Using the AHP and TOPSIS methods for decision making in best course selection after HSC

After passing out 12th standard, a student has many options to choose for higher education in India. He or she can choose a career oriented course or an academic course. Choosing a career is a critical decision. Now -a- days the multi-criteria decision making methods (MCDM) are gaining importance for the selection of best suited alternative among the available alternatives. In this paper multi criteria decision making methods viz. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) were applied to choose the best career option. Multiple options have been considered as alternatives and some specific criteria were taken into account individually to select best career option. AHP is used to derive the weights of criteria and appropriate course selection and final ranking of all courses available after 12th have been obtained from both the methods: TOPSIS and AHP. The experimental work shows that the final ranking of both the applied methods is equivalent even though the final priorities are differ in values.