Should Admission To Colleges Based On Entrance Exams Or Via Marks Obtained By A Student? Are The Ever Increasing cut off marks demoralizing students??

[aloKNsh 0]

This is not an copied material but a survey which we the school student conducted in our near by town!This article contains all our views and points and the conclusion as per the survey conducted by us. NO OFFENSE! As soon as a student comes to class 11 or 12, his tension increases. Not only does he have the pressure of performing well in his school semester exams but also in the entrance exams. He has to prepare himself to face the challenge of getting admission to a prestigious college. In certain universities, admission is granted based upon the performance in entrance examinations and in certain other institutions, admissoon is granted if one clears 'cut-off' marks.When the a foresaid questions were asked in a survey across the whole india many of the teacehrs of +2 said that due weightage should be given to both performance in entrance exam as well as marks obtained in class 10 and 11 boards. According to them they feel that 40 - 60 ratio should be made while granting admission. When they were approached they were very much firm and also too much concerned about the students in india. They are commitin sucide every now and then and that should be stopped. According to them the ever increasing cut-off marks are demoralizing students because a student of great potential may be denied admission just because he scores 97% and the cut-off stands 97.5% or 98%.Another clan of teachers have a totally different reaction but not too far away from their predecessors. According to them the admission should be granted solely on the basis of performance on the entrance exams. They were of the view that it may happen that a child doesn't well in academic during his school life, yet he might have a chance to score brilliantly in the entrance exams. Also, they feel that ever increasing cut off marks are definitely demorlizing and thus there is all the more reason for admission to be granted on the basis of the entrance exams. When we contaceted a physics professor of a university (only on a condition, professor wanted to be in anonymity), he said he is of the opinion that admisson to colleges or higher secondary education onstitutions should not be based on marks at all. He says that throughout Inida, the education system is different, the marketing schemes are not uniform because of which a student of better potential, due to more strict correction, may not get lesser marks that the other student of his or her own age group. So, marks should not be corrected rather an oes sheep is much better. According to him he says that an oes papar is the best as its checked by the machine and its same for all! where as it will take less time as compared to the traditional checking scheme. In this students having a great potential will only come into light and he or she who lacks behind wont have any chance to say that the checking was strict as oes checking is done via system and its same all over. According to some of the students they same that the whole country should follow a one study pattern and the exams should be conducted on that pattern. For example in my country we are having 2 main Boards namely CBSE (GOVERNMENT AIDED) and ICSE (PRIVATE SECTOR). I belong to icse board. I was always being asked to get good numbers coz as compared to other students near me are in CBSE boards and their pattern is just too easy for me. They are reading almost every topic of physics in 11 when we had done it in std 8 and 9. Now just think a brain is much developed at 11 than in 9th. so how can you imagine a boy whos getting the topics of 11th cbse get god marks in icse 9. this is just a small case it can be again given another broad topic or article. Due to this marks we are always behind in may entrance competiton because they see the marks not the Boards. But when a exam is conducted we are sure shot to get the highest score in that exam. (here we = to all the icse student). But to sit in the exam you should have some of the basic marks like here one of the most prestigious college in India BITS Pilani asks 85% + marks to sit in its entrance exam. Now how would a ICSE student scoring 80% will get in but he is having a far more capablity then what a 90% CBSE student has. I did a small research on CBSE pattern or studies and found that we are taught almost many things or the CBSE 11 and 12 in std. 8 itself. The students doing the things in 11 and in 8th is much difference alltogether. Lastly i would like to know wether this type of correction and marking scheme is good.! Once due to some unfavourable circumstances a student is not able to score in his or her boards conducted in std 10 and 12 then that doesnt means he is bad in studies. According to me i think all the students should be given a fair chance and also the boards and the entrance exams should be given equal weightage. So that only the best comes out. and every student should get his or her own time and space to show its own capablity.

