1. CHANNEL Y
TheIndianEXPRESS
PUNENewsline I TUESDAY I MAY 21 I 2013
5
www.indianexpress.com
ROHANSWAMY
T
hereareover350collegesinthe
stateforengineeringstudiesthat
offerover70coursesspecialising
in specific fields of engineering.
It’snowonderthenthatstudentsarestag-
gered by the enormity of the choice while
pickingtherightcollegeforthemselves.
InFebruarylastyear,engineering
graduatesSushilMundadaandAbhishek
Ballabh,hituponanideatorescuethe
studentsfromtheirquandary.Theyhave
nowdevelopedawebsitetohelpengi-
neeringaspirantssecureagoodcollege
bygivingacut-offanalysisaswellasacol-
legebranchpredictor,whichservesasa
guideto wheretheycanapply,depend-
ingontheirmarks.Thestudentscanalso
availonlineandofflineeducationcoun-
selingforsecuringtheirseatinthecol-
legeoftheirchoice.
Mundada,29,saystheideawasborn
outofhisownexperienceswhenhewas
scoutingforacollegetostudyalmosta
decadeback.“Thereissomuchinforma-
tionoutthere—fromwhatcoursesneed
tobeselectedtothecollegethatthey
wanttogoto,aswellasthemarksre-
quiredtogetintothecollegeoftheir
choice.Allthesereferencedandcross-
referencedwiththerankingofthecol-
lege,theplacewhereitislocated,aswell
astheprospectsofacampusplacement
fouryearslaterisalotofinformationfor
anystudentoraspiringengineertocol-
late,”hesays.“Webeganworkingonthe
collegesinthestatetohelpthestudents
andlaunchedthewebsitethisyearin
April,”hesays.Thetwoworkedforovera
yearbeforecomingupwiththewebsite–
www.extraaedge.com.
Mundadasaystheinformationonthe
websitehelpsinnotjustbreakingbarriers
regardingchoicesforstudentsbutalso
givesthemawiderscopetomeettheir
endgoals.Butthatisnot
wheretheyhavestopped.In
additiontohelpingstudents
secureadmissiontocolleges,
theyaregoingastepfurther
byhelpingthemsecurein-
ternships,collegeprojectas-
signmentsandevenshareinformation
aboutcampusplacements,openrecruit-
mentandfurtherstudies.“Alltheonline
servicesarefreeofchargeforthestu-
dentsandcanbeaccessedbyeveryone.
Moreoverwehaveadiscussionboard
wherethesetopicscanbe
takenupwithotherstudents
andevenprofessors.There
canbepostsaboutjobsaswell
asnewtrendsintheindustry
too,”hesays.
Theentireconceptofthe
cut-offpredictorandthebranchlocator
isbasedonanalgorithmwhichmakes
useoftheresultsofthepreviousyear.
Forinstanceitallowsthestudentstoac-
curatelypredictcut-offsforaparticular
collegeusingtheresultsfromthecut-off
thepreviousyear.Mundadasaysthey
willbeteamingupwithcollegessothat
professorscanuploadassignmentsand
coursesonthesite.“CurrentlytheBhar-
tiyaVidyapeethUniversityhassigned
onwithus.Oncetheacademicseason
startswewillbevisitingallcollegesinthe
citytoropethemin,”hesays.While
therearenofurtherplansontheanvil
regardingdevelopingapplicationsfor
smartphonesandmobileplatforms,the
duomentionsthattheywillbetakinga
seriouslookatitafterthewebsitehas
pickedonamongstudents,collegesand
facultymembers.
All Caps High
INTERNATIONALSchoolofBusinessand
Mediarecentlyheldtheirconvocationcel-
ebrationsattheirNandecampus.The
eventwasattendedbyBKBhansal,CMD
ofMorganStanleyandAnilWanwari,
FounderandCEOofindiantelevision.com,
whogaveouttheprizestothe397gradu-
atingstudents.Thegraduatingstudents
included82frommediastudies,289from
businessmanagementand26fromsupply
chainmanagementcoursesofferedbythe
institute.Addressingthestudents,Bhansal
saidonlytheyouthcanchangethepresent
scenario.“Freshideasthatwillmouldthe
futurecanbegeneratedonlybystudents
likeyou,whoareenthusiasticandreadyto
facetheworld.Youaretheonlyoneswho
canpullthemarketoutoftherecession,”
hesaid.Wanwarisharedthestoryofhow
hestartedwithhisonlinetelevisionportal
andhowitgrewbig.“Youmusthavea
passiontodrivetheideafromasmallop-
portunitytoalargescale,”hesaid.
ICAI holds First
Convocation in the City
ABATCHof250studentsoftheInstituteof
CharteredAccountantsofIndia,Pune,who
clearedtheirCAexamsinMayandNovem-
ber2012,receivedtheirdegreesonSun-
dayinthecity.Thiswasthefirstconvoca-
tionfunctionheldbytheinstituteinthe
city.DrWNGade,Vice-chancellorofUni-
versityofPune,wasthechiefguestatthe
event,whileDrSudhakarJadhwar,Deanof
Commerceattheuniversitywastheguest
ofhonour.ShubhotAggarwal,Presidentof
ICAI,alsoattendedtheconvocation.Pune
ranksfourthinmostproducersofchar-
teredaccountantsinthecountry.More
than25,000studentshadappearedfrom
thestateand6,000clearedtheexam.
NAME: SumiSukumaran
STUDYING AT:LLBthirdyearatNewLawCollege.
SONGS I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO:IlovelisteningtoRidebyLana
DelReyandBetweenusbyPeterBradleyAdams
FILM I CAN WATCH AGAIN AND AGAIN: IloveP.S.ILoveYouand
TheUglyTruth
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IN MY FREE TIME:IusuallywatchEnglishsoapsandmovies
WHEN I BUNK COLLEGE I CHILL AT: MyfriendsandIusedtohang
outatHubbleBubbly,ahookahbar.Nowitisclosedsowehang
outateachothersplace
STYLE STATEMENT:Istylemyselfaccordingtotheoccasionandit
alsodependsonmymood
IN FIVE YEARS FROM NOW:Iseemyselfasagoodlawyer,ifnotina
corporatefirm,theninalegaldepartment
A PERFECT DATE:Nottoofilmy,justaquietplacewherewecan
bothsitandtalk
THREE SPEED DIAL NAMES:Mymother,fatherandbrother.Iam
veryclosetomyfamily
ROLL ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING:Whenmyfriendscrackjokes
abouteachother
FOOD LOVE: Nothinginparticular.Mychoiceoffoodchanges
everymonth
(AS TOLD TO JUHI AGGARWAL)
C A M P U S C H I T C H A T
(Clockwise from top) The website
will allow engineering aspirants to
narrow down their choices; Sushil
Mundada; Abhishek Ballabh; a
screenshot of the website
Students of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India
Students at
the event
The Slambook
ConnecttheDots
A new website
helps engineering
aspirants select
colleges that
best suit their
academic pursuits