After graduating in biotechnology in 2014, I want to pursue a postgraduate degree in environmental law in the US. Meanwhile I want to sign up for a part-time correspondence course. Please advise. Navin Kelkar, Pune Admission into a graduate law programme in the US will depend on your scores in the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), TOEFL, your undergraduate academic record and Statement of Purpose. Therefore focus on graduating with an excellent average, build a portfolio of extra-curricular activities and work towards getting an above-average score in LSAT. To practice law in the US, graduates must also pass the Bar examination and fulfill other requirements mandated by the state in which they wish to work. Any environment-related work experience/projects will of course add depth to your statement of purpose and admission application. IGNOU (www.ignou.ac.in) and Karnataka State Open University, Mysore offer short-term/part-time courses in environment studies for undergraduates. Which are India’s premier design institutes and what programmes do they offer? Neeta Chandran, Bangalore There’s a virtual consensus that the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad — an internationally acclaimed institution offering under-graduate and postgrad courses in industrial, communication, textile, apparel and lifestyle accessory design, IT integrated design, retail management — is India’s #1 design institute. Next in the pecking order is the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) which has 15 centres across the country and offers graduate programmes in fashion and textile design, fashion communication etc and postgraduate programmes in management and design. Other reputed institutes of industrial and other design are MIT Institute of Design, Pune; Srishti School of Design, Bangalore; Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune; Department of Industrial Design, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. Every institute conducts its own entrance examination. I’m in class X and dream of a career in journalism. My parents, however, want me to opt for the science stream in Plus Two. Please advise. Sanjeev Chhadha, New Delhi Reading science subjects in Plus Two is not a disqualification for journalism as you could specialise as a sciences journalist after graduation in the science stream, although liberal arts and humanities is the usual background of journalists. I suggest you write a careers aptitude test. This will help you make an informed decision. Journalism offers bright prospects especially with the electronic media booming. I would like to know about the five-year integrated programme in social sciences offered by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Rajan Narayan, Chennai TISS offers its five-year integrated social sciences programme in its Guwahati, Hyderabad and Tuljapur campuses. This is an interdisciplinary course covering social, economic, political, cultural, social, psychological and environment subjects. You will also study mathematics and foundation courses in biological, physical and chemical sciences and languages in addition to philosophy of research, research methodology, logic and history. In many ways, the course is structured like the liberal arts programmes offered by American universities. However, this is not a rigid five-year programme. After completion of the third year, you can exit with BA in social sciences, or press on for…
