Fill college forms on your phone

New apps promise to shorten queues outside admission counters, also offer discounted etextbooks

With exam results pouring in, the rush for school and college admissions has begun. But this year, you can cut the queues using this new mobile app that helps you fill forms… from your phone.

ePravesh, an admission aid website, has now launched a tech tool to help wannabe collegians send in applications to their favourite institutions. You have a host of options, from management and engineering to vocational courses, to choose from, though the start-up features only 28 institutes now, mostly from Mumbai and Pune.

"The sale of smartphones is actually higher than that of laptops now. So, we thought of creating this app to address these new users," says Swapnil Dharmadhikari, founder of Splashgain Technologies, the company that developed the app.

While websites like admissionform.co.in have already made filling forms online popular, the icing on the cake, which ePravesh offers, is a repository of information for college hunters. This includes brochures, course details and access to official websites. If they still have more queries, questions can be sent to the college or school of their choice via the app, free of cost. ePravesh, which was launched a fortnight ago, has already received over 150 downloads. Swapnil mentions, "We plan to offer education e-books and sample test papers too." He might be taking cues from Attano eReader, another digi-service aimed at smartphone-savvy students. The eReader allows kids to buy e-textbooks, and at a 25 per cent discount. Once downloaded, the ebooks can be read without internet connectivity, though they have special add-ons like Wikipedia links and videos related to the text. So, the next time your parents say you're obsessed with your phone, you have an excuse.