Here are some common myths we all are haunted by at some point or the other during four (or more) torturous years of engineering.
1) ‘KT ruins life’.
Let me bust this very first myth of engineering. Just a few months before our college started,it was in the news for all the wrong reasons. A third year student had committed suicide by jumping from 5th floor of our college because he got a KT in a subject or two. This was an example of how pressurized engineering students are due to backlogs. There is no limit of anxious and frustrated late night phone calls made and all the sleepless nights spent in the first year. When we entered college, we studied our as**s off only so that we get spared from the taboo called ‘KT’. In fact, the person who got it was ignored by everyone as if he never existed. Guys, just chill, at the end it’s only your aggregate that matters. No company or university is ever going to reject you because you had one or two backlogs. However, this certainly does not imply that you have to take studies lightly because if you have one KT, which then becomes 2 in next semester and then 3 in the following, the process of being all-clear will only become tougher and tougher and in no time will convert into a vicious circle.
The bottom-line is that, one or two KTs in engineering WILL NOT make an inch of difference in any of your future aspirations.
2)”Oh my god! You didn’t join tuitions?”
Please do NOT fall into this silly trap that your friends unknowingly lay. It mars all the confidence, if any. It is very much possible to study each and every subject on your own if you are dedicated enough. Some subjects like mechanics are excessively hyped and unnecessarily worried about. You would know the concepts much better and save a lot of time as well as money if you just borrowed reference books from the library (Yeah, the same place which you think of as the geek’s residence and the same corner of college where you can’t allow the babies in your cell to laugh or cry out loud).So if you don’t have the resources or inclination to join classes when all your friends have, don’t worry, work hard and I’ll vouch for your success.
3) ‘Only ‘good’ students get the best placements.’
Rubbish. Some toppers from our class were placed only after the ‘not so good’ ones, much to their distress. When it comes to placements, all the students above aggregate 60%, sometimes even 58%, are equal. Above this mark, getting a job depends not on your marks, but only on your aptitude and smartness. Give every company you aim for your best shot and no one can stop you from being a part of it, even if you were always considered only an ‘average’ student.
4) ‘The Exam has been postponed.’
When you hear someone saying this, you can most certainly be sure that the exam is going to be held on time. Some people love spreading this kind of rumors. As (un)expected, the exam time table is put up and the exam starts the very same day it was previously scheduled to. Unnecessarily students lose their valuable time in enjoying the few extra days they think they got (Of course you didn’t think postponing meant more days to study, did you?) and dent their chances of scoring higher. Hence, in engineering, there in nothing like postponing of exams. Beware of people who like to misguide.
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Hi,it was a nice readin.. anyways i’ve booked toefl for the 6th of oct.. have started my prep only today.. i guess it’ll be just sufficient.. i don’t have kaplan cd, so will be using barrons alone..
Kaushik
October 1st, 2007
Thank you for sharing!
Wahoo
October 6th, 2007
Hi
I was very much helped by the information with this article.
Many thanks at you very fascinating resource.
by
leuisc
October 15th, 2007
well agree with all these
can anybody tell me whether,..
a drop ruins life?
sneha rao
December 24th, 2007
yea please highlight on year drops there are people on the verge of suicide abt drop
neha katkar
December 24th, 2007
@Sneha nad Neha
A year drop is definitely bad but it can be taken well. I know of ppl doing well even after a drop. You should be able to give a strong enough justification for the drop (Its definitely difficult to find something like that but still). If you can convince someone that it was a mistake and you have learnt from it and also utilized the time to do something fruitful then it should not matter.
Pratik Shah
December 24th, 2007
@Sneha and Neha
The very purpose of writing this post was to bust these myths that destroy many peoples’ lives. There are so many people who got a drop in their studies but are actually doing better than their contemporaries. All one needs is to take things on one’s own stride and maintain a positive attitude.
Manjiri Keskar
December 25th, 2007
“When it comes to placements, all the students above aggregate 60%, sometimes even 58%, are equal.”
Not ALWAYS true, if by better placements you mean better companies. Among a group of people of almost equal ’smartness’, your aggregate makes you stand out. I got rejected in one of my interviews because of this.
Varun
April 7th, 2008
i agree with you. At the end it’s the practical knowledge that’s important!
Roahn
August 19th, 2009
I totally Agree with U.
I had 2 KT in the Sem-I,One got Cleared during the Sem-II, but AS K.T IS A CYCLIC PROCESS,1 K.T again disheartened me from the Sem-II.
Dhandre Pravin
December 18th, 2009
hey nice article
but i was down with typhoid in sem1 and so i couldnt really make up for the submissions and so i got all 6 kts in sem1.. however clearing all six of them plus sem2 siz seems inpossible.
does a drop matter in this case?
shikha
March 28th, 2010