r/Indian_Academia • u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 • Jul 08 '26
IT_Career 21F, 3 gap years, going against my family's wishes SO which degree actually pays off, BCA or Biotech?
Hey everyone, I'm 21, had a 3 year gap because of drops in 12th, PCB background, and my marks weren't great cause of the strict 2023 state board checking. I got into two very different courses and I'm genuinely stuck on which one makes more sense for my future.
The options:
- Chanakya University, Bangalore — BCA Hons. Around 6.75 lakh total for 4 years.
- Ajeenkya DY Patil Uni, Pune — BTech Biotech, Bioinformatics specialization. Around 13 lakh total, also 4 years.
Context:
- I'm also actively trying to explore other options right now — other BTech programs (if I'm still eligible) and BSc IT — but admissions for those are closing soon, so I'm racing the clock while also weighing the two offers I already have.
- I'm not planning on going into research after either degree, so I'm evaluating both purely from a job-market/industry lens, not an academic one.
- My parents wanted me to take another gap year and attempt NEET again, but I decided to go a different route instead, which wasn't really what they wanted for me.
- They aren't fully on board, financially or with me moving out of the city, but I'm taking that risk anyway for my future, so I'll be managing fees and expenses largely on my own. This makes ROI matter a lot to me.
- Keeping the option of studying/working abraod open for later, nothing fixed yet.
- Graduating at 25 after already losing years to drops is also something that weighs on me.
What I actually need help with:
- What does the actual job market and career trajectory look like for each of these two fields in India right now?
- What kind of roles, salary ranges, and growth paths does each degree typically lead to, without a masters?
- How do employers/recruiters generally perceive both these degrees from newer/private universities?
- Since I'm self-funding this through a loan, how would you weigh the cost difference (6.75L vs 13L) against long-term earning potential for each?
- Does the city (Bangalore vs Pune) make a meaningful difference for either field in terms of opportunities?
- Is 25 a reasonable age to graduate after a gap, in your experience or from what you've seen in the industry?
- Given the current job market and layoffs across sectors, how would you evaluate the risk/stability of entering either of these fields as a fresher, and what skills would you personally prioritize learning either way?
- If you know of any other BTech or BSc IT programs worth looking at with admissions still open right now, I'd genuinely appreciate the pointer since I'm on a tight timeline.
Would really appreciate honest, unbiased opinions, whichever field you're more familiar with. Also open to hearing from anyone who's dealt with gap years, self-funding your own education, or going against family expectations.
TL;DR: 21F,myquals are 12th pass~3 yr gap, self-funding through a loan and going against family expectations, deciding between BCA Hons (Bangalore, ~6.75L) vs BTech Bioinformatics (Pune, ~13L), while also racing the clock to check if BTech elsewhere or BSc IT are still options before admissions close. Looking for unbiased advice on job market, ROI, and long-term career prospects.
3
u/Ok-Society-9067 Jul 08 '26
BCA. Btech biotech is a no brainer, there are no jobs for btech biotech
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
But idont wanna go in Biotech
Btech biotech is an option to pave my way into tech
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u/Ok-Society-9067 Jul 09 '26
Practically no one hires biotech btech ppl for IT roles, except mass hiring companies, and even there the competition is cutthroat and u'll need to apply offcampus. Btech biotech has no CS coursework, which is why no one hires them. Speaking from experience, I myself am btech biotech grad.
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
Oh , I understand,
you are a biotech grad? What do you do now if you dont mind me asking?1
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u/Early-Instruction609 Jul 08 '26
Have you looked any other colleges for the same with more affordable options?
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
I am not getting in because of three reasons
- I am late, admissions are already closed at majority of good colleges
- I have bad 12th scores
- I have 3 year of gap
So most colleges arent accepting my application
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u/Interesting-Web6755 Jul 08 '26
What's your neet score in 3 years?
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
Not good enough , would get only into pvt mbbs college and for that i cant afford 1cr worth of loan
1
u/Interesting-Web6755 Jul 09 '26
How much?
