What is now available only in New Delhi, will by the end of this year be offered in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai as well, says a Quantum spokesperson. Set to begin its third academic session in August, Quantum has initiated the admission procedure for the fall. But if you've missed this one, there's another coming in just a few months.

The admission test for the spring session will be some time in December 1998, says the spokesperson. After which the course begins in February 1999.

Spread over two semesters, the full-time programme takes about one year, while the part-time course is for about 18 to 20 months. The advantage with the part-time schedule is that you can attend evening classes after officehours.

Quantum, of course, talks a great deal about the career leap that one is going to experience after completing the course. But at what cost? Literally speaking, the price of the full-time programme is around Rs 3 lakh, which is to be paid in both Indian rupees and dollars. To be precise, Rs 2.25 lakh in Indian rupees plus $2,050. For a part-time programme, you pay Rs 2.75 lakh in Indian rupees plus $2,050. And at the time of applying, you pay another Rs 2,900.

However, if you can work toward a scholarship, nothing like it. Three merit scholarships are on offer for the top three students who graduate from the MCS degree programme. There's a waiver of 80 per cent of the fee in Indian rupees for the topper. The second rank holder gets a 50 per cent waiver of the fee in Indian rupees and the student coming third is eligible for a waiver of around 33 per cent.

There is no discount on the dollar component of the fee for anyone. But even if you don't make it to the scholarship grade, bank finance is anoption you can think of. The Quantum Institute has put together study loan schemes with leading banks in India. These loans are available to students who pass the admission test and fulfill the criteria of the concerned bank.

Meanwhile, the excessively high cost is not the only restricting factor. Take note of the word of caution too. All Quantum Institute advertisements for the programme mention that the MCS degree is awarded by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA, and is not regulated by the government of India, state governments, UGC, AICTE and AIU.

Anyways, the placement promises made by the institute are quite tempting. The spokesperson says that successful candidates are listed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign placement office. This placement office is visited by top global IT corporations. The institute claims that it helps place successful candidates in India and abroad with on-site and telephonic interviews. And according to the data available with the Departmentof Computer Science at the Illinois university, all Master of Computer Science graduates had four to five employment offers and were employed within 30 days of completion of the degree.

Now a little about the course content and the admission procedure. The courses planned for the summer session are Computer System Organisation and Combinatorial Algorithms. Operating System Design, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Database Systems or Software Engineering will be offered in the fall semester. The spring semester will offer Multimedia Computing Systems, Advanced Operating Systems, Computer Models of Cognitive Processes and Object-Oriented Programming & Design.

Graduate or post-graduate students from any discipline, with exposure to computers can appear for the entrance examination. And only those who pass the entrance test of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be admitted. Besides the entrance test, the student's academic performance at the undrgraduate level will also be reviewed.With each class made up of 40 students, full-time programmes will be held from 8 a.m to 5 p.m five days a week. For the part-time classes, the timings are 6 p.m to 9.30 p.m on weekdays and from 8 a.m to 3 p.m on Saturday and Sunday.

A positive thing about the course is the involvement of the Illinois University faculty at every stage. For instance, three instructional staff members of the Illinois university will be involved in each course. A professor, a teaching assistant, and a grader from the University of Illinois are assisted by highly-qualified moderators and teaching assistants in India at the Quantum Institute. Lectures from the Illinois university are delivered on video and the Internet, while the tutorial and laboratory sessions are conducted by the local and visiting faculty. Also, the course exercises, homework, and examinations are administered and graded by the University of Illinois. All this ensures that the programme is of the same standard as maintained by the on-campus course.

And ifyou feel this is for you, the operative address is The Quantum -ET&T Center, Malcha Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. A good way to interact with the institute is through its website www.quantum.edu, or e-mail ID information@quantum.edu.