Things families say, and what is actually true

"Arts is for students who cannot cope." The Indian Administrative Service, the judiciary, journalism, psychology, law, teaching and design are all reached from Arts. It is a different kind of work, not a lesser one.

"A diploma or ITI means giving up on a degree." Both lead onward to degrees. A diploma holder can reach an engineering degree; an ITI certificate holder can reach a diploma and then a degree. The road does not end.

"A government job is the only secure future." Government routes are real, valuable, and listed for every single pathway in this book — deliberately, because families care about them. They are also competitive and slow to enter. They should be one option among several, not the only one considered.

"Take Science now and decide later." This is sound advice with one condition attached: it only works if the combination includes Biology. PCMB keeps both medicine and engineering open. PCMC does not keep medicine open. The chapter "PCMB or PCMC" explains this, and it is the one chapter of this book worth reading twice.

"We will decide after the results come." By then you will have days. That is why this book exists, and why it is written for a student in Class 8.