From Confusion to Clarity – Why Counselling Matters

The Harsh Reality Behind Student Choices

In today’s world, choosing a college or university feels more like a marketing-driven lottery than a deliberate career move. Flashy advertisements, peer pressure, and digital noise often drown out what truly matters—clarity, quality, and long-term value. Every student’s journey is unique, but very few are guided with real insight. The cost of misinformed decisions? Years of regret, debt, and missed opportunities.

Three Types of Students—One Common Problem

Despite varied backgrounds, most students fall into one of three groups, each affected by a lack of proper guidance:

1. The Urban Researchers—Lost in Digital Data

These students have access to the internet and resources, and they do compare courses, scroll through websites, and review social media. But even with all this effort, they often lack awareness of key quality indicators like NIRF rankings, NAAC accreditation, or regulatory approvals (ICAR, INC, etc.). Without context, all that research becomes overwhelming noise.

2. The Marketing-Driven Dreamers

This group is highly influenced by the glossy façade of education marketing—newspaper ads, hoardings, catchy YouTube ads, and influencer endorsements. Their choices are guided more by perception than facts, which can lead to selecting the wrong course or institution, just because it “looked good.”

3. The Vulnerable Rural Aspirants

Perhaps the most at risk, students from rural backgrounds often choose institutions based on proximity, affordability, or government namesakes—rarely understanding the importance of faculty quality, placement records, or infrastructure. The result? Degrees with little to no career value and rising rural unemployment among graduates.

Counselling – The Silent Hero in Education

What if students didn’t have to navigate this alone? Personalized, one-on-one counselling has the power to break this cycle. A trained education counsellor can help students:

• Understand the real value of a program
• Evaluate institutions on quality indicators
• Match academic choices with career goals
• Avoid the trap of glamour over substance
• Informed guidance transforms uncertainty into strategy.

Why Counselling Must Outshine Advertising

Institutions are businesses—but education is a lifelong investment. It’s time we stop letting marketing departments shape futures. Awareness, not advertisements, should be the loudest voice in a student’s journey. Counselling brings clarity, real-world insight, and trust—elements no billboard can provide.

The Path Forward – Empower, Don’t Confuse

Every student deserves access to accurate, unbiased information and supportive mentorship. Governments, educators, and parents must work together to normalize and fund counselling services—especially in rural and semi-urban regions. Let’s replace blind choices with informed futures.

It’s Time to Rethink How Students Choose

Higher education should never be a shot in the dark. It must be a guided journey, rooted in awareness and built with purpose. Let’s move from impulsive decisions to intentional careers—with counselling as the cornerstone.

Author : Balraj Singh Chahal
Director, University Admission
Eternal University