“Yes, Sir. We’ll first screen your brother based on marks. After that, he’ll need to pass the interview to secure admission at our college.”
The above is an excerpt from my conversation with the admission cell of a college. As you can infer, I was inquiring about the admission of my brother for class 11.
When I heard the word ‘interview’, I was surprised and relieved at the same time. Surprised because the college is in a tier 2 city, yet the admission board is so clear on what they expect from their applicants.
The same was the situation when I called the other 11 colleges on my list from all over the country.
The selection stages varied in numbers but the one common stage in all of them was the interview round.
A realization hit me that the admission landscape has undergone major development. Marks are indeed just an elimination criterion. Whether you’ll secure admission or not solely depends on how the interview round goes.
Why relieved? I’ll let you know at the end of the article.
This year, more so than ever because of the latest marking system for the 2021 boards.
And, even though the exam systems will take the conventional route from 2022 onwards, the selection processes of colleges are only going to grow more and more intricate.
Now, if are you a student applying for admissions, are you prepared for the interview round?
Your answer could be a bleak maybe, a not really, or a confident yes. For all of the 3 cases, in this article, we’ll learn how you can ace the admission process of the college of your liking.
School Education 2021
Amidst the second wave of the Covid pandemic in the year 2021, a lot of decisions have been made to ensure student safety.
The loudest of which was the cancellation of the CBSE 2021 board exams for classes 10th and 12th.
Several other boards followed in the same footsteps, and either postponed or canceled their higher secondary exams.
Now, the biggest question is how is the ongoing scenario going to affect the careers of students?
In CBSE, students of class 10 will be assessed out of 100 for each subject. Out of this 100, 80% of the marks will be assessed by schools based on the previous performances of the students in the academic year.
Fair, by all means.
From the above marking system arise 2 possible situations a student might find himself or herself in. They are:
- Has a good track record of marks over the years. Will eventually receive good marks.
- Didn’t have a good track record in the current academic year for some reason. But the student was burning the midnight oil for the final exams. Results could be anything between good and bad.
In both the above cases, good or bad, marks don’t guarantee a successful admission.
You could get high scores but miss out on acing the selection process, or you could land average marks and still make it through the selection process.
Because let’s be honest, the current marking system isn’t credible enough.
A brilliant student could have performed on average because of the impact of the pandemic. He or she might be in bracket number 2.
And top colleges realize that.
Hence, beyond academic evaluation will play a bigger role than ever before now.
How? Let us understand in detail.
The Beyond Academic Evaluation
Most parents and students might come across the beyond the academic form of evaluation for the first time this year. But the process has been there for the past couple of years. Colleges have been continuously updating their admission processes.
Long gone are the days when the final merit was solely based on high grades in school education.
All the above stages are designed to test the character and personality strength of candidates. Along with the demonstrated interest in the field of study that they are applying for. These 3 factors collectively form the Student profile.
The interview that you’re going to face during your college admissions this year, is going to evaluate you on the strength of your student profile.
When I say the evaluation process has been there for some years now, here’s the list of colleges following the pattern:
This year, almost every reputed college is going to follow the beyond academic evaluation pattern.
At least the 11 colleges I called did. 😉
How to Build Your Student Profile
With the online school education system you have ample amounts of time. Sparing a few hours a day to develop a solid student profile is an absolute necessity.
Check if your current profile is strong enough to get you into a top college.
Starting with the development of life skills
This is precisely what this section is about, i.e. how efficient are you with the practical applications of the knowledge that you have acquired over the years. Alongside the conventional school education.
In total, there are 5 elementary real-life skills, and your grasp on each of these skills plays a major role in your journey towards success. They are:
- Communication Skills
- Problem Solving Skills
- Critical Thinking Skills
- Leadership Skills
- Adaptability
Colleges have realized that the presence of each of these skills is non-negotiable. As a result, they have dedicated a major section of their admission processes to evaluate their applicants based on these 5 factors.
So, how would you rate your familiarity with the above 5 real-life skills?
Start Building & Developing Real-Life Skills Today!
Building Your Demonstrated Interest
Suppose you are applying for a seat in History.
So, in the selection round just saying you like the subject history, won’t get you into the History Dept. in any of the best colleges in the country.
What journals have you written? What internships have you completed? Your answers to questions like these will.
Summing up, over the years what all extra-curricular activities have you partaken in to hone your interest in the field you’re applying for, is what colleges want to know.
Do you have your list of extracurricular activities to showcase your demonstrated interest that you are passionate about?
A common misunderstanding still exists that profile building is important only while applying for colleges abroad. The reality is 180 degrees different.
How To Build Your Demonstrated Interest Profile? Learn Now!
Well, there it is. The paradigm shift admission processes of major colleges are going to witness starting from this year. A development that’s going to stay around for years to come.
As I said earlier, the process was always there, parents and students are going to come in contact with it this time around.
The very reason I was relieved while inquiring about my brother’s admission. I had him build his student profile while he was in Class 9 along with his conventional school education.
I Started From Here, So Can You!
Ashit Kumar Samal
A wanderer in every sense of the word, Asit’s love for biking is mostly on full throttle. As a writer, he feeds on satire and sarcasm in every possible way he can manage. Asit’s vision is to explore every aspect of Content Creation, from his laptop, on a warm beach, sipping on sweet Coconut water. Well, ideally!
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Ashit Kumar Samalhttps://www.univariety.com/blog/author/ashit-kumar-samal/
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Ashit Kumar Samalhttps://www.univariety.com/blog/author/ashit-kumar-samal/
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Ashit Kumar Samalhttps://www.univariety.com/blog/author/ashit-kumar-samal/
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Ashit Kumar Samalhttps://www.univariety.com/blog/author/ashit-kumar-samal/
