Update on 2024-04-15

M.Sc Lateral Entry Admission || Check Course, Fees, Duration, Colleges

M.Sc Lateral Entry:

M.Sc or Masters in Science is a postgraduate course that spans over two years. It is offered in many universities and colleges to students who are interested in making a career out of one of many numerous science fields such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Environmental Sciences, Food Sciences, Life Sciences, etc. Students can, however, also pursue this course via a mode called lateral entry, which significantly reduces the time period or M.Sc Lateral Entry Duration of two years to one year, or from four semesters to three semesters.

Students who wish to pursue M.Sc choose among a variety of specializations, all of which are related to the study fields of the Science Stream. The course is designed with a focus on the theoretical, scientific, and analytical approach towards the subject matter. Students learn a variety of scientific concepts related to their chosen fields, with a view to prepare them for the research prospects and a vast lucrative scientific career. The course curriculum of the M.Sc course, as mentioned before is a blend of theoretical, practical, and inferential and methodological concepts involved in the scientific and researching domain.

M.Sc is a science and research-based postgraduate programme. Typically students get to choose a variety of concepts and sub-subjects with a typical area of concentration, in which the course offerings will focus on a specific topic and which will result in the learners having an in-depth analytical mind along with logical reasoning. Candidates who possess a diploma or any other relevant degree are eligible to apply to M.Sc through Lateral Entry. Since only a Bachelor's degree is not enough for candidates to gain admission in M.Sc through lateral entry.

The curriculum of the M.Sc course requires the candidate to pass an entrance exam for admission into any one of the related specializations offered in the M.Sc Course. Some of the examples of the entrance exams that regular students who are interested in the M.Sc course are: Indian School of Mines Entrance Exam, IIT JAM, etc. However, candidates who pursue the course M.Sc through Lateral entry do not need to appear for entrance exams, but that also entails that they fulfill the educational eligibility criteria mentioned below.

Hence, an M.Sc is a web with branches of Science, Mathematics, and Engineering along with Medicine. It forms the degree into something more than an exam paper test, but rather a customized and scientifically based research platform for students to learn and gain knowledge in the age-old themes of research, analytical and logical reasoning.

Now that we know what an M.Sc degree usually entails, we can go on to learn about the different types of M.Sc degrees, such as:

M.Sc Traditional Degree
M.Sc Online Degree
M.Sc Part-Time
M.Sc Lateral Entry

Although the main focus of this article is on the last bullet point, which is M.Sc Lateral Entry, we would like to brief the students on the other modes of gaining this degree as well. To begin with, M.Sc Traditional Degree is the normal regular two-year full-time degree course, where students complete coursework that is mostly research-based, by attending colleges regularly. This is the most common and age-old method of gaining any degree. Regular attendance or at least a considerable percentage of attendance is mandatory to be able to become eligible to gain the completion certificate after two years.

An M.Sc Online degree is exactly what it means, the mode of teaching is done online. The latest technology is used to bring about flexibility and sustainability in the teaching and education sector. By converting the mode of learning into the online mode, candidates can easily improve their career prospects, while maintaining other aspects of their lives intact. Ever since the transfer of classes and assignment submission has been converted to the online mode, candidates save a lot of time that was otherwise wasted, such as transportation costs and time, the time it took to write the assignments by hand, etc.

The next type of degree mode for M.Sc is M.Sc Part-time where students can get the best knacks out of their time. This mode is specifically designed for candidates who are working professionals, or students who took up internships or jobs as freshers to gain practical, real-life work experience but also wish to level up their academic degrees. With this mode, candidates can easily work and take out time to study every week since the demands of a part-time master's degree are less than a regular traditional degree course.

The fourth type of mode where candidates can gain their degrees is through the M.SC Lateral Entry. Candidates who do not wish to spend two years studying can gain admission into M.Sc Lateral Entry Duration of which is 1 year, through the mode mentioned above. Students who use lateral entry roughly means that they directly enter into the second year of his or her course, skipping the first year, making the course duration for 1 year rather than 2 years.

However, to gain admission through M.SC Lateral Entry, candidates need to show that they are eligible to skip a year, which usually entails that they hold a diploma in their respective branch or some other kind of academic certificate. Keep in mind it is only academically that students can show their worth and hence showing work experience or internships does not guarantee lateral entry into M.Sc Course in any specialization whatsoever.

M.Sc Lateral Entry is one of the most common paths that students take to complete their post-graduation in the field of their Masters after they have attained a significant degree after their Bachelor's, be it, Diploma or any relevant or recognized certificate course.

M.Sc Lateral Entry Eligibility Criteria:

The eligibility criteria for M.Sc Lateral Entry is as follows:

Candidates must possess a Bachelor’s or a Graduation degree in any recognized and related discipline in the fields of Sciences.
They should also have had Mathematics and English as a compulsory subject in their 10+2 class board exam. The program duration of M.Sc Lateral Entry is 1 year. Candidates have many options related to lateral entry that they can opt from.

Some of them are:

M.Sc Lateral Entry into the Second Semester:

Candidates who wish to enter directly into the second semester, that is the first year, however skipping the first semester all together, changing the M.Sc Lateral Entry Duration. The eligible candidates must have successfully completed their graduation in any discipline from a recognized university. Also, they must have also completed their four semesters (2 years) of GNNIT (Graduate from National Institute of Information Technology) or any relevant certificate course from a recognized institution.

M.Sc Lateral Entry into the Third Semester:

Candidates who wish to enter the first semester of the second year, that is the third semester can also do so. The eligible candidates who can directly enter the second year of M.Sc must have successfully completed their graduation from a recognized university. They must also have successfully completed their Postgraduate diploma from a recognized university or DOEACC ‘A’ (Department of Electronics and Accreditation of Computer Courses) Level Certificate or GNIIT (Graduate from National Institute of Information and Technology) or PGDCA (Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications) from Cal-C.

Lateral Exit is usually referred to as the process where the candidates who have successfully completed the first semester of M.Sc, become eligible to obtain the PGDIT (Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology). The student who opts for this, will not be able to continue his or her studies into the programme further. Hence the different modes mentioned above are the minor differences of M.Sc Lateral Entry Duration among other things.

M.Sc Lateral Entry Admission Procedure:

Admission through lateral entry is sought by students in a variety of colleges and universities. However, since there are different colleges affiliated to different universities, students can expect minor changes in the admission process of each. But below we have provided the M.SC Lateral entry Admission procedure that is somewhat mostly followed. Interested candidates can have a look below.

Candidates can either take admission following the online mode, where they visit the official website of the college or institution and download the application form. However, some colleges prefer candidates to come to their respective admissions office at the time of admissions, and fill the application form, along with submitting the required documents as well. This mode is easier and takes less time.

Visit the study center and ask for the admission form.
Fill the admission form and the required documents alongside.
Submit the application form and await their next instructions.

Candidates may need to submit the tuition fee at the same time to confirm their seats. For candidates who wish to download the admission form online must

Visit the official website of the college.
Look for the latest notifications and release section (where the latest form releases are announced).
Check out the admission form specifically meant for the lateral entry candidates.
If found, fill it up and follow the instructions mentioned on the screen.
If not found, contact the university authorities for guidance.

Since not many students are eligible for lateral entry schemes, the M.Sc Lateral Entry admission process is usually done offline. The candidates must keep in mind at the time of submitting the form, no matter if they chose online or offline submission mode.

The application form shall be submitted before the stipulated time.
Passport-sized photographs of the candidate are required. (Mostly 4 to 5). Candidates must mention his or her name, class and the serial number of the application form behind the photographs to avoid them getting misplaced.
The tuition fee must be paid after the candidate has proven he or she is eligible for M.Sc Lateral Entry Admission. The fee usually paid is non-refundable.
The admission of the candidate will be provisional until the university finalizes it.
The students must have all their academic degree photocopies scanned and self-attested with them at the time of filling the form.

Lastly, some of the M.Sc Lateral Entry Colleges and their respective M.Sc Lateral Entry Fee has been listed below:

M.Sc Lateral Entry College Name	Average M.SC Lateral Entry Fee
Lovely Professional University,	Rs. 79,000/-
Delhi Technological University	Rs. 60,000/-
Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DA-ICT)	Rs. 70,000/-
Coimbatore Institute of Technology,	Rs. 35,000/-
Uttrakhand Technical University	Rs. 50,000/-

Hence, M.Sc Lateral Entry Fee ranges from Rs. 20,000 till Rs. 80,000 depending upon colleges and institutions alike. However, M.Sc Lateral Entry Colleges is a one-stop solution for students who have the need to complete their studies but at the same time wish that they had more time. Lateral entry is perfect for candidates who have the necessary academic requirements and are looking to lower down the 2 years of course curriculum to just a single year.

Marking Scheme for M.SC Lateral Entry

Candidates who are interested in pursuing the M.Sc course through the lateral entry must know that the syllabus and the marking scheme are not that different from the traditional course marking scheme and examination scheme. However, apart from the very basic difference of the deduction of time, candidates studying through the lateral entry have a few minor differences according to the traditional mode of the course.

Below we have listed some of the examination guidelines for M.Sc Lateral Entry candidates.

The maximum marks awarded for any paper is 50 marks. The minimum marks of the same are 13 marks. Candidates need to score a minimum of 13 marks so as to be able to pass the paper.
The duration of the papers are the same, that is 3 hours.

According to the marking scheme, the question paper contains three sections, namely section A, section B, and section C.

Section A contains 10 questions out of which every 2 questions are from each unit of the syllabus prescribed). The word limit for these questions is 50.
Section B contains 10 questions out of which every 2 questions are from each unit of the prescribed syllabus. The word limit for these questions is 200.
Section C however, contains 5 questions with 1 question from each unit of the prescribed syllabus. The word limit for these questions is 500.

The passing criteria for the candidates in each paper they attempt under the course curriculum is set to minimum marks or percentage of marks that must be attained by the candidate in order to pass any paper. That is, he or she must score a minimum of 25% in each paper of theory, practical and even project work, and amount to at least 36% of aggregate marks. Only if the candidate has attained this, can he or she pass an exam?

The divisions of candidates are usually measured in the following ways:

First Division	Candidates who score 60% marks or above
Second Division	Candidates who score above 48% and below 60%
Pass	Candidates who score above 36% and below 48%
Fail	Candidates who score below 36%