As admission season approaches, students just coming out of college are preparing for what has been rightly termed as "admission war". It is one of those harrowing experiences that students have to face at some point in time or another. There are many questions related to this precious period which in most cases determines the next four to five years of a student's life. Additionally, specific issues arise when someone decides of to prepare for admission exams of different majors. 

Admission aspirants in this country can be divided into three categories – seeking admission into specialised universities such as Bangladesh University of Technology and Engineering (BUET), medical colleges such as Dhaka Medical College (DMC), and general universities such as Dhaka University (DU) or Rajshahi University (RU), which can also include agricultural universities and general, science, and technology (GST) universities. Another portion of students are interested in BBA-specific institutions, such as Institute of Business Administration (IBA), DU. 

It makes intuitive sense to prepare for only one kind of admission exam due to the excessive syllabus one has to cover. But, as there are too many students, the rate of students not getting into their desired universities is also pretty high. So, another popular approach has been to take admission preparation for different types of exams together. 

The easiest combination for admissions is preparing for engineering and the science faculty of general universities. As the questions in these exams have overlaps, taking preparation for engineering is usually enough for the science faculty of general universities, with only one exceptopn: Biology. Engineering aspirants have to prepare for Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics already, so taking some extra time for English or Biology can cover more ground. 

"As Dhaka University and other general universities don't allow calculators, practising maths alongside engineering preparation is enough," says Wahi Hoque, a 2nd year EEE students at BUET.

However, many students can manage both engineering and medical examinations together and rank high in both. One such person is Shahrin Hossain, a 4th semester student of Computer Science & Engineering at Islamic University of Technology (IUT), who says "The knowledge of Biology built up from the HSC level helped me to secure a good rank in the medical exam, although I had been aiming for engineering universities."

For aspirants who are primarily aiming for medicine but want to try engineering side-by-side, Shahrin adds, "Medical admission test preparations generally do not cover the engineering admission test topics."

Another combination to consider is preparing fopr the medical admission tests as well as the general university science and humanities faculties. Their question patterns tend to overlap, and the General Knowledge and English covered in medical admission tests also help in many general universities. But while medical admissions tend to focus heavily on General Knowledge and memorisation, general universities focus a bit more on the mathematical and analytical side, which is more important to balance. 

Preparation for IBA is a whole lot different than other tests. As it follows a distinct pattern, usually it is difficult to make it compatible with other exams. However, it is possible, as Mohammad Ehsanul Mahdi, a 4th year student of Applied Statistics at DU, who got through the A Unit admission test and also got selected for IBA, explains, "English is really important for BBA admission exams. To my juniors, I would advise that if you have a good grasp of English beforehand, then go for BBA besides engineering for university preparation. If not, it would not be wise to focus on BBA."

The discussion changes, however, when private universities are considered. In that case, it is easier to take focused preparation for only one preferred subject. Mayesha Momtaz, a 2nd year student enrolled in Public Administration at DU, states, "If you have private universities in consideration, you can take admission preparation for only one type of admission tests – be it medical, engineering, or BBA. But if you have only public universities in mind, I think it is better to keep options."

Although it may seem safer to take admission preparation for different majors depending on how much they overlap, ultimately it boils down to the individual, and how much they can cope with the pressure. The admission season does take a heavy toll on every student, and the pressure shouldn't be increased unnecessarily. Everyone has their limits, and that should be respected rather than blindly following orders.

Sadman Ahmed Siam is a student at Islamic University of Technology (IUT).