On the 22nd of February, 2019, Dr Shivakumar, Head Manager of the India office of Illinois Institute of Technology addressed the students of MIT at the Sir M.V. Seminar hall regarding a provisional admission program that the American university offered to Indian students. His 13 years of experience with the university helped the students gain perspective as he gave a detailed account of the procedures leading to possible admission in the coveted institution.

The conference began at 5:45 pm sharp, with Dr Shivakumar stating the well-known facts as to why American universities are sought after, not just by Indian students but by students from all around the globe. He spoke about how one of the biggest advantages of studying in the States is that students get the chance to extend their stay by up to 36 months. He also reminded students that funding for research departments in universities in the US is very high, making way for several universities to be placed in the charts for the top 500 universities around the world. He also explained how a student in a city like Illinois can repay their educational debt in less than two years. This took many students by shock, as the traditional belief remains that an educational loan takes several years to be paid back. This gave students more hope and motivation to choose Illinois Tech as the university for their Master’s course.

With no dearth of resources and exceptional offers in PhD and research-based courses, Dr Shivakumar proceeded to bring to light the offers that Illinois Tech has for Indian students. Indian students can take up a Master’s in three ways. The first is to head to the city of Illinois, USA, and complete the selected course on campus. The second is to take up three courses in one’s 6th or 7th semester and complete the remaining courses on campus, and the third is to opt to do Master’s completely online.

The conference mainly focused on the second option, which is also known as the Pathway Course. The idea of this course was the brainchild of the CEOs of Motorola. In the late ’90s, they wanted to give Indian engineers working in their Bangalore office more exposure. They had initially decided to bring professors down from the States to do so, but deeming that plan as capital-intensive, lectures were recorded on cassettes and sent to India.

This methodology has proved to be exceeding successful and well-appreciated by students. These online courses allow students to explore the courses of their choice for two weeks before actually paying for them. It was also emphasised that the online students had no distinction with on-campus students. The fact that the USA allows a student to complete their Master’s over the course of six years was another major advantage; the only drawback seems to be that not all courses, such as those from Data Science, Biomedical, and the School of Humanities, are offered.

After the discussion, a brief clip of a recorded video lecture was shown. Dr Shivakumar further mentioned that students are given access to the videos 24 hours after it has been uploaded, which they can refer to at any time during that semester. This implies that all the deadlines and regulations regarding assessments adhere to online students as well. Doubt clarifying sessions are also set up for these students and Bangalore’s Koramangala office conducts the written mid-term examinations. An attempt to make the written test online was also suggested; however, the internet and power systems were unable to support this plan.

A heated but respectful discussion ensued online following the event, as there was only a mention made of the provisional admission and the scholarship highlighted in the message that reached them. The fact that these admissions had already happened in cities like Bangalore and Mumbai during the late weeks of January 2019 seemed to disappoint the students. Technical Secretary Rashmi Samant and Joint Technical Secretary Abhishek Malakar stepped in to clarify some of the misconceptions that were there among students. They even took the emails ids of the interested students for on-spot registration. It was made clear that no US universities have admissions open at this time of the year and hence, only on-spot registrations were taken and no provisional admission was provided.

Illinois Institute of Technology offers its Indian students a plethora of opportunities. From one of the most sought after courses of this era to being one of the most employable universities in Chicago, it has certainly opened doors for Indian students to fulfil their dreams of studying in the United States of America.

Picture Credits: The Photography Club, Manipal

This article is current as of 2018 and will be updated shortly.

Navaneethcrshna Upadhyaya and Deepali Sahu | Staff Writers

With the exam season done and dusted, hundreds of students are veering along a path that will lead them towards spending the next four years in Manipal. Listed below are the counselling and admission procedure, that prospective MITian’s will find useful. If the answers below don’t cover what you need, or you’re looking for any more information, head over to our official Freshers’ group of 2018 to have your doubts cleared. 

COUNSELLING  PROCESS

Your physical presence at the counselling is mandatory. You can attend the counselling at any of the centres- Manipal, Sikkim, Jaipur, or Hyderabad, irrespective of the campus you want admission in. However, if extenuating circumstances prevent you from being present, you may authorise someone to be there in your place. He/she must carry your authorisation in this format. Make sure you bring all your documents and the admission fees.

Please note that your absence or the absence of your representative at the indicated reporting time and date for counselling will result in the instantaneous forfeiture of your claim to a seat. Only the applicants/representatives are allowed into the counselling hall.

