transferred within a fraction of a second. They do not realize the impact of the payment.
Suggested Family Budget Categories :
Short term : These are for the day to day expenses , monthly expenses including rent, vehicle maintenance, maid , food, groceries etc.
Medium term : These are for the expenses known to you which are required in the year including Children current education, festival expenses, travel expenses, gifts, medical insurance, life insurance etc.
Long term : These include future education expenses including higher studies of children, marriage expenses of children, retirement planning.
Ideally if one spends 40 % of the income in short term and 30 % in medium term and 30 % in long term it will be good for the family.
Wishing you happy budgeting and peaceful living
Plan for family budget
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Engineering college admissions in Tamil Nadu
Will we get Engineering college admissions in Tamil Nadu is the Question mark causing anxiety to Students and parents who are waiting eagerly for the Engineering Colleges Counselling to start.
Latest data says that the process of Engineering admissions through counselling will get completed by September 11th, 2024
1.99 Lakh students will be participating in the counselling process.
Another data says that there are 1.5 Lakh Engineering seats in TN while previous year there were around 1.9 Lakh seats.
However, as per my understanding several students from Private Schools, who wanted to pursue Engineering have already got their seats blocked in private Engineering colleges . This implies that several seats will be available through the Counselling route and the chances of getting Engineering college admission is high for almost all the students.
So, there is absolutely no need for you to be worried that you will not get an Engineering college admission.
Advantages of Engineering counselling in Tamil Nadu
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In Counselling, Core Engineering branch or latest technology
With Engineering counselling to start in few days, students are confused whether to choose a Core Engineering branch like Electrical, Mechanical, Computer Science etc. or to choose latest technologies like AI and ML, Robotics , Automation etc.
We need to understand that Core Engineering branches have been around for a long time. Civil Engineers are constructing buildings, roads, bridges Electricity is a must for one to lead a peaceful n and hence the need for Electrical Engineers. Mechanical Engineers are utilized by Thermal Power stations, auto manufacturers and other manufacturing companies.
Let us analyze further on Electrical Engineering. Electrical engineering is about generation of power, transmission, study of motors, generators , transformers , substations etc. When I did my Engineering 3 decades back also all of these were applicable . Now also all of them are applicable in Electrical Engineering. Only change we are witnessing now is shift happening from Thermal power towards renewable energy.
We had some electives on Renewable energy wherein we had also performed practical on Solar panels 3 decades back. Efficiency of Solar panels was around 15-18 % then and now it is 23 to 25 %.
Technologies keep evolving. For example , earlier Railways were run with steam engines , these were replaced with Diesel Engines and now Electrical Engines. Imagine somebody studying 4 years only on Steam Engines. He will find it difficult to adopt to the new scenario with Electrical.
Similarly if you look at Programming Languages, earlier we had Basic, FORTRAN, later Java and now Python, Angular JS etc. If someone had studied only Basic or Fortran his survival would have become a challenge.
A technology which is present today, might not be there tomorrow. However Core concepts will remain the same. We will continue to build bridges, airports, continue to utilize power, continue to use Computers and continue to use vehicles .
To summarize, during Counselling, if you ask which is the best Engineering course, my advise is that it is always advisable to take up a Core Branch in Engineering like Civil, Computer Science, IT, Electrical, Electronics etc. when one pursues Under graduation. Specialization on specific technologies like AI, ML, Robotics etc. can be taken up during Post Graduation.
Core Engineering branch or latest technology branch
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How to choose the right Engineering college
With Engineering counselling around the corner, many of you might be thinking whether I need to choose the best Engineering college for me ( without being concerned about the branch) or whether I need to choose the best branch for me ( without worrying too much about the college)
This is with the assumption that after lot of analysis, you have decided that you want to pursue Engineering.
Answer for this is depending on the following :
- whether you are taking up Engineering because of the reason that you are interested in any particular branch eg. you want to become an Aeronautical Engineer or you want to become a Robotics Engineer or you want to become a Civil Engineer etc.
- whether you are considering Engineering as you feel it gives you a secured future, great career with good status and decent salaries.
- If the answer for point no. 1 is Yes, then you should go ahead with that particular branch . In selecting that branch of Engineering, you will have few options available in terms of choices of colleges. You can consider the following :
- 1) no. of faculty in the college for that particular branch
- 2) No. of Years college has been running
- 3) Infrastructure available in the college for that particular branch e.g.. Suitable labs etc.
If the answer for point no. 2 is Yes, i.e. you are considering Engineering for a secured future, then you need not worry about the branch or the Department. But focus more on the reputation of the college namely :
- Total no. of years college has been running
- Total no of faculty
- Placement record of the college
- Infrastructure of the college ( it might be worthwhile visiting few of the colleges which are under consideration before filling your choices )
- Culture of the college ( another important point as some colleges are good in all the 4 but not so good in culture which can impact your life at a later stage)
- Reputation of the college i.e Brand power of the college as this will help you in the long run . A reputed college will help you get jobs easily not only in placements but later also when you switch jobs.
We hope we have provided clarifications on how to choose the right Engineering college .
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