[8ennett 0]

Have you ever considered the fact that there is a reason for the cut-off percentage being increased so much each year?I doubt very much that these universities and colleges have any less students than in previous years. This indicates to us that the amount of students studying in India is increasing a hell of a lot faster than the production of prestigious academic facilities. They are having to increase the qualifying percentage to prevent having to reject students who have passed the qualifying criteria because their capacity is at maximum.It's not fair having two completely different fields of study and I agree that there should be a universal system of grading, however there are probably good reasons why they are seperate. The most obvious reason I can think of is that the government is unable to afford to make it a single system which is why a portion of the education system is in the hands of the private sector.Academics will obviously agree that the current system in place is not effective but it is obviously way the current body of government is able to maintain the status quo and keep the education system afloat. It may seem unfair, but unless new schools are built it will continue to function in this way and may get worse if the number of students continues to increase and the number of schools don't.

[H.O.D 0]

the education system in india cant be blamed entirely. spare a thought for the large number of students seeking admission for a limited number of seats in a few good colleges. the population explosion is much to blame in this situation and another problem is the majority of the students are still confused about what their real interest is. if everyone started choosing the course of their interest then there would surely be an even spread of students across various courses and the problem would be a little less. but now majority of students are after popular courses like engineering, medicine, finance, etc and so the colleges offering these courses are forced to introduce a strict filter to deal with the rush. for less-popular courses there are no strict regulations because the demand is less. entrance tests and cut-off percentages are completely valid filters and there would be utter chaos without them. and while it's true that the marks obtained by the student in earlier courses or in the entrance exam may not truly represent the talent of the student, one can't help the situation when too many people are involved. the student simply has to grab the opportunity or try to carve a different path, cut off from the others. so for now i think the present system, although not at all efficient, is at least capable of dealing with the rest. unless some innovative changes appear, it's better to continue with the existing system only.

[tansqrx 0]

My higher education experience is based on the US system which I assume varies at least somewhat from India. It sounds like India has a unique problem which is a supply and demand problem regarding schools and students. There are a high number of students wanting a college education while there are just not enough schools to fill the demand. The leads to schools only accepting the “best” students. With time this should eventually go away as more schools are built but it may be a considerable problem at this time.I see this same scenario played out in the US all the time, if not to a lesser degree. Prospective students believe they have to go to the most prestigious and expensive college in the country. For some reason they think this is the only way and there just is no other option. If they don’t have the standardized test scores or the money then they have nothing to live for. This is simply not true and I am living proof of this.Coming out of high school I never really had the ambition of going to one of the top named engineering schools. I was a good student but my SAT score was average and I didn’t have colleges knocking on my door offering scholarships. I was in the position of coming from a not poor but certainly not rich working family. This meant that a private or well known school was out of the question. I ended up going to the local community college and getting my core classes out of the way. I was lucky because this community college had a transfer program setup so that once I graduated, I would then go to the state college and finish my BS degree. Looking back at things this was certainly the best path for me. The community college tuition was relativity cheep (compared to other options) and I did well with a great GPA. In fact I did so well I was awarded a scholarship to finish my remaining work at the state college.The moral of this story is that you don’t have to go to a big name and expensive school to be successful. The big names have strict entrance standards because the demand is high and the supply is low. Open your eyes to new possibilities such as your local community college. You may not be as admired by your friends but you will get a solid education and in my opinion, get a better valued education.

[tansqrx 0]