Applicants are called in the order of their ranks and asked to choose from the seats available for admission at that point in time.

You can check your rank, counselling schedule, venue and other details at www.admissions.manipal.edu.

2018 B. Tech Rank-wise Counselling Schedule

2018 B. Tech Rank-wise Counselling Schedule

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

1) PRE-COUNSELING

The counselling portal will be open from 28th May 2018. The candidates are required to upload the following documents in the counselling portal:

• e-Hall Ticket
• 10^th standard marks card for proof of date of birth
• Marks card of 10+2
• Conduct and Character certificate obtained on the School/College letterhead. No other certificate in lieu of this will be accepted
• Transfer certificate or School/College Leaving Certificate issued by the School/College. No other certificate in lieu of this will be accepted.
• Scanned Copy of PAN card of the parent
• Scanned Aadhar card of Candidate.

The above documents have to be uploaded before the candidates report to the first round of counselling.

2) DURING COUNSELLING

During counselling, all candidates are required to produce the original and two sets of photocopies of following documents. On admission, the University will keep these documents until the candidate completes the course.

Candidates are warned against submitting the colour photocopies of the original marks card in lieu of the original marks cards. Original marks cards which are laminated will not be accepted by the University. In case of submission of such fraudulent original marks cards, incorrect or untrue information, or suppression or distortion of any fact in the original marks card, admission/degree of the candidate is liable for cancellation.

Request for withdrawal of the original documents submitted can be made only for genuine reasons in the prescribed application available at the Admissions Office of the University.

Failure to produce the document/s on the day of admission or by the date specified for this purpose will result in instantaneous forfeiture of the seat.

• e-Hall Ticket
• 10^th standard marks card for proof of date of birth
• Marks card of 10+2
• Conduct and Character certificate obtained on the School/College letterhead. No other certificate in lieu of this will be accepted
• Transfer certificate or School/College Leaving Certificate issued by the School/College. No other certificate in lieu of this will be accepted.
• Two recent and identical passport size photographs.
• Fees: As applicable to the programme.
• Copy of PAN card of the parent.
• Aadhar card of Candidate.
• Authorization letter if a representative is attending on behalf of the candidate.
• One set of self-attested photocopies of all the above documents

All the candidates should produce the above mentioned original documents for verification and should submit one set of self-attested photocopies of the same.

3) AFTER ADMISSION

• Allotment order and receipt/s for the payment made will be given to the candidate on completion of the admission process.
• Candidates who require hostel facility should contact the Chief Warden’s Office of the allotted institution for hostel enrollment.
• Candidates should report to the allotted college on or before the Reporting date mentioned in the allotment order.
• Candidates are required to submit the filled-in ICICI account opening form at the ICICI Bank counter during counselling/orientation for obtaining the One-Debit Card facility. The One Debit Card will function as Manipal University Identity Card, Access Control Card, and an ICICI Debit/ATM Card with Zero-Balance facility.  The One Debit card will not be issued if the account opening form is not submitted at the ICICI Bank counter. Further, you are required to submit a photocopy of any one of the address proof document (Voter ID/Aadhar Card/Passport/Driving License) in order to open an account.
•  Classes will commence from 16th July 2017. Dates will be confirmed only once the handbook has been issued.
  

  FEE PAYMENT DETAILS

  General Category: The first year course fees, registration fees should be paid by demand draft drawn in favour of ‘Manipal University’ payable at Manipal or Udupi.

  Foreign/NRI category: The first year course fees, registration fees should be paid by demand draft drawn in favour of ‘Manipal University’ payable at New York.
  
  All candidates should bring two separate account payee demand drafts for Rs. 2,95,000/- and Rs. 10,000/- respectively drawn in favour of ‘Manipal Academy of Higher Education’ payable at Manipal or Udupi.   Demand Drafts favouring other than the above will be rejected.

  If selected, candidates should deposit the above two demand drafts amounting to Rs. 3, 05,000. Candidates who opt only to be waitlisted should produce the demand draft for Rs. 10, 000/- only.

  Part payments or payment in installments is not permitted.  Nonpayment of the first year fees on the day of counselling will result in instantaneous forfeiture of the seat.  

  A Refundable Caution deposit of Rs. 30,000/-  will have to be paid at the time of Orientation & Familiarization Programme.

  The University Buses will be present during the counselling, driving all across campus for campus tours and orientations. Manipal is a small town packed with almost everything that makes a metro. Two days aren’t enough to do it all, but you can still try!