Author Topic: Admission Entry Test Preparation in tuition centres  (Read 4090 times)

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Admission Entry Test Preparation in tuition centres
« on: May 19, 2010, 02:55:36 PM »
Admission Entry Test Preparation in tuition centres

Karachi, May 19: As Higher Secondary School Certificate Part II examinations of the Pre-Medical group ended on Tuesday and those of Pre-Engineering students would end on Thursday (tomorrow), it is that time of the year again when students get enrolled in expensive admission test preparation classes at tuition centres throughout the city to attain admission in the country's top universities.

Students usually tend to attend test prep classes to study medicine, engineering and business at professional colleges. Some students start taking these classes about six months prior to the test, while a sufficient number prefers taking crash courses right after their examinations end.

The amount of money students invest in taking these courses varies, depending on how well known the prep centre is and what school is the student aiming to get into. For instance, according to a staff member at Anees Hussain, "The cost of a crash course for public medical schools such as Dow Medical University and Sindh Medical College is Rs 16,000, while students attempting to get into Army Medical College (AMC) to study medicine have to pay Rs 18,000 per head because the AMC test requires greater practice of content." On the other hand, Students' Inn charges Rs 15,000 from medicine and engineering tests' candidates and a relatively low Rs 12,000 from business school candidates.

The study groups that start several months before the test date cost a candidate somewhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000, as IBA Grads Operations Manager Ammar said.

Providing guidance to aspirants on admission tests involves not just lectures and practicing under time limits, but also provision of books of complete preparatory material on each subject. Some institutes provide this material exclusively to those who take regular classes, while others sell it to outsiders too. For instance, IBA Grads' prep material for Lahore University Management Sciences can be bought for Rs 5,000; whereas that for College of Business Management, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, and University of Karachi costs Rs 3,500.

Ali Rashid, a former student of Bahria University, said, "I didn't find the need to take formal prep classes. All I did was to take prep material from my friends who were going to institutes. To pass an admission test, what matters the most is the amount of practice you put in and how you manage time during the test."

Most test prep centres have classes comprising 40 to 50 students and there usually is more than one batch that is being prepared for the same test simultaneously. Rafiuddin Shah, a student of IBA, said, "When I used to take preparatory classes at Anees Hussain's, there was a total of 10 batches enrolled."

Even after investing thousands of rupees, students, parents and even test trainers are never sure if they would be able to pass the admission tests. While test prep institutes are virtually minting money, where does an average college student, who cannot afford to pay the fee, stand is anyone's guess.

"Nevertheless, those who are motivated usually tend to ask friends for prep materials and study on their own. Also, most of the time, they attempt getting admission into universities where the criteria is based more on previous exam results instead of admission tests," Ammar explained. Daily times