I forgot to mention an important part of my experience.I did get an average SAT or standardized test score but I just didn’t have the math background I needed to go straight into the engineering classes. I turns out that my high school somewhat cheated me on my education, especially on math. I did poorly on elementary and middle school assessment tests and was thus labeled as below average. Starting in middle school, I was placed in the lower level classes with the other “stupid kids.” To the school system’s credit, I didn’t do well in school so I suppose they did place me where I should have been.Somewhere in my sophomore year of high school I woke up to the fact that I was better than the grades I was getting and all of a sudden school and the world made sense. I went from the bottom to almost the top of my class. I would call myself a late bloomer.As it turns out, my earlier assessment tests were haunting me. Even though I was doing great in all of my classes, I was still in the lower math class. I had traded in my vocational classes (residential wiring) for advanced placement physics. The earlier assessment tests said that a vocational class is where I should be and I should never take anything like physics or calculus. The tests were wrong or at least flawed. But I was already in the “stupid” math class and there was no way of getting out this late in the game. Going into community college, I started with college algebra and then pre-calculus. I had gotten to the pre-calculus level in high school but the quality of the high school math I took just wasn’t very good. I started out in college remedial classes and I am glad I did. Once again looking back, this was also best because I got a good foundation that my high school just couldn’t touch.So do I agree with standardized tests? They have value, that’s for sure but I think they are too heavily relied on for placement. As you can see I am still a little bitter at the situation I was put in all because someone read a test in elementary school and said this person will never go to college and should be given a lower education. I now have a master’s degree in engineering and have been offered a possibility of getting my doctorial degree. Should standardized tests be used? Yes but perhaps not as early. Today kids are given assessment test in 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades. This really pidgin hole’s a child into one particular life track that is hard to break from once the powers that be have assigned it to you.Looking back it’s not the standardized test that predicts one’s success. It’s the determination to be successful. It’s a person’s attitude to look at life and say I WILL DO IT no matter what everyone else says. This is what will get you through college and not the standardized test. While getting my BS, the best students turned out to be the ones that had this determination and not the standardized test scores. So if you don’t have the test scores to get into the best school, don’t worry as long as you have the will to accomplish your goal. After all, the standardized test is only a predictor and means nothing unless you have the determination to finish.

[frazz86 0]

Undergraduate entry
[edit]The application process

The United Kingdom has a centralised system of admissions to higher education at undergraduate level, UCAS. In general, students are not admitted to universities and colleges as a whole, but to particular courses of study.During the first few months (September to December) of the final year of school or sixth form college (age 17/18) or after having left school, applicants register on the UCAS website and select five courses at higher education institutes (fewer choices are permitted for the more competitive subjects such as medicine and veterinary medicine). If the applicant is still at school, his or her teachers will give him or her predicted grades for their A-level, Highers or IB subjects, which are then used for the application. If the applicant has already left school, he or she applies with results already obtained. The applicant must provide a personal statement describing in their own words why they want to study that particular subject and why they would be a committed student,[5] and their school must provide an academic reference.[6] Some universities (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College or University College London) and some disciplines (e.g. medicine) routinely require shortlisted candidates to attend an interview and/or complete special admissions tests[7] before deciding whether to make an offer. In the absence of tests and interviews, the personal statement and reference can be decisive, as many students are likely to apply to competitive courses with similar predicted and actual grades.
In general, applications must be received mid-January for courses that start the following Autumn. However the deadline is three months earlier, in mid-October, where the application includes a medical, dentistry or veterinary course, or any course at Oxbridge.[8]
For each course applied for, the applicant receives a response from the institution: rejection, conditional offer or unconditional offer. If a conditional offer is received, the student can only take up the place on the course if they later fulfil the stated conditions: normally the achievement of specific grades in their forthcoming exams. If no offers are received following the initial application, or the applicant does not wish to take up any of their offers,[citation needed] UCAS+ can be used. Applicants can then apply to one course at a time in order to try to find a suitable offer.
Following the receipt of offers, whether after the initial application, or through UCAS+, the applicant chooses two courses for which offers have been made: a first choice and a second choice. If the conditions of the first choice offer are later met, the applicant may attend this course. If the applicant does not fulfil the conditions of their first choice, but does fulfil the conditions of their second "insurance" choice, they can attend their second choice course. If they fail to meet the conditions of both offers, they may choose to go through "clearing". This involves ringing up or sending their application to different universities in the hope of finding a place on another course. Many students do successfully find places through this route.
[edit]Factors affecting admission
Whether to admit an applicant to a course is entirely the decision of each individual university. They will base their decision on a variety of factors, but primarily the grades predicted or already received in school leaver examinations. As more and more applicants are attaining higher and higher grades in the A level examinations, most universities also use secondary admissions criteria. These may include results at GCSE or Standard grade examinations (or equivalent), the references provided on the application and the information provided on the personal statement. The personal statement can often be the deciding factor between two similar candidates so a small industry has sprung up offering false personal statements for a fee. UCAS uses "similarity detection" software to detect personal statements that have been written by third parties or copied from other sources, and universities can reject applications for this reason.[9]
The personal statements generally describe why the applicant wants to study the subject they have applied for, what makes them suitable to study that subject, what makes them suitable to study at degree level generally, any relevant work experience they have gained, their extracurricular activities and any other relevant factors. This is the only way admissions tutors can normally get an impression of what a candidate is really like and assess the applicant's commitment to the subject.
In addition to the information provided on the UCAS form, some universities ask candidates to attend an interview. Oxford and Cambridge almost always interview applicants, unless, based on the UCAS form and/or admissions tests, they do not believe the applicant has any chance of admission. Other universities may choose to interview, though only in some subjects and on a much smaller scale, having already filtered out the majority of candidates. The interview gives the admissions tutors another chance to assess the candidate's suitability for the course.
Universities are increasingly being put under pressure from central Government to admit people from a wider range of social backgrounds. Social background can only be assessed by the type of school attended, as no information about income or background is otherwise required on the UCAS form.
Another important determinant of whether an offer is to be made is the amount of competition for admission to that course. The more competitive the course, the less likely an offer will be made and, therefore, the stronger the application must be. Applicants for medicine are often expected to have undertaken extensive work experience in a relevant field in order to show their commitment to the course. For the most competitive courses, less than 10% of applications may result in admission, whereas at the less competitive universities, practically all applicants may receive an offer of admission.
Ultimately, however, no matter how many extra-curricular activities and work experience have been undertaken, if the admissions tutor does not believe, based on the submitted exam results, the candidate is academically capable of completing the course, he or she will not be admitted.
A well qualified candidate applying under UCAS for five competitive courses to each of which only 10% of well qualified candidates could be accepted would have only a 40% chance of receiving at least one offer of acceptance. Alternatively, if five less competitive courses each having a 33% acceptance rate are chosen, the chance of receiving at least one offer is more than 85%. This implies that a strategy for improving the chance of receiving at least one offer, to perhaps 70%, is indicated even to well qualified candidates.
[edit]Postgraduate entry
All applications are made directly to the university or college, with no limit on the number of courses that can be applied for.

