Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim
Should Indian students, who may not go abroad this year, apply to Indian Universities? Will private universities be able to increase seats? are there any short-term courses that students can take up before they fly-off abroad next year?
The Quint caught up with Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, Pro Vice Chancellor, Symbiosis International, Dr Rupmanjari Ghosh, Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University and Ali Imran, Vice President, External Engagement, Ashoka University to understand the options before students.
What Are the Options Before Students?
- SHIV NADAR UNIVERSITY
“Whether you are current students, or you are seeking admission, these short-term courses that are relevant and that you can actually do to upgrade your skills are extremely important. Given the situation, at least one course will be floating by May and that is on data analytics and data sciences and I think it would be for our students and alumni – but we may even open it up further. By end of May we should be ready with these other short-term courses that we do run, some at the postgraduate level, so we have a very unique water science and policy course at the masters level, but then it is actually in blocks, so you can do a one-month certificate, you can do a three-month certificate, a one-year diploma or a two-year masters, or you can do a six-month diploma.”
Dr Rupamanjari Ghosh, Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University
- ASHOKA UNIVERSITY
“We have partnerships with close to 20 global universities, including Yale, Stanford Duke, Michigan, UPENN, Sciences Po. With many of them, we have student exchange programmes. And one of the big appeals of the undergrad Ashoka undergrad programme is that you get to go for a student exchange programme or a semester abroad or a summer abroad.”
Ali Imran, Vice President, External Engagement, Ashoka University
- SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL
“A student can always join a three-year degree programme here, do the first year here and then go abroad. Because, anyway, they have nothing to lose. For example, because Symbiosis is a good quality university, so many universities abroad accept our credits.”
Dr Vidya Yeravdevkar, Pro Chancellor, Symbiosis International
How to Apply?
- SHIV NADAR UNIVERSITY
We have added SAT because there are lot of SAT takers among the people going. So far, we have not looked at it as we have had our own SAT, it's called SNU-SAT, an ATT. So, now we have opened up the original SAT as well, but what we are doing is that – our faculty is to be credited with that – I took a decision to supplement that with interviews. Rather than having our own entrance tests based on CBSE results, we will now look at this interview and make it kind of interesting.”
Dr Rupamanjari Ghosh, Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University
- ASHOKA UNIVERSITY
“Many of these students are already applying to us because our applications are still on. The fourth round is on. And the second is that, you know, Ashoka is very similar in its approach to education, to what they would get if they were to go to the US specifically and to the UK.”
Ali Imran, Vice President, External Engagement, Ashoka University
- SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL
“Mostly Indian students go abroad for undergraduate programmes. So, our undergraduate admissions are yet to take place, because we postponed our entrance exam called SET and that can happen, I don't know when. We are waiting for the government to announce their examinations and then we will announce ours. And
at that point in time, those Indian students who would otherwise have gone abroad for the education after Class 12 can still be hopeful of appearing for our entrance exam.”
Dr Vidya Yeravdevkar, Pro Chancellor, Symbiosis International
Can Seats be Increased? Cut-Offs Relaxed?
- SHIV NADAR UNIVERSITY
“It depends on the quality that we have bench-marked ourselves by. So, whatever number I can take care of the number remains more or less the same, you know five-ten here and there does not really matter. So, the total number is not going to significantly increase, except in PhD, we are ready to take more PhD students this year, because we think we can support that. Undergraduate, I don't think total number would go up drastically.”
Dr Rupamanjari Ghosh, Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University
- ASHOKA UNIVERSITY
“There is no direct impact on cut-offs. We look at the entire person. It is a holistic education and therefore we take a holistic approach to admissions. So, marks are one part of it, but we also look at extra and co-curricular activities, leadership activities anything else that you may have done of significance. And then we have an interview process, our own test and on-the-spot essay.”
Ali Imran, Vice President, External Engagement, Ashoka University
- SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL
“We haven't really increased the number of seats, as I said, we have about 40,000 students who appear for a few hundred seats. So, our demand and supply ratio is pretty high. So, right now those students, who would otherwise have gone abroad, as I said, would be in these pool of 40 or 50 thousand students who who appear for our entrance exam. So, finally the admission is done on merit, it's not based on us increasing the seat. Because if a student who is going abroad did not get through our exam, the obviously he won't get it irrespective whether we kept the seat or not.”
Dr Vidya Yeravdevkar, Pro Chancellor, Symbiosis International
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