Engineering is as diverse a field as it is crowded nowadays. Every year, a lot of students are opting for this course. But before they get into any of the institutes that offer a degree in Engineering, they have a choice to make, whether to study in India or abroad, and the choice may be far difficult than it seems.

Recognize what kind of student you are!

Both the options have their pros and cons, but the most important factor which will determine where you should study is what kind of student you are! If you are a student who has a knack for solving problems and are highly competitive, you can target the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) and if you clear it, doors for the most premier engineering institutes (Read IITs and NITs) will be open for you.

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However, along with every aspirant who is appearing, you only have around 0.01% chance of getting into one college. It can be considered as a high-risk high reward scenario. On the other hand, if you solely want to pursue your interests, and don’t want to indulge yourself into this risk scenario, you may be better off studying abroad because most of the time students don’t get the branch they wanted in the first place, and they have to compromise with whatever branch they get during the counselling session.

The major differences in studying in India and abroad

Infrastructure: Although there are some colleges in India which provide great infrastructure facilities, the number of these colleges is very few. There are various reasons behind the below par infrastructure of these colleges, and the biggest of them all is corruption! So if you want to study in a college that has a great infrastructure, either you can join the topmost institutes in India, or go foreign universities in different countries.

Course structure: There is a major difference in the course structure of universities in India and abroad. Where foreign universities regularly update their course structure to benefit their students, the structure of Indian universities hasn’t changed since decades. (Again, consider the topmost institutes an exception).

Competition: In India, engineering has become the go-to field of study for most of the students coming from the PCM stream. This reflects in the fact that every year, more than one million students appear for the JEE. However this is not the case outside India, there is very less competition comparatively, and only those students who are keen to learn the course opt for it and because of which, the competition is very less.

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The difference in Mindset: Usually, students in abroad universities are more research oriented, and they choose this field to get deeper and more scientific knowledge of the field they are interested in, which is not the case in India. As I mentioned earlier, most of the students here don’t even get the branch of engineering they want to study but end up getting something else. As a result, it just ends up being a measure to earn money. The same reflects in the fact that, students from even Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering end up taking jobs in the IT sector.

Fee Structure: Although there are many perks of studying abroad, the single largest constraint which you and your family will have to face is that of costs incurred while studying, which include tuition fees, residing and dining charges and others. If you belong to a middle-class family, all of these could burn a hole in the pocket, and to get a scholarship is a very tough task. Even if you are able to get a loan from a bank, repaying that much of an amount is a very difficult task.

Faculty: This brings me great pain to tell you that in our country, most of the colleges have a below par faculty team to teach the students. Combined with the problems I mentioned above, the experience of studying engineering in India becomes gruesome. In the exams, most of the professors need answers by the book, and the case is completely opposite outside India. (Again, not talking about the top institutes like older IITs)

Conclusion

This is not an article titled ‘What is wrong with Engineering Education in India’. But when you come to think about it, there is something seriously wrong with the system. But keeping those things aside, the bottom line is that if you are serious about pursuing engineering in whichever branch you want to pursue, and you have what it takes to clear the JEE and get a branch of your choice in the top most engineering colleges in India, you don’t need to go abroad to study.

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However, if you are not confident about it, but still want to pursue the course of your choice, or you want to study in a foreign university regardless, you can as well apply to the foreign universities. Just an advice, choose what you want because you have to live with it for the rest of your life. Good Luck!

For further queries and related information, you can approach the Professional Experts at CareerGuide. Hope this will help you!