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[H.O.D 0]

ys

My higher education experience is based on the US system which I assume varies at least somewhat from India. It sounds like India has a unique problem which is a supply and demand problem regarding schools and students. There are a high number of students wanting a college education while there are just not enough schools to fill the demand. The leads to schools only accepting the "best" students. With time this should eventually go away as more schools are built but it may be a considerable problem at this time.
I see this same scenario played out in the US all the time, if not to a lesser degree. Prospective students believe they have to go to the most prestigious and expensive college in the country. For some reason they think this is the only way and there just is no other option. If they don't have the standardized test scores or the money then they have nothing to live for. This is simply not true and I am living proof of this.

Coming out of high school I never really had the ambition of going to one of the top named engineering schools. I was a good student but my SAT score was average and I didn't have colleges knocking on my door offering scholarships. I was in the position of coming from a not poor but certainly not rich working family. This meant that a private or well known school was out of the question.

I ended up going to the local community college and getting my core classes out of the way. I was lucky because this community college had a transfer program setup so that once I graduated, I would then go to the state college and finish my BS degree. Looking back at things this was certainly the best path for me. The community college tuition was relativity cheep (compared to other options) and I did well with a great GPA. In fact I did so well I was awarded a scholarship to finish my remaining work at the state college.

The moral of this story is that you don't have to go to a big name and expensive school to be successful. The big names have strict entrance standards because the demand is high and the supply is low. Open your eyes to new possibilities such as your local community college. You may not be as admired by your friends but you will get a solid education and in my opinion, get a better valued education.

your story is inspiring indeed and i agree that the top colleges and schools are not always the best and in the end it is up to the student to try and get the best out of the institution. the institution itself can only help so much. the majority of the work has to be done by the student. while you were lucky to have facilities at the local community college, the equivalent to the "community colleges" over here are either in poor condition or totally non-existant in some places. so the only option left is to join some college where the fees is cheap but that means there won't be many facilities there either. its a tough situation, but it will change, just slowly though.