RIT Kottayam

Those 4 years in my college is something that I will never forget in my life. It gave me memories to laugh and cry about in my future.

I can say about Mechanical Engineering only. At that time the college was under MG University but later in 2015 all colleges in Kerala was brought under one university called Kerala Technical University (KTU). Since I was 2013-17 batch my curriculum was based on MG University. First year there was no semesters i.e. both semesters were combined as year. Subjects were basic engineering courses which touched basics of all departments. All students had the same subjects irrespective of their department. Then we had three labs Mechanical, Electrical and Civil. During this year there were 2 internal exams and 1 annual exam. The results for each subjects were out of 150 marks of which 100 marks was of annual exam and 50 marks from internal assessment which included 2 internal exam, assignments and attendance.

Placement drive in our college was conducted for final year B. Tech and M. Tech students usually during August-September window. Most of the companies are IT based. MRF conducted a pooled placement drive in a nearby college. Bosch conducted preliminary rounds in our college and the final interview was conducted in their office at Bengaluru. Internships are done mostly during summer vacation holidays by second and third years. During our time it was compulsory to have a 14 day internship and an industrial visit. The curriculum doesn't allow for internship during the semester periods. So only option for having an internship is during summer vacation which had a maximum to 1 to 2 month duration.

Every year we had a number of sports tournament which were conducted by different departments or clubs. 1. Freshers football tournament conducted by Football Fans Forum , RIT 2. KickOFF football tournament conducted by Mechanical Engineering Department 3. Challengers cricket tournament conducted by EC department 4. Smash volleyball tournament conducted by EEE department 5. County Cricket League (CCL) conducted by Civil Engineering Department Also cultural festivals like Onam and Christmas were celebrated by each departments separately. Every year a combined technical and cultural fest was conducted for 3 days during even sem. Also odd sems consists of some kind of engaging activities like fortnight events, expo etc.

Since ours was a government college, fees was just Rs 6000. Exam fees was around Rs 1000. Overall per year fees was less than Rs 10000. Every student need to pay Rs 1000 annually as bus fees irrespective of whether using it or not. There was clear transparency in the fee structure as it is a government institute.

There were many scholarships offered by different agencies depending on caste, religion, marks and annual income. Since I belong to general category I wasn't eligible for most of the scholarships. But there was one scholarship offered by CