EAMCET might be the choice of the majority, but some students choose to take the road less travelled, writes JAYASHREE ARUNACHALAM

“In Hyderabad, you’re either a doctor or an engineer,” says Vamsi Kanagovi. “If you’re neither, you’re doomed.”

Vamsi’s words border on exaggeration. However, what is alarming is that too many people agree with the statement, no matter how over-the-top it sounds. When it comes to professional college admissions, no one takes them lightly.

Summer time, study time

Summer is synonymous with holidays, road trips and lazy Sundays, but in Hyderabad, the month of May brings more pressure than promise.

May is when students aspiring to professional courses take the Engineering Agriculture Medicine Common Entrance Test, fondly known as the EAMCET. To most, writing the EAMCET isn’t a spur-of-the-moment career choice; it’s a long-term goal painstakingly worked towards for years. EAMCET is the route to securing admission in government-run and government-aided professional colleges and cracking it becomes an obsession.

The mushrooming of “corporate colleges” all over the state adds to the competitiveness.

Anand Reddy doesn’t mince words. “Corporate colleges try to control your life,” he says. “You’re kept in a dingy building from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., you work on Sundays.

All for one test that is supposed to change your life.” Anand himself was a part of what he calls the rat race. He got what he wanted in the form of a medical seat, but gave it up a year later in favour of a B. Com degree.

His parents weren’t happy but Anand stuck to his guns. “I didn’t want to do this anymore,” he says.

The corporate environment

Corporate colleges have been in the eye of the storm over the past few years, blamed for the adversely competitive environment. The harsh schedules and elimination of all non-academic activities are said to take their toll on aspirants, and there is no space for creativity or enterprise.

Non-urban students are also marginalised in this battle for seats.

Several students choose to circumvent the vicious process by following other courses of study. “The EAMCET itself is too mechanical, its multiple-choice format doesn’t allow for any real application,” explains Nirmala Talluri, a third-year student of history.

She reconsidered her decision to do engineering since it’s a no-win situation in the state. “Either you compromise on all your activities to prepare for the EAMCET, or you pay a large capitation fee to private colleges. That doesn’t leave you with a lot of options!”

Parental pressures

Parents have been swept away by the marketing strategies of these colleges, and many find it difficult to allow their children to stray away from the beaten path.

“The working mechanism of corporate colleges has trickled down to schools, and parents are effectively brainwashed,” says Vamsi.

“They seem to believe that ends justify the means.” He took his EAMCET simply because he hadn’t thought of exploring other options.

“You can do a B. Sc. in physics, or a degree in biotechnology, but in Hyderabad, it’ll take a while for these courses to be accepted as equals to engineering and medicine.”

According to these students, arts and humanities courses are started to catch on though progress is slow.

Students opt to do different combinations of subjects in their intermediate rather than the golden trio of physics-chemistry-mathematics. Parents are also starting to keep up with the changing trends.

“I’ve heard enough about how students are suffering under the current regime of the EAMCET,” says Harita Mohan, whose daughter is pursuing an economics degree.

“I’d rather allow my children to do what they want and have a life outside of their studies.”