Uneasy Lies The Road Ahead For Students Seeking College Admissions

Bhubaneswar: With a challenging academic year and a not-so-fair declaration of Class XII results, students are only on the tip of the stress iceberg.

College admission forms are out as registration begins for government universities. Although a foreshadow of an online first-year looms large and some Boards have given overzealous results, there is a frenzy among students as an unknown fear of losing out on a good college, or any college grips them.

CBSE has released a haphazard set of mark sheets while many students under the state Boards are yet to receive their results. Though ISC has released the result, it is yet to send the mark sheet required for admissions.

Amidst this confusion, is the feeling of injustice or utter happiness amongst students for the marks that they have received. The risks and restrictions of calculating board marks based on irregular or disorganised exams conducted in schools over the past ‘virtual year’ were well known.

Understandably, students with no past academic performance ended up with a more than enough score, deserving ‘toppers’ were dished out fixed marks, and the average students rejoiced with their gift of above 95% marks.

Marks may not be a measure of a student’s success but at this particular moment, they decide the next three to five years of a student’s life. The education they’ll receive, the faculty surrounding them, the opportunities that will come their way, and their lifestyle for years ahead are all hanging onto their choice of a college.

Not every student has the privilege to choose a college. More often than not it is the college that chooses you. It chooses your marks, your academic flair, or your performance at the entrance exam.

To aim for an esteemed government college or a high-ranking private college, given that seats are available within your score or rank, is no small feat. With a whopping population of 12 lakh (overall, 12,96,318 CBSE students passed the Class XII exams according to Livemint) to 13 lakh (for Class XII ISC) a total of 94,011 students appeared according to the Indiatvnews) students passing the exams this year, to say there will be no competition would be an understatement.

All that the students can do now is, wait for the cut-off marks and pray that they get into the college they deserve. But no student should let the pandemic situation define their academic or professional life. They must learn to survive or rather live and use lavishly that which they will get.

Because the ones who can, will shine through the tiniest crack.