Life at IITM

Even though there are strict measures to ensure a ragging free environment, still there is ragging in the campus. The campus is spread across 600 acres and is beautiful campus. There are deers, blackbucks, monkeys which are common scene and add to the natural beauty. But the girls to boys ratio is very low in this college and is like 1:10.So there is very heavy 'competition' among boys. Talking about the general infrastructure, most of the buildings are old especially the workshops.

In the first year, the curriculum is the same for all the students. Generally speaking, the course is not a piece of cake. We would have to study regularly in order to follow the next day's class, else we won't be able to keep up with the pace of professors. The teachers teach in such a manner that we students already know most of the things that he is going to teach. In one semester we have two quizzes and one end semester exam. Between these, there would be minitest to make sure we study well. All these marks are used to calculate our grades at the end of each semester.

The placement in IITs is the best when compared to any other college in the country. Moreover the mechanical branch of IIT Madras is ranked no. 1 in the country. Our college provides internship from the first year onwards and most of these internships are paid ones. In the first year, the average stipend is around 20000 inr while in the final year it can vary from 50000 to few lakhs, if you are working with international companies. The placement scenes are also very encouraging because the percent of students who get placed is around 85 percent. The average salary mostly depends on the branch that we have studied.

Our college celebrates almost all the festivals that happen in India because we have students from all over the country. Last week, we had Diwali celebration which lasted for like 2-3 days with the whole college lighted and we had firecrackers and stuff like that. But the happiest fact is that we all celebrate these together that is there is no discrimination on linguistic or regional basis.

A few years back, the fees for IITs was really very affordable but after that that has been a sudden hike in the tuition fees and needless to say, this has seriously affected the poor and middle-class students. Now all of them have to take loans to study and actually it is very disheartening to see that the elite students of the country are those who are having to study by paying the largest amount of fees.

There are a lot of scholarships being offered. First of all, if your annual family income is less than 5 lakhs, then 2/3rds of your tuition fees will be cut. Then there are many other scholarships for students who are good in their studies but are financially backwards. Also the loan facility offered by the SBI Bank is good where you do not have interest on the loan amount during the time you are staying in the college.

There is facility for almost every sports in the campus like athletics, football, basketball, cricket etc. Also there are football grounds even in the hostel which is really good. The labs have all the facilities and the assistants in the lab are also very helpful and they make sure we do all the experiments safely. It is compulsory to take up any sports and this ensures that all the students get some kind of physical activity. Also our college has been ourperforming other IITs in the inter-IIT meets.

Around 95 percent of the students stay in hostels inside the campus itself. Surprisingly, the hostel facilities are really good. In the first year, we have to share our room with a student but from second year onwards, we get single rooms. There are a lot of hostels, 13 for boys and 3 for girls. Also the students can opt for the mess according to their preference. The mess food is really good compared to other colleges.

The alumni network has been very strong for this college and recently we had a meeting of all the alumnis for our anniversary. There are several alumni funded shops, buildings etc in the college. Also the fund raised by the alumnis was estimated to be around 700 crore rupees. Also there are programs where we students get the opportunity to teach smaller children as part of a program called 'Avanti'.

The admission process to IITs is the toughest in terms of the competition that is faced because the selection percentage is like 0.1percent.There are two stages :first we have to qualify the JEE MAINS which is the selection exam to various NITs. Those who qualify this exam can appear for the JEE ADVANCED, which is one of the toughest exam in the world. The exam tests our indepth knowledge in physics, chemistry and mathematics.

To be honest, all the faculties are not that dedicated to teaching. Many of the professors come to class, show a few slides and when the time is up, just go to the next class. So many students have to study on their own to secure good marks. But needless to say, there are teachers who are excellent in their profession and it mostly depends on our luck as to which professor would be teaching us.