Overview of Entrance exams for Master’s degree in India…Is Online/Distance degree worth it?

India is a country with around a 1.3Billion population. More than 50% of the people are below the age of 25, and more than 65% are below the age of 35years. This vast population should get an education to stand apart and create a new world with their ideas using their education. Even though many of them are educated, a significant portion is still illiterate and struggling to get an education due to many reasons.
The government of India has taken many schemes and methods to improve education and is still making efforts to reach many of them. Many of them are graduated with a bachelor’s degree in any of the fields in our country. But most of them have stopped with their bachelor’s degree itself. This is due to various factors like their economic conditions, getting involved in a job or business, and some even don’t know what higher studies they should opt for as per their knowledge, skill, and ability. This article would provide you complete details about Higher Education in India and all particulars about Online Degree and its value.
If you have a bachelor’s degree in any field, you can opt for a master’s degree in a specialized area of your bachelor’s specialization. Like a Bachelor’s in Computer Science student can opt for a Machine Learning or Data Science degree. Similarly, a Bachelor’s in Biology student can opt for a Master’s in Micro Biology, and a BBA student can sign up for an MBA course.
Also, you can opt for different disciplinary courses if you are ELIGIBLE for them. Like a Btech graduate can do an MBA course or a PGDM course if interested. So there are many ways to get a Master’s degree in India. The only requirement is you need to know about all the ways how you can do it. I would list some of the courses and their related entrances to figure out what all you can do to complete your masters.

GATE:

(Field Engineering)

The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering is an examination that primarily tests the comprehensive understanding of various undergraduate subjects in engineering and science for admission into the Master’s Program and Job in Public Sector Companies. This is the entrance to get into the most prestigious institutes in India like IIT’s, NIT’s, and IIIT’s. To know about complete details about GATE, click here.

https://theinquisitive.in/gate

Also there are many state entrance exams to get into their respected colleges for an MTech degree. Complete details are available here.

CAT:

(Field Management)

The Common Admission Test (CAT)is a computer-based test for admission in a graduate management program. The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) started this exam and use the test for selecting students for their business administration programs (MBA or PGDM). This degree is different from a normal MBA degree. To know the complete details about CAT, please check the post below.

All About CAT- 2021. List of best IIM’s in INDIA.

Also there are many entrances for various colleges. Complete details in below link

IIT JAM:

(Field Science)

Joint Admission Test for M.Sc. is an admission test conducted every year for admission into Master of Science and other post-graduate science programs at Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institute of Science, organized by alternating institutes every year.

Similarly there are many entrances for other top colleges in India for Master’s in Science. You can find all of them in below link.

CLAT:

(Field Law)

Common Law Admission Test is a centralized national-level entrance test for admissions to twenty-two National Law Universities in India. Most private and self-financed law schools in India also use these scores for law admissions.

You can find other entrances for master’s degree in India in below link.

NEET PG:

(Field Medical)

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate) is a qualifying and ranking examination in India, for students who wish to study various postgraduate Doctor of Medicine, Master of Surgery, and diploma courses, in government or private medical colleges in the country.

Also there are many prestigious entrances like JIPMER, AIIMS and many more. Please find the link for more below.

NIFT:

(Field Design)

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) is an autonomous fashion design and technology institute. NIFT offers undergraduate, post-graduate, and doctoral programs in design, management, and technology.

There are many other entrances which provides master degree in Design and Fashion. Please check the list below.

CUCET:

(Field Hotel Management)

The Central Universities Common Entrance Test is an all-India test that is being organized for admission to various Integrated/Under-Graduate, Post Graduate, and Research Programmes in several Central Universities and State Universities of India.

Similar entrances for a master degree in Hotel Management can be found below.

AIIMS MSC:

(Field Nursing)

All India Institute of Medical Sciences Exam for Master of Science in Nursing is a national level entrance examination. The exam is conducted every year by AIIMS New Delhi for candidates aspiring to get admission in Nursing courses (at postgraduate level) offered by different AIIMS colleges.

Find more below.

There are more categories in which you can have your Master degree. Please find the link below.

ONLINE DEGREE:

As we have seen entrances to get into the best colleges of India for Higher education. Everyone cannot have a degree due to various reasons. Two main factors among them are

• Due to poor economic conditions
• Due to lack of time as they are already working or holding a business

These people opt different ways to complete their masters in two different ways. They are

• Distance Education
• Online Education

Difference between Online and Distance:

You may already know about Distance Education. Distance education is a term used to refer to students who do not have to be physically present at a school, college, or university to attain an education. Its origins are college correspondence courses whereby education materials were posted to the student.
An online degree program is one option under the broader category of distance education. Students who own or have access to PCs can pursue an online degree by completing coursework via the Internet. Online courses give students the freedom to work from the comfort and convenience of their homes. Working professionals who cannot leave work to pursue full-time, on-campus study benefit most from online courses of study.
After detailed research, I have found that the above ways of studying are having less value when compared to the traditional way of learning. Because in conventional education, there is a selection process that filters out many of the students so that only the worthy candidates get selected. By this, they gain more importance and value when compared to Online and Distance learning. Find below the list of Distance Education colleges in India.

UGC Recognised University List 2021 for Distance Education

SELECTION CRITERIA

Online degree is now provided by many providers like Up-Grad, Simplilearn, Udemy, Unacademy. But still, all these providers’ degrees are not up to the mark compared to traditional learning.

If you really want your Distance/ Online Degree to be more valued, Please consider three criteria’s

• Selection Criteria – How they select students, there should be some criteria so that not everyone can join if they have money.
• Instructor’s Experience and Expertise – How well the instructor has experience in the field and how well he can guide them.
• Core Objective – You must have a core objective as to why you want to do an online Degree.

All these factors contribute to the better value of your learning. I hope you got the complete details about Higher Education in India.

Final Thoughts:

Don’t choose/ opt for an Online or Distance degree to get a promotion, hike, or new job. Just go for it if in case you really want to learn more and get the knowledge to apply it in your career or life.