Top 10 Tips for Choosing the Right Engineering College

The importance of the right college in life is so profound that a wrong decision can affect your overall career.

A top, reliable engineering college highlights good teaching, is known for its proficient faculty members and often conducts relevant engineering research. 

Choosing an engineering college will be one of the most challenging decisions for your engineering educational career. You'll need to consider what type of degree you'll be required to fulfil your career goals - and whether or not the institution you're considering meets your personal criteria.

In this article, we will discuss different parameters of an Engineering college that will help you in getting the answer to how to choose the perfect college for yourself.

Choose a specialization or branch 

Have you decided on which engineering branch that you wish to pursue? Because without having one proceeding further for the best college is not a smart idea. 

Whether it is Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology or Electrical Engineering – be clear with your specialization for your Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) or Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) program. 

Randomly choosing any branch just for the sake of pursuing engineering would undoubtedly lack a direction in future career prospects. 

Infrastructure

This is an essential factor while choosing a college. Infrastructure does not only mean a magnificent looking building. It also signifies whether a college has an adequate amount of infrastructure support according to its intake capacity. 

It includes buildings for the classroom, workshops, administration, computer labs, various laboratories etc. During your four years of graduation you will be requiring all these things, hence stay aware of the infrastructure aspect of the college while choosing one.

Faculty

The infrastructure can never be the only important factor when deciding a college. It is the faculty that makes a college resourceful; otherwise, it will be a school without a teacher. Always have look at a list of college faculty which includes professors, lecturers, teacher-student ratio, visiting faculty, their teaching experience etc.

Placements

Placements of a college depend upon various factors like its faculty, facilities or infrastructure given by the college to its students, placement performance of previous passed-out students, college rank,  and definitely, the individual talent.

Do have a look at the past placement record of college - engineering branch wise, as well as keep track of the companies students there are placed into. 

Amenities

This is another crucial factor that you have to keep in your mind. Facilities provided by the college will assist you during your college phase. These amenities encompass the library, hostel, banking facility, internet, intranet, auditorium, student clubs etc.

Accreditation

Quality education, campus placements, financial aid, job opportunities or scholarships are some of the advantages of accreditation. 

The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) are the accreditation organizations that evaluate and assess the technical institutions, programmes and higher education in the country. 

So, do a proper check on the credibility of the college and the accreditation.

Do not go by brand

Just because a specific college is famous does not mean it will be the right one for you. For instance, if you are planning to study electronics and the college has excellent teaching faculty and facilities in mechanical engineering, it serves no purpose for you. 

It is vital to consider all aspects and not just the brand loyalty of a college before adding it to your list.

 

Extracurricular activities

Wondering why this factor is vital during the selection of an engineering college? 

Well, because "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". 

This stands true since not only do you have to study, but also have to survive in an ambitious environment and for that, you have to develop an all-rounder personality.

Extracurricular activities play a significant role in personality development. So have a look at activities offered by college like students’ club, seminars, workshops, industrial training, 

social events, etc. 

Goals

Define your goals. Determine whether you want to opt for a job, go for research & development or business. A job may be in the private or government sector. There can also be a possibility of running your family business or start your own. What are your primary motives? Power or money or both?

If you are bent towards research and development, then you should also have a bearing on your choice for whether you wish to settle down in India or abroad. Say if you are interested in settling in America or Canada, then IT-related engineering streams would suit you more rather than opting for civil engineering.

 

 Location

Although location as a factor does not play a very decisive role, if the college is near any industrial hub, then it may be slightly useful to you. You'll be able to have easy access to learning outside the college as well.

 

Having answered all the factors above, it would be reasonable to explore all feasible options and decide on the engineering college well in advance while you are still in the 10+2 course. Most colleges are good, but what matters is knowing which college will best suit to fulfil your goals and requirements.