How to Choose the Right Under Graduate Course?
Pursuing the most popular degree in your stream may not always be the right choice. Once you have passed your XIIth standard exams, there are so many options out there for you. It is important to be clear what career path lies ahead of you following a UG course.
Three Streams, Unlimited Career Opportunities Many students opt for one of three streams in their 12th standard namely Arts or Humanities, Science or PCM/PCB/PCMB and Commerce. Many careers are open to students of all streams. From the UPSC, to journalism and banking officer jobs, there are a plethora of opportunities across streams. If your chosen career path can be accessed from any stream, choosing the right UG course means focusing on the skills you need to develop. Education is yet another field where students can excel in their particular stream.
Factors for Choosing the Right Course Apart from choosing a particular UG course for career advancement and growth, there are also other motivations such as position, status and remuneration. For example, an IIT-IIM pass-out will have an entirely different career path from a private engineering student from a mid-rung B-school.
Assessing Yourself What is popular may not always be right for you. In numerous cases, parents dream about making their children a success. But what is equally important is IQ, aptitude and capacity. Forcing yourself into an engineering course, just because your parents are keen on it, can backfire. You will lack passion in the subject and instead be a non employable engineer in the field.
For Arts Students who wish to appear for competitive exams should ideally select an honour's degree course with specific subjects for scoring well in the exam. Choosing an integrated honour's course will not require them to pursue post graduation in the field unless they want to pursue a career in academics or research later. Arts stream students can access rewarding careers as administrators, editors, academicians, copywriters, hospitality executives and more. Pursuing a PG course maximizes career opportunities further. Bachelor of Mass Communication or BA LLB are some of the vocational courses in arts.
For Commerce With an open economy, rise in trading and banking, the driving force of the current world scenario is commerce. Pursuing a degree in commerce, enables students to opt for BCOM, CA, CWA. CS etc. MBA in finance can be a later option for commerce students.
For Science For PCM and PCB students, MBBS or BDS are top choices. But if you are science student with no interest in medicine, there are options such as BCA, BSc, B.Arch, Biotechnology. Pharmacy and IT are not farfetched options either.
Choosing the best course after 12th is based on knowing what your options are. Don't choose a particular stream under pressure or as a result of influence. Instead, objectively assess your skills, capabilities and aptitude for a given course before applying for it. Alternatives always exist.
For example, if you don't want to pursue MBBS, opt for Home Science, Food and Nutrition, Biotechnology. Bioinformatics or Physiotherapy are also good options. B Tech in computer science, Bachelor in Design, Bsc in Maths, stats or physics are some other wonderful choices.
But remember, whichever course you choose should be based on careful deliberation, for it can impact your future. Courses will come and go, but the skill sets you acquire as a result of these will remain forever.
