DNA
Newspaper, 12th July 2008
Looking
for an appropriate college to get admission in standard
xi? Here’s a dekko at the topmost arts, science and
commerce colleges in the city, and their respective unique
selling points (USPS).
Science
Abasaheb
Garware College, Karve road, Deccan gymkhana corner, pune-4
The image: not for the wilting wallflowers, but for the
serious scholars only. Discipline is the key here.
The usp: "apart from the discipline, and supervision
of children, which are necessary at this stage, we have
a vibrant, rich research programme," says retired principal
R V Kulkarni, also the director for non-grant courses at
the college.
"We are the only college in the country to offer an
M.Sc course in biodiversity," he says.
"We were also the first college in Pune to offer both
graduate and post-graduate degrees in microbiology. Besides,
the college also has research centres for chemistry, microbiology
and Economics."
On offer are B.Sc courses in botany, zoology, physics, chemistry,
statistics, electronics, computer science and Maths, microbiology.
M.Sc in Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics,
Microbiology, Biodiversity and Computer Science.
Ex-garwarites: chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, scientist
Sridhar Gadre
Arts and Science
Shikshan Prasarak Mandal's Sp College, Tilak road, phone
number: 24331978; 24336074; 24336572
The image: sp college has been the coordinating centre for
Pune's unique central admission process (cap) for standard
xi for several years. This year too it has coordinated the
admissions for 50,000 standard x successful students of
schools in both Pune and pimpri-Chinchwad.
Established in 1916, this is a college spread over 25 acres
in the heart of the city. The inmates are both studious
and fun-loving. Don’t let the serious faces fool you.
the college also has a formidable reputation of winning
most dramatic and cultural inter-college competitions including
the prestigious Purushottam Karandak. and then there's the
fabulous sports ground.
The usp: "apart from academics, we believe students
must have a strong cultural orientation and belief in Indian
traditions," says principal M A Pendse. "to that
end, we give them an opportunity to take part in cultural
events, including music, dance and dramatics. In fact, last
year, we won almost all the coveted trophies at the prestigious
Purshottam Karandak competition."
With regards to academics, the college is famous for its
ba courses in hindi, geography, german, economics, psychology,
philosophy and sociology - (subjects useful if you are preparing
for the competitive examinations like the mpsc and upsc).
they also offer ma degrees in economics, psychology and
geography.
if you love geography, they have the biggest department
of geography under the aegis of the university. you have
the option of a ba/bsc or an ma/msc in the subject. The
department also offers certificate courses in geo informatics
systems which can immediately get you a job as a technician
in an IT company.
For science, the college also offers degrees in physics,
chemistry, biology, zoology, botany and electronics. (ps:
if you're interested in saving the environment, this is
just the college for you. the college has research programmes
in tissue culture and plant medicine.) the college also
has B.Com and M.Com programmes.
Ex-sp collegians: actors Mrunal Kulkarni and Rohan Solapurkar,
Scientist Kalpana Joshi, politician-activist Mohan Dharia.
Modern
college of arts, commerce and science, model colony, Shivaji
Nagar, Pune, phone no: 25535102
The image: established in 1970, the college isn't as old
as the others in the list. Nevertheless in a short time,
it has made great strides establishing its image as a multi-faculty
college.
USP: the discipline and monitoring of students, says vice-principal
of the junior college, yb chinchore. if you're looking forward
to a chilled out time in std xi, this is not the college
for you. That’s because they have a hand-book system
with a regular record of your academic performance, achievements,
attendance, and overall behaviour, which has to be signed
by your parents.
For the arts faculty, there are compulsory vacation classes
after std xi. "This has greatly improved our passing
percentage from 75 per cent to 91 per cent," he says.
"Also, there are scholar batches for both science and
commerce after std xi, in order to ensure that the good
students get a helping hand," he says. Apart from which,
they also organise regular interactive sessions with ex-students,
"as we believe they are of a similar age group, and
will be able to counsel and understand the problems better."
On offer are BA, BCA, BCS, BSc and B.com degrees and 13
pg degrees for electronics, chemistry, commerce, psychology,
geography, Marathi, English, computer science, and computer
applications. Check out their spacious and well-equipped
computer lab
Ex-modernites: ex-IAS officer Avinash Dharmadhikari, additional
commissioner of police! (Mumbai) Sadanand Date, vocalist
Vibhavari Apte, Arjuna Awardee Srira Ng Inamdar.
(Ps: by no means are we presuming to rank the colleges-also
the colleges may offer courses beyond the ones mentioned-
this is just an exercise to help students find the right
option considering their interests and the strengths of
the respective colleges.)