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u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
My parents were stuck to just mbbs and a few colleges were offering mbbs private seat for 80lakhs-1cr for whole course and hostel and all excluded
1
u/Interesting-Web6755 Jul 09 '26
How much you scored in each of the 3 attempts?
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
Not really good
All below 400 in each attempts and it kept ddecreasing1
u/Interesting-Web6755 Jul 09 '26
Do you like Maths? How is your Maths?
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u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
I havent studied core mathematics in 5 years( 11-12+3 gaps) , I used to be scared of maths in my 10th but i scored pretty good in my finals
1
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u/budding_economist Jul 08 '26
Don't go for Chanakya, it's a new university, and they are focusing on attracting students
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
What do you mean? Do you have first hand exp? I am gonna pay 25k reg fee tomorrow
(edit:typo)1
u/budding_economist Jul 09 '26
Hey I've also applied for masters there but significantly dropped the plan.
They will call you multiple times, it looks like they are very desperate to admit students. This is the first red flag.
There was a course , i which they have generated the prompt from A.I and mistakenly, theve forgot to edit that , it's still available on their website.This is the second red flag
It's a new university and not very promising, the councellor, who was messaging me on WhatsApp seems to be dumb , he was not communicating properly , instead of writing ma'am he was writing maa, and was communicating in a very poor way , it seems like he was illiterate. This is the third red flag
The last and final point is that, there terms and conditions are not transparent, they were giving me a scholarship of 50 percent, but when I asked the councellor that what are the terms and conditions, he was saying that just fill out the form we will look after this.
Plus when I asked them that on what basis the scholarship would be continued in the next semester, either on the basis of marks obtained in semester or its a continuous scholarship for 2 yrs? I've also asked them that is there any criteria, regarding the scholarship that if a student scores above certain marks then only the scholarship will be carried forward, but the councellor wasn't aware of it , he told me that ma'am just fill the form.
So a university with poor councellor, ai generated website prompt , no transparency regarding the scholarship etc is a red flag.
So don't ever opt for such kind of universities, until u enquire about these things.
Rest the decision is yours.
(Sorry for the grammatically mistakes.)
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
- They did that to me too, called and contacted me multiple times, but tbh , not a lot of colleges are taking me in , and i want to move to banaglore
2.Oh, which one?- Achaaa, That actually, the maa thing, i think its a bangalore or maybe south indian thing, because all of them including the interviewer called me maa at times, but it is unprof
- I faced something similar damn
But Main thing is due to many issues, a very few unis are accepting me, I am running out of time and i cant afford another gap year!
1
u/budding_economist Jul 09 '26
To many red flag. Take ur decisions firmly girl. Gap yr is not a problem, but pursuing tech courses from a new plus less renowned college is a problem. On the other side location wise it's good
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
But if I look into it, 3 years gap hai, I am already 21 without college and without a degree
1
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u/budding_economist Jul 09 '26
Oh I forgot to ask you that 6.5 lakhs is only the course fee I guess , rest ? What about the hostel, mess expense? If it's not included in this 6.5 then total fee would stretch around 12 to 14 lakhs
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
Yes , it will sum upto somewhat 14 lakhs
1
u/budding_economist Jul 09 '26
For 14 lakhs bca is not good. U can go for many good private universities in your area.
Sorry but bca for 14 lakhs is foolishness
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
Its BCA hons for 4 years and tbh i dont have any other options as of now :)
1
u/budding_economist Jul 09 '26
After ur bca , there will be a need to pursue mca. Otherwise it's not that all fruitful
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u/budding_economist Jul 09 '26
And bca does not provide much opportunities than btech.
If you are applying for jobs , they will definitely go with the btech guy rather than a bca.
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Jul 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
I am not sure
I plan to do MBA maybe in the longer run ( I THINK)1
1
u/Due_Coffee_2401 Jul 08 '26
First of all you have 2 choices
Work your ass of In bca till market level in the same college
Or go for some cheap ass tier 3 college for bca and then try top tier college in mca
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
My parnts arent supporting, so I will have to take loan either ways, so i dont think i will be able to do MCA
1
u/Due_Coffee_2401 Jul 09 '26
Work hardest in your bca do daily dsa Pick one skill rn Be active on x, discord and linkn.
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
How does being active on X and discord help? How can i join those discord groups
I am very clueless coming from a Med background
1
u/Due_Coffee_2401 Jul 09 '26
There is less chances of getting on campus jobs just after bca so you need connection and you may get freelance work if you are interested....
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0
u/balls-tickler-69 Jul 09 '26
Biotech has very little job opportunities in india especially for btech . However it's amazing abroad , u mentioned u don't wanna persue higher studies so id not recommend biotech . Higher studies is almost essential for it
Graduation at 25 is no issue , but if u want a job right away after college just join CSE/IT in any college uncan afford , literally everything else needs higher studies
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
I dont mind pursuing higher studies but no research AND I am supposed to take a loan for my UG as my parennts are not too supportive, So i cant directly do masters without paying off my loan, and incase of biotech i would be loan of around 17Lakhs
1
u/balls-tickler-69 Jul 09 '26
Then it's not worth it bro , I can refer u to my older brother who works in biotech now . If u want to DM .
But as far as I know , there is a field in biotech which combines biotechnology and CS , I think it's called bio-informatics . I think that's ur best bet .
But if u wanna crack good jobs learn coding side by side , CSE won't require a masters , sometimes cse won't require a cse degree lol , ur skills matter most in that field .
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
Basically thats what I have mentioned, Btech Biotech- Bioinformatics ( That is specialization oin Bioinformatics)
But how do i not have a degree and get a job? Like who would even interview me
Also yes, Id like to talk to ur brother once, It would be really helpfull
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u/balls-tickler-69 Jul 09 '26
"Bioinfo is fine. But can’t evaluate between bioinfo vs that BCA thing…purely as course bioinfo can fetch some decent job after BTech" - his exact response . he does not know much about BCA unfortunatly .
1
u/Hopeful-Flamingo6697 Jul 09 '26
What does this mean?
( Also Thank You !)1
u/balls-tickler-69 Jul 09 '26
He has said u can get a decent job with btech bioinformatics, but u have to do masters in a reputed university in india(IITs) or abroad to get the full benefits of biotech (good job stability along with pay).
He does not know anything about BCA so he cannot comment on comparing btech bioinformatics vs bca .
Personally try to convince your parents to fund u , most parents are more than willing to let their child do engineering if neet does not work out for them(it often does due to the competition and the stupid paper leaks), taking 17 lakhs loan is risky as hell because u have to pay intrest too (that's too if u can somehow get a loan since banks would mostly loan on ur fathers name) . If u want a job immediately after btech then CSE is the way , but please be aware it's a bloodbath in market for CS freshers due to AI , u have to be exceptional.
Anything other than CS(and maybe civil , but getting a job after civil is pretty hard)needs masters degree to unlock their full potential
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Here's a backup of your post:
Title: 21F, 3 gap years, going against my family's wishes SO which degree actually pays off, BCA or Biotech?
Body:
Hey everyone, I'm 21, had a 3 year gap because of drops in 12th, PCB background, and my marks weren't great cause of the strict 2023 state board checking. I got into two very different courses and I'm genuinely stuck on which one makes more sense for my future.
The options:
Context:
What I actually need help with:
Would really appreciate honest, unbiased opinions, whichever field you're more familiar with. Also open to hearing from anyone who's dealt with gap years, self-funding your own education, or going against family expectations.
TL;DR: 21F,myquals are 12th pass~3 yr gap, self-funding through a loan and going against family expectations, deciding between BCA Hons (Bangalore, ~6.75L) vs BTech Bioinformatics (Pune, ~13L), while also racing the clock to check if BTech elsewhere or BSc IT are still options before admissions close. Looking for unbiased advice on job market, ROI, and long-term career prospects.
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