Counselling options due this week. A branch he likes far away, or CSE at a college near home?

juniper_violin_63782 Jul 2026

Son finished 12th this year and his engineering counselling options have to be filled in by the end of the week. His rank gives him roughly two kinds of choices. Mechanical, which he has wanted since class 9, at a well-known college right across the city from us. Or computer science at a newer college about twenty minutes from home. My partner says take CSE, everyone moves to software anyway. He says he'll be miserable doing four years of code he doesn't care about. I keep thinking about two hours in traffic every day. If your child made this kind of choice, what decided it? And did the commute matter as much as we think it will?

5 comments

amber_spoon_43162 Jul 2026
i'm years away from this with my daughter, so only a memory. i picked my college for the name and spent my first year mostly on buses. the course was fine. i don't remember the course much, i remember being tired
lagoon_sandal_20872 Jul 2026
2 hours a day in hyd traffic, every day, for 4 years. that's the number I'd show him. next july it's us 😅
juniper_compass_77352 Jul 2026
my nephew took ECE at a good college because his rank didnt get CSE there. works in software now like everyone else, but he says the people around him in college mattered more than the branch. he was in hostel though so no commute question. if your son really wants mechanical he will at least go to class
fern_sketch_48642 Jul 2026
reading this with a 14 year old asleep in the next room and realising how soon it comes. no answer from me. i hope he gets to do the thing he's wanted since class 9
juniper_sparrow_99732 Jul 2026
We went through this last July. Our son chose the branch he wanted over the 'safer' option, and it was the college farther away. He's going into second year now. The travel was hard for the first two months. Then he found two others on the same route, they started taking the college bus together, and that changed everything. So the thing I'd check: does the far college run buses from your side, and what time do they leave? That one detail made the decision liveable for us. Whatever he picks, the fact that he can tell you why he wants mechanical is a good sign ❤️