We all have encountered students who either leave their regular colleges in between or not even consider joining a college as it may impede their Chartered Accountancy journey. To everyone's amazement, I dropped out of one of the most esteemed colleges of Delhi University.
People gave me ample reasons for why I should leave my college.
1. The curriculum of B.Com.(Hons) and CA Intermediate are primarily the same. Hence, there would be improbability of growth and learning.
2. I would not be able to commence my CA Articleship till the time I complete my college. Moreover, people even told me that CA can't be done along with Regular College.
3. The degree which we get from regular college is the same as the one which we get from SOL.
4. CA Intermediate is really difficult and regular college would be a distraction which will result in less focus on CA.
5. After completing CA, there is no value of any other degree and the list is never-ending.
Before digging deep into the topic, let’s first understand the legal status of doing the same.
The Delhi University or any other university does not mind students pursuing professional courses along with enrolling for the degree. Hence, the university doesn't pose any hindrance.
Moreover, ICAI also does not call a halt to CA students from pursuing any other course.
However, ICAI does not allow students, who are pursuing graduation through Regular College, to opt for Articleship along with Regular College but still students tend to continue their graduation through Distance Learning.
As a result, if a student clears his CA Foundation soon after class 12th exams in the May attempt and clear both the groups of CA Intermediate after 9 months of result in the next May then the CA aspirant will have to delay his CA Articleship for approximately two years.
This makes everyone perceive that regular colleges are futile for a CA student which is just one side of the coin.
Mentioned below are some of the benefits which you reap while opting for graduation from a regular college:-
1. Impressive Resume building – A student from the regular college gets plenty of time to do Internships, hold a variety of positions of responsibilities in college societies and participate in various competitions. However, A student who is not graduating from Regular college will only have "Intermediate pass" on his resume.
2. Broaden the horizons of one's personality – It is often believed that CA’s are not good when it comes to the presentation skills. However, in college, you get abundant opportunities to interact with a lot of people. Fests, competitions, societies and clubs recharge you socially and make you an extrovert. I have seen CA aspirants being unable to express themselves adequately because of a dearth of confidence and communication skills as it is impossible to have a flair of the given set of skills just by sitting and studying in a room.
3. Valuable Degree – If you are doing your graduation from the top colleges around the country like SRCC, Hindu, Hansraj or St. Stephens to name a few then the college degree has an inordinate value. The degree will prove to be worthy if you want to take up MBA as a career option at any time in future.
4. Campus Placements - Definitely, something which we can never overlook. Yes, good colleges do offer placements for articleship. Moreover, you get the chance to apply in Big4s as they also recruit candidates from within the campus placement programs arranged by the college. And even if the placement cell does not provide you campus placements, your personality makes the interviewer select you over others.
5. Friends and memories – You will always get life long friends, memories and experiences to cherish and be nostalgic about later!
Verdict: The opportunity cost of pursuing graduation from a regular college is 2 years which is an extensive time limit as by the time you'll start your articleship, your friends would be in the final year of their training. However, if you get a really good college with thriving opportunities, active societies then it will always add a brand name to your resume and will help you to enhance your personality. I left college because I believed that I've a well developed set of soft skills and got opportunities at my school level which gave me a boost to my overall identity. To sum up, one should never leave eminent colleges of Delhi University like SRCC, LSR, Hindu, Hansraj, Miranda House, Venkateswara, Gargi, Kamla Nehru, KMC, Ramjas to name a few, and with this I rest my case.