Why are you reading this – are you crazy? I mean the <a href="http://www.jee.iitb.ac.in/schedule.php" target="_blank">IIT-JEE</a> is just 10 days away (10th April), the VITEEE is on 16th, UPTU SEE on 17th, Kerala CEE on 18-19th, Karnataka CET on 27-28th, <a href="http://aieee.nic.in/aieee2011/aieee/welcome.html" target="_blank">AIEEE</a> on 1st May (with the DCE/DTU bundled in), EAMCET on 8th and the BITSAT is starting from 11 May. Your next one month will be HELL! Oh and by the way, the Manipal ENAT has already begun.  Yup, these people have no heart; they don't care if you've just finished your board exams and finally come out of school - not a minute's rest for you - you're going to be an ENGINEER god damnit! <strong>STUDY</strong>. And by the way if you've just finished your 11th grade and are reading this - wipe that silly smile off your face, this is going to be you next year.  Me? Well I can smile - I've already given all these exams. I'm done with all my double E's and triple E's and I can sit comfortably on my sofa and tell you that they don't matter. Yes, I know your parents are probably trying to convince you that these are 'the MOST important months of your life' and if you do well now, you'll be successful in life. Unfortunately, the reality is slightly more complicated. The truth is – you’ll have to work hard all your life. And <strong><em>then </em></strong>you'll be rich and successful. And Fat.  Sure, you get a head-start if you get into a good college. But again, you'll be expected to do well in that college to get a good placement. And once you've got that, the first couple of years in a job are all about proving yourself. So you'll always get the feeling at every point in your life that <strong>THIS </strong>is the most important time. See, it kind of works like this:  <a href="http://indiacollegesearch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/1248105282rk4rxu.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-19 aligncenter" title="1248105282rk4rxu" src="http://indiacollegesearch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/1248105282rk4rxu-300x225.jpg" alt="Donkey chasing Carrot" width="300" height="225" /></a> Yes, you're the donkey - you're never going to actually reach the carrot and say "Wow, the most important year of my life is over, whatever I do now doesn't matter" It will always matter. I've seen geniuses from IIT and IIM get thrown out for under-performance with less than a month's notice and I've seen <a href="http://www.twincommas.com/billionaire-college-dropouts" target="_blank">college dropouts head billion dollar companies</a>.  While you're at an advantage if you have a good degree, you need to keep performing in life - your boss won't care that you're the next Einstein if you don't deliver what your company expects.  Now, I'm not mocking you by comparing you with the donkey, and I'm certainly not demotivating you - no, I've been there. I've been a bigger donkey than you will ever be. If you must know, I gave all these exams in 2005 - yes, IIT had 2 exams back then (screening and mains) and I had to give both because I cleared the damn 'screening' exam. And yes, I got through PEC, DTU (it was DCE then), UIET, UPES and other good colleges - and I left all that to go to BITS Dubai, dreaming of "international exposure". Bad decision. There was nothing international about the college, the teachers, the students or the atmosphere. In short, I spent my 4 years at college kind of like this:  <a href="http://indiacollegesearch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Three-Idiots.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-20 aligncenter" title="Three-Idiots" src="http://indiacollegesearch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Three-Idiots-300x225.jpg" alt="Three Idiots" width="300" height="225" /></a> No, not like Amir Khan - he was a genius. More like the other two - I tried all types of '<em>jugaad</em>' and made '<em>farras</em>' till late in the night, but alas...  I did graduate with a first division in Computer Engineering and went to work for a software company in Delhi. Sounds good, right? Not exactly - I didn't really learn anything at college, I have no idea how I passed some of those disgusting courses and I hated my job. So why the hell do I want to give you advice? Well, I don't - but I meet friends and cousins regularly who ask for advice/counseling or just some info about all these engineering colleges, which ones to apply for, and which ones they have a chance of getting into. So, for better or worse, I end up sharing my opinions from having gone through these choices.  About 6 months ago, Parul and I quit our jobs and set up <a href="http://www.IndiaCollegeSearch.com" target="_blank">this website</a> to give you something that we never had - an application that helps you find colleges and a blog where aspiring engineers and other students can share their thoughts and opinions. We'll try to provide information, updates and advice to aspiring engineers - the information on our website might not be 100% up to date and this is my first blog post so in both cases - please be kind!  Do leave your comments below - you can either thank me for being your saviour (yeah, right!) or tell me what I already know - that I'm an idiot. I won't mind and I'll reply to everyone's comments as far as possible. Promise ;-)