How to Research a College's Real Record

👤 Anshul Wadhwa, Career Counsellor, AptiGuide. This college-research checklist focuses on outcomes a family can verify beyond brochures, rankings and headline packages.

The Key Numbers

50%

of Indian college graduates work in fields unrelated to their degree

3 yrs

post-graduation is when you see real outcomes — hype has settled, actual jobs are visible

5 yrs

the college you choose places a ceiling on your first 5 years — not your entire career

the number of honest placement reports that include graduates working in unrelated fields

What You Need to Know

The Reality Most People Don't See

🔍LinkedIn Is Your Real Placement ReportIt shows company names, job titles, and career progression 2–3 years post-graduation when the initial placement hype has settled into reality.

📊Three Tiers, Three RealitiesTop colleges → McKinsey, Google, Goldman Sachs, research. Mid-tier → services companies, 4–8 LPA. Lower-tier private → often unrelated fields.

📍Especially Critical in Punjab Right NowDozens of new private colleges are being aggressively marketed. Every one has a polished brochure. The LinkedIn test reveals what the brochure hides.

❓Ask These Questions DirectlyWhat percentage of eligible students got offers? What companies return every year? What is the median — not the average — salary?

📍 AptiGuide counsels students on college research and admission shortlists, in person from Jalandhar, with students visiting from Nakodar, Kartarpur and Nawanshahar, and online for students anywhere in India. A counselling session checks curriculum, faculty access, internships and median outcomes before a college is treated as a sound option.

Honest Guidance

How to Do Real College Research in 30 Minutes

These steps take less time than reading a brochure and tell you infinitely more.

✓Go to LinkedIn → search '[college name] [program] [3 years ago]' → filter by graduation year.
✓Look at where graduates work now — company names, job titles, career level.
✓Ask: is anyone from this college working at a company I'd want to work at?
⚠If you can't find meaningful employment outcomes on LinkedIn for a college's graduates, that absence is itself the answer.

Your Next Step

Don't Choose a College Based on a Brochure

Join the community to discuss specific colleges and ask whether their placement data holds up to scrutiny — or book a session where we walk through this research together for the colleges you're considering.

💬 Join the Free Career Community 📋 Put Your Career Queries Here 🗓️ Book a 1:1 Session with Anshul

Targeted Decision Guide

A 30-Minute LinkedIn Check That Produces Evidence

Searching the college name is not research. Use a fixed sample and record what graduates actually moved into, how long it took, and whether the result depends on a tiny visible minority.

Minutes 0 to 10: build the sample

Search the college, course and graduation year. Open at least ten recent profiles across the top, middle and less polished results. Do not study only founders, scholarship winners or people LinkedIn ranks first.

Minutes 10 to 20: code the outcomes

Record first role, employer type, internship before graduation, location, higher study and time to first relevant role. Mark missing information as unknown rather than assuming failure.

Minutes 20 to 30: test the pattern

Look for repeated employers, repeated job functions and a visible internship pipeline. Then message two alumni with one narrow question about curriculum, placement support or the transition into work.

Red flags and false alarms

A thin LinkedIn footprint is a concern for an employment-led course, but less decisive for research, government-exam or family-business pathways. Interpret the evidence in the context of the degree’s actual purpose.

Evidence note: This method uses public alumni evidence as a sample, not a complete placement census. It should challenge a brochure claim, not replace an official report.

🤝 Leave a Query

Get in Touch

Researching colleges and want to separate verifiable outcomes from marketing claims, leave your details below and Anshul will personally get back to you.

Before you fill this in: this form is for families open to paid career counselling or paid services (test prep, GD/PI prep, study abroad consulting), submitting it means you're okay with a call or email from Anshul's team to take that forward. If you just have a free, quick career question, use the free query form instead, Anshul gets hundreds of those every day, so a free query can take a little longer to hear back on, but every single one does get a personal reply.