Sunday, October 12, 2014

Website Review : Collegedunia.com

The time before admission to a new college is a really stressful and confusing one for both students and parents alike. I remember how thoroughly stressed I was after I finished school. The innumerable options available in terms of subjects and colleges were really bewildering. Both my parents and I had a tough time selecting the colleges and the subjects I wanted to apply for. Infrastructure, fees, timings and a lot of other criteria had to be looked. Finding the perfect college was some challenge!!
The exact same was repeated when my sis had to apply for colleges. I'm pretty sure a lot of others have gone through or will have to go through similar situations.

Now, what if I told you there was a solution for the problem? Wouldn't that be absolutely wonderful? The answer is Collegedunia.com , a website founded by Sahil Chalana who noticed the huge gap in the information that is available and decided to go a step ahead and create a website to cater to all the queries that students and parents looking for colleges may need to get addressed.


What they say about themselves-
Collegedunia.com has been created to fulfill a vision of empowering students with knowledge so that they make a wiser decision while choosing their career and alma mater. The website has a repository of more than 20,000 colleges and 6000 courses categorized in different streams like Management, Engineering, Medical, Arts and much more.




Things I loved -
1) The clean and crisp look of the website.
2) The ratings of the colleges is provided right next to their names along with fee details and the timings.
3)  Innumerable filters to narrow down your searches to make things really easy.
4) Detailed description of the colleges including infrastructure, subjects provided, photos, eligibility criteria, course timings and other details provided.
5) There is a section where exams are listed and the upcoming exams under each category are listed which will help students appear for admission tests and check the eligibility criteria for the same.

Suggestions for improvement-
Since the website is quite new, a lot of colleges have not been documented as yet. Major colleges are the only ones listed and a few others have not been rated as yet. I'm really hoping they add more colleges and cities to their list so that people from all around the country get to benefit from it.

I would give a thumbs up to this website and the thought that went behind the making of it. This is going to be a major help for a lot of students who can get really baffled by the number of options available. Give the website a look and tell us what you think.

Till next,

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Pocketful of Sunshine


Aniesha and I were talking on Saturday and we were both cribbing about how busy I've gotten lately and how the mess at her university (she studies at Jadavpur ) wasn't getting any better. We decided to meet and crib some more over breakfast. So, we met this Monday at Park Street's Au Bon Pain (I highly recommend this place if you haven't been there...the quirky decor, super comfy seats and delicious orangeade shouldn't be missed). While the two of us sat there munching on our delicious egg and pesto croissants and yapping at the same time, I spotted these kids running around with a tray.

I pointed to this bunch of three six-or-so year olds who by the appearance looked like they had dressed for Eid. Aniesha giggled and remarked how excited kids get when they find food, a lot of it.
"The poor parents must be going crazy trying to control them". We continued talking when my eyes wandered to another counter where I spotted the three carrying this tray with one Onion and Garlic Bagel on it. I overheard one of them say "Ye wala le le...30 hai (take this one...it costs 30) " and I poked Aniesha saying , "They aren't here with their parents!! ". I could see that she looked really worried and started scanning the place trying to find them. "Oh there they are", she said pointing to the cash counter. We saw the three hand over one ten rupees note each to the guy at the counter who looked really amused. "Bhaiya, 30 huye na? (it is 30 bucks right?) ". What they didn't notice was that the bill was not 30 but 35 rupees with the added tax. The guy at the counter was really kind and nodded his head in affirmative and took the 30 rupees handed to him.



These three then clambered into the seats right behind ours. One of them divided this one bagel into three parts as the other two slathered ketchup all over it. The two of us watched them highly amused as they laughed and nibbled the bread. I nudged Aniesha to go and ask them if we could take a picture of them. And guess what? These three not just said a yes with big grins but one of them smartypants flashed a "V for Victory" when Aniesha clicked the picture.

Aniesha and I wanted to buy them muffins but they sped the moment they finished their bagel. Kids these days are way smarter, I swear. I'm pretty sure I would have never had the courage to go to a place located on such a busy street all alone!!

Do you have a similar story to tell? Share it with us in the comments

Till next,