Clearing Class X is one milestone after which one follows the choice of his/her stream. Be it Science with MPC or BiPC, Humanities with various options like HEC, MEC or Commerce. After clearing Intermediate, one makes the final choice of pursuing what next? With MPC background, people go in for Engineering or Pharmacy, while those with BiPC pursue MBBS or BDS or Pharmacy or these students pursue graduation courses with various options and combinations. In fact, it is at this crucial juncture of ‘What after Intermediate’ that the students have to make intelligent choices that will help them climb the ladder of success armed with good degrees.
    
Before you embark upon career planning, you have to consider two issues:
1. How are you looking to build your career? Do you need an immediate job because of some family circumstances?
2.  Is your family, financially sound enough to pay for your professional education?
If you need a job, but still want to pursue higher education, you may like to take up a suitable course through distance learning mode. There are more options available now. You can study according to your own pace and convenience.

In professional colleges, there are two categories of seats: Free seats and Payment seats.
Since the tuition fees for Free Seats are highly subsidized, you pay much less compared to those for Payment Seats. Generally, Free Seats are allotted to students on the basis of their performance at the entrance tests. You will, therefore, have to strive very hard if you want to get a Free Seat in professional colleges.

If your family is unable to bear the cost of “elite” professional courses, you may choose a professional course, which also promises a reasonably good career at an affordable cost. Career planning should be preceded by two steps:
1.  Assess your strengths and weaknesses, likings, aptitudes and interests.
2.  Gather as much information as possible about various educational opportunities and choose the one that suits your requirements.
If you do not intend to pursue university education, you may opt for various Vocational Courses available in different areas. The most-sought after course is the polytechnic courses of three-year duration leading to diplomas in different branches of engineering and technology. The advantage of polytechnic courses is that in some branches a diploma holder can make a lateral entry into degree-level engineering courses.

Options after Intermediate:
1. Engineering
2. Medicine
3. B.Sc/BCA (For Science stream students).
4. B Com (For Commerce stream students)
5. BA (For Arts/Humanities students)
There are also a number of Vocational courses, leading to employment in various sectors, such as:
Engineering Stream: Interested in doing engineering courses, such as BE /B Tech in subjects like Computer Science (CS), Electronics and Communications (EC), Civil, Mechanical, Metallurgy, Electrical etc., appear for a common entrance test, EAMCET, to qualify for an engineering college seat in the state. Engineering should be an obvious choice for any Intermediate student with MPC option. There are many other national-level admission tests for students wishing to join prestigious institutions like IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), AIEEE, VIT (Vellore Institute of Technology) etc.
Medicine: Competition is tough for BiPC students and there are many options apart from Medicine. BiPC students can opt for B.Sc, Bio-Technology, B Pharmacy, B.Sc Agriculture Science, Dairy Science, Food and Nutrition etc.
Commerce: The world thrives on business. Apart from pursuing B.Com, then MBA or M.Com, other options are pursuing CA, ICWA etc. which helps them establish themselves in a short time. Presently, doing B.Com with Computers as a combination is the most sought after.
Arts/Humanities: Not very popular with students, humanities also offers many options after Inter than just pursuing BA degree, like courses in Travel & Tourism, English Literature, Teaching, Advertising, Journalism, Performing Arts, Business Management, etc. Humanities’ is popular with students taking the Civil Service examinations.
In all the three streams, students can now opt for job-oriented vocational subjects at the first degree level available in selected colleges affiliated to many universities. International post graduate programmes of five-year duration after 10 + 2 in several subjects are being introduced by some universities like Law.
Whatever stream you opt, put in your best efforts, to scale the path of success. First and foremost, obtaining high marks in the qualifying examinations will put you in a comparatively better position to get into a course of your choice after the 10 + 2 level.