The cream of students who pass out of the Plus Two courses seem to have their ear to the ground when it comes to choosing a course in commerce or arts that can land them a job, but the colleges are finding it hard to cater to their changing career aspirations.
A whopping 55 per cent of new generation college-goers chose to graduate in a BCom or BA stream, which the industry loves them to do, over the BSc course, which perhaps their parents rushed to do in the past. Statistics made available by the officials handling the Centralised Allotment Process (CAP) in the MG University shows that 20,130 first option applications were received for the 12 BSc courses.
A total of 19,055 applications were received for the seven BCom courses while 12,286 applicants showed interest in the nine BA courses. Together, the 16 BCom and BA courses received 31,341 applications which shows a marked change in the choice of applicants at the undergraduate level.
“This is a trend which has been observed over the years. An evergreen option, BCom has always seen a rush. Science, which was a prestigious course once, is getting a decent response. But the huge rush to BA courses is surprising. Watching the scores of applicants returning home without getting admission, we feel sorry that we have only very few seats to offer in arts and economics,” said Sr Teresa, Principal of St Teresa’s College.
She said that traditional BA courses which have branched into job-oriented courses are also of high demand.
“Students prefer English with specifications in communication or journalism than the traditional literature one. The add-ons along with the conventional degree, which arrived with the semester system - say computer applications, fashion designing, econometrics or nutrition and dietetics- are also a favourite among the students,” said Sr Teresa.