MCA Career And Scope

In the recent years, we saw the emergence of Master of Computer  Applications (MCA) as one of the most sought-after courses among the professional degrees. It has become a pre-requisite qualification for the aspirants entering the software profession. This was not the situation 3-4 years back. The boom in the IT sector has turned the tide towards MCA and now the MCA graduates along with the engineering graduates are ruling the Software Arena.

Since it has assumed so much of importance, we are providing here an informative capsule on this field. The main intention behind this article is to provide comprehensive information to the students covering all the areas related to MCA course.

LET US first deal with the ELIGIBILITY criteria for the students aspiring for MCA. The minimum qualification prescribed for the course by almost all the Universities in India is graduation, which is done through 10+2+3 pattern. Apart from this, most universities also prescribe Mathematics as an essential subject at +2 level for admission to MCA. However, this is not the case in AP. Here there is no compulsion as to mathematics at +2 level for admission in MCA.

ENTRANCE AND ADMISSION PROCEDURE. In A P, the admissions to MCA are made through a common entrance examination called MCACET. This examination is common to all the universities in A.P. But the common part ends with the entrance itself. Admissions are made University-wise i.e., Once the result of the entrance is out, the students have to apply for admission to the University of their respective region. This may change in the coming years. The government is seriously considering to centralise admissions to MCA as it is now being done with Engineering and Medicine.

The entrance examination consists of objective type questions to be finished in stipulated time. The questions are mainly asked from the following areas:
Mathematical Ability - consisting of Algebra, Statistics, Trigonometry, Calculus, Coordinate Geometry, Computing etc,.

Business Mathematics - consisting of problems on numbers, fractions, ration & proportion, percentage, simple & compound interest, time & work & distance, measuring, data sufficiency etc,.

Analytical and Logical Reasoning - Number & Letter series, Analogies, Classification, Coding-Decoding, Logical diagrams, Syllogism, Interpretation of date, Analytical Reasoning etc,.

Students preparing for the entrance may practice the above syllabus by their own following the standard books and guides or they may knock the doors of the coaching institutes for the same. Examination of this kind is race against time. You need to complete the entire paper within the stipulated two hours. Since most of the questions are mathematics oriented students usually fell short of time in the examination hall. To overcome this students should do a lot of hard work by practicing such questions by fixing time limit, which would enable them to solve questions at a faster pace. So, in the world full of competition, if the aim is to be a MCA, sustained dedication coupled with hard work is a must. So get, set and go.....

Let us briefly discuss about the future prospects of a qualified MCA. Today, all most all the companies recruiting software professionals are looking forward to MCA's. Since the Course coverage of MCA is comprehensive, a qualified MCA can easily fit into any kind of software environment and also any level in the hierarchy ranging from a programmer to a project leader to a software consultant, depending upon the experience. In this age of IT revolution, the MCA professionals can look forward for a bright future.

Before we sign off, here is a word about the current MCA professionals. Every year, thousands of MCA professionals are being churned out from various universities. It is very sad to note that most of these professionals are not living up to the expectations and standards of the software Industry. Ofcourse, they are getting the degree but they are unable to imbibe the true technical knowledge, which an MCA professional should have. This is the reason why many of them are failing to qualify in the interviews conducted by the software companies. So what is important is not just the degree, but the knowledge of the subject to justify the degree. We advice the current and the future MCA professionals to take a note of it.