DASA Scheme: FAQ’s

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on

DASA Scheme

Part- A   General Questions about DASA

Part-B  Academic Eligibility

Part-C Residential Eligibility

Part- D   SAT Subject Tests (for Undergraduate Courses)

Part- E    Fee Payment (for Undergraduate Courses)

Part- F   Application Form Filling

Part- G     Miscellaneous queries

Part-H  Children of Indian Workers in Gulf Countries (CIWG)

Part- I: Real Life Queries (Choice-Fillng by CIWG etc)

 Part- A   General Questions about DASA

1)    What is DASA Scheme?

DASA stands for Direct Admission of Students Abroad. Under this scheme, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)/ Foreign Nationals/Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs)  are admitted to Undergraduate Courses in Engineering in National Institutes of Technology (NITs), IIITs and other premier Technical Institutions in India. DASA scheme is centrally coordinated  by one of the NIT by rotation under HRD Ministry. Just for clarity, IITs are not covered under DASA Scheme.

2)    Is there is any DASA-like scheme for medical (MBBS) admissions?

No. However, the NRIs/PIOs can get admissions to private medical colleges as about 15% seats are allocated for NRI admissions. Please refer following article for more info on medical admissions

MBBS Options in Top Private Medical Colleges in India under NRI Quota

 

3)    What are the options in Govt/Private technical institutes other than DASA  scheme administered by NIT-Surathkal for NRIs/PIOs?

It is to be noted that the following institutes have their own separate schemes for NRIs or International Students and the application for the same has to be completed on the respective Institute’s website:

IIIT-Hyd, BITS-Pilani (Pilani, Goa, Hyd camps), BIT-Mesra, Thapar Univ,  VIT Vellore, DA-IICT Ahmedabad, COE-Pune, HBTI-Kanpur, MIT-Manipal, Nirma, COE Guindy, Amrita, SRM, MS Ramaiah, RV College, Jaypee Inst of IT.

So, if you have preference for a particular city, location or a private college, there are many other options for NRIs, other than DASA scheme.

4)    Which are the most popular institutes under DASA scheme?

NIT-Trichy, NIT-Surathkal, DTU, NIT-Warangal, IIIT-Delhi, NSIT, NIT-Calicut, VNIT- Nagpur, SVNIT-Surat, MNNIT-Allahabad, IIIT-Allahabad, IIIT-Kancheepuram are the 12 most popular institutes per previous years preference by NRIs/PIOs. These are followed by NIT -Jaipur, NIT-Delhi, PEC, MANIT-Bhopal, NIT-Jamshedpur, NIT-Kuru, NIT-Rourkela, NIT-Goa, NIT-Durgapur and NIT Hamirpur.

5)    Which are the most popular institutes for CSE?

  1. IIIT-Hyd
  2. DTU=NITK=NITT=NITW=IIIT-D=NSIT (choose anyone depending on convenience)
  3. NIT Calicut=MNNIT (choose anyone depending on convenience)
  4. MNIT=NIT-Delhi=VNIT=SVNIT=PEC=IIIT-A=DAICT 
  5. NIT-Kuru, NIT-Rourkela, NIT-Durgapur and NIT Jalandhar.

 

6) Which are the most popular institutes for ECE?

  1. NITK=NITT=NITW=IIIT-Hyd=IIIT-Delhi
  2. IIIT-A= VNIT=MNNIT=NITC=DCE=NSIT=NITD
  3. MANIT=MNIT=SVNIT 

 

7) Which are the most popular institutes for Mech?

  1. DTU
  2. NITT=NITK=NITW
  3. MNNIT=NITC 4) MNIT=SVNIT=PEC 

8) Which are the most popular institutes for Other Branches?

Please choose in the order of SAT2 Cut-off score for 2016-17 provided at the website.  (higher SAT 2 cut-off being better institute). Generally,

  1. NITK=DTU=NITT=NITW
  2. NSIT=NITC=MNNIT=NITD
  3. MNIT=VNIT=SVNIT=PEC   

 

9)    Are NRIs eligible to compete to get merit seat (at normal resident fee) for Engg and Medical Colleges?

NRIs are fully eligible to give competitive exams like JEE-Main and JEE-Advance for engineering colleges and AIPMT/NEET for medical colleges and pay normal resident Indian fee if they qualify in the exam.

10)    What shall be the basis of preparing Merit List for the scheme?

Merit list shall be prepared on the basis of SAT Subject Test (SAT II) aggregate scores of Maths Level 2, Physics and Chemistry. While a total score of 2400 in PCM would guarantee a seat in the preferred college and the branch, a minimum score of 1440 (60%). In case of a tie, the Date of Birthis used as tie-breaker where older applicant is favored

www.collegeboard.com is the official agency to administer SAT II tests.

SAT II Subject Tests: Everything About It

11)    Do I need to appear for SAT I (Aptitude Test) before SAT II (Subject Tests)

No. Only SAT II (Subject Tests) are required to be given for DASA.

12) What is the fee for DASA admissions

As of 2016, the fee per year is $8000. CIWG applicants (Children of Indian Workers in Gulf) need to pay about $1400 per year (equal to resident Indians on merit).

 

Part-B  Academic Eligibility (for Undergraduate Courses)

 

  1. Question : What is the minimum requirement to qualify for application?

Answer            : Applicant must have passed the qualifying examination, i.e. Senior Secondary [10+2] or equivalent [See Appendix-I of Brochure] from any system of education as recognized by the Association of Indian Universities (www.aiuweb.org).

  1. Question : What is the minimum requirement in +2 /qualifying examination?

Answer            : A candidate should have a minimum of 60% aggregate (or 6.50 CGPA on a 10 point scale or equivalent) in the qualifying examination. The qualifying examination, shall include all subjects as mentioned in qualifying examination Mark sheet.

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SAT : Test Pattern, Good Scores, Tuition fees and Scholarships

This post is all about SAT I�exam on the request of a blog reader from Dubai (UAE) who asked �Could you please tell me what�s the SAT exam pattern, a good score on SAT test for a top US engineering college like MIT, Stanford, Caltech or Cornell? Moreover, I kindly request you to tell me where can I get some practice tests for SAT?�

This post discusses the important aspects of SAT Reasoning Test and�provides side-by-side comparison of SAT scores for top US colleges.

�

The SAT Test:

The SAT Reasoning Test (SAT I) is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board- USA. The current SAT Reasoning Test takes three hours and forty-five minutes and costs $45 ( additional $26 for international students, extra $23 for India/Pakistan centres). In SAT test, one can possibly score from 600 to 2400, combining test results from three 800-point sections (math, critical reading, and writing), along with other subsections scored separately.


The SAT test has been more popular among colleges in the coasts and the ACT test more popular in the Midwest and South. There are some colleges that require the ACT to be taken for college course placement, and a few schools that formerly did not accept the SAT at all. Nearly all colleges accept the SAT test.

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Which Engg Branch to Choose in JEE : Electronics (ECE) or Computers (CSE)?

Which branch of engineering is best? This is the most commonly asked question during July month every year when AIEEE counselling gets underway (and coincidentally my summer vacation to India occurs invariably in July every year and am asked this question frequently by parents from non-engg background). The question is obviously asked to know which branch will have better prospects after passing-out and beyond. Since most old IITs don�t have ECE branch (only IITG, IITR and IIT Kharagpur offer ECE ), the first preference of JEE toppers is CSE so much so that one could not get CSE in IIT-Bombay even with a JEE rank of 50 in 2008 (last rank to get CSE was 47 in IIT Bombay). For this reason we would limit ourselves to non-IIT colleges for choosing between CSE or ECE. Under DASA scheme for NRIs, NITs are the only colleges to opt for and this discussion suits such students very well.

We would discuss the topic in scientific manner and shall use weighted average method to select the right branch. To begin with, we would list down all important criteria/preferences, assign them weightage based on one�s background/aptitude and start assigming marks to the two branches. A sample exercise in the form of Excel sheet is available in the download section of this website. Please keep in mind, it is a very much individual based selection (I wonder why a candidate has to have a herd mentality in choosing branch when same thing is not done even for a mundane thing like selecting right cake for one�s b�day).

In right earnest, we start to� list down the important factors based on one�s background


�1)��Your �plutonic� love for the subject. Ask yourself if you like coding in general? Would you love to work in a field job? Please don�t give this factor 100% weightage because there could be other factors one may miss. Many kids want to be astronauts when they are young but eventually don�t become one due to unavailability of state-of-art technology in the field in the country and lack of enough opportunities available in other sectors. The aeronautical branch in itself has certain restrictions (including security clearance) if one plans to pursue MS in US (post 9/11). Similarly, food technology requires similar security clearance in US by FDA. Moreover, if you want to select a particular branch due to scholarships available in USA, then engg as discipline may not be the best thing as people easily get scholarship in fields like archeology and history.

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How to get good marks in CBSE XII Board exam?

CBSE� XII exam is the most important stage in the academic life of any student. Especially for NRIs, good score in this exam ensures admission in good engineering colleges under DASA scheme. Under DASA scheme, you could get a branch and NIT of your choice if one can get 95% in PCM. Following are the advices for getting good marks in PCM in CBSE board exams:

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