Your Counsellor Replies

Your Counsellor RepliesI‚m in my final year hotel management degree programme and want to pursue an MBA in tourism management at the Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management, Gwalior. Please advise as I‚m unable to access the institute‚s website.Sreenath, MumbaiAmong the reputed institutions offering Master‚s degree programmes in travel and tourism management are the Union ministry of tourism‚s Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, Govindpuri, Gwalior 474011 (www.iittm.org); School of Management, Pondicherry (www. pondiuni.org) and Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies, Residency, Thycaud, Thiruvananthapuram 695014 (www.kittstour.org). For information about the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, log on to the right website ‚ www.iittm.org.I‚m a graduate of Symbiosis College, Pune. Please provide information on computer science courses offered by universities.Pravesh Agrawal, PuneYou could enroll for a Master of computer applications (MCA) degree of two-three years‚ duration provided you have studied maths up to class XII. The MCA programme is also offered by the Regional Engineering Colleges in Warangal, Bhopal, Rourkela, Allahabad and Tiruchirapalli. Moreover Delhi, Pune, Aligarh Muslim and Jadavpur universities also offer MCA study programmes. So do BITS, Mesra (Ranchi); School of Mathematics and Computer Information Science (Hyderabad) and JNU (Delhi), among others.Another option is to sign up for a one-year postgraduate diploma in computer applications. If you haven‚t read maths in class XII, you could enroll in one of the many private computer training institutes which are granted accreditation by the DOEACC (department of electronics accreditation of computer courses). According to DOEACC, four levels of training, graded O, A, B and C need to be imparted to students. The DOEACC ‚ËœA‚ level programme would be most suitable for you. These qualifications are accepted nationwide.I‚ll be writing my Plus Two (science) exam next year. I‚m keen on a career in medicine and am writing several medical entrance exams. In case I don‚t get admission in India, I would like to pursue medical studies in the US. Please advise.Navin Shah, AhmedabadIn theUS a bachelor‚s degree (12+4) is the prerequisite of admission into medical college. Typically, less than 3 percent of foreign applicants are admitted into American medical colleges and most of them are individuals who have completed their undergrad education in the US. Some state-supported medical schools consider only US citizens and permanent residents for admission. Expertise in the biological sciences and humanities with an excellent undergraduate academic record, fluency in English, participation in extra-curricular activities, volunteer commitments and a satisfactory score in the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) are basic requirements for admission into a medical school in the US. For details of MCAT visit (www.aamc.org).I‚m in second year B.Sc and would like to pursue an MBA after graduation. Is it better to do an MBA in India or abroad?Ravi Menon, BangaloreIt‚s best to try for admission into a reputed Indian business school. Start preparing for CAT and other management education entrance tests in your final year. The decision whether to pursue an MBA in India or abroad should be taken after studying the projections of foreign job markets, the placement profiles of the business schools you are targeting and availability of funds. The world‚s top business schools are mainly in the USA, Europe and Canada.In India, a large proportion of fresh graduates are admitted directly by premier B-schools. But in the US, Europe, Australia or Canada, MBA students admitted in prominent business schools are required to have three-four years of work experience.Apart from the IITs, which institutes offer aerospace engineering and what are their admission requirements? I‚ll be writing my class XII (science) exam next year.Sudhakar Rao, ChennaiAerospace engineering is offered only at the IITs. However, aeronautical engineering is offered by Anna University, Chennai (www.anna univ.edu); Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh (www.pec.ac.in); Hindustan College of Engineering, Chennai; and Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Secunderabad. All of them have their own entrance tests, but you can apply to Punjab Engineering College on the basis of your AIEEE score (www.aieee.nic.in). There are, however, possibilities for working in the aerospace/ aeronautical industry after acquiring qualifications in other branches of engineering as well.I would like to learn about astrophysics as a career option. I‚m in class XII (science).Neeta Puri, New DelhiAstrophysics is the study of the physical properties of stars, galaxies and the universe. After you complete class XII continue with a major/ honours degree in physics with maths as a subsidiary since you‚ll rarely find astrophysics offered as a subject at the undergrad level. Then enroll for a postgraduate course in astrophysics or an M.Sc in physics/ allied sciences and follow it up with a Ph D. Admission into Ph D programmes in astrophysics requires a consistently above average academic record and a good score in the Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST). Doctorates in astrophysics through JEST are offered by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore; InterUniversity Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune; National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), TIFR, Pune; Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore, and Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.Astrophysicists usually work in defence and space research organisations; with electrical and electronic equipment manufacturers, R&D laboratories, search and navigation equipment manufacturers, universities, planetaria, science centres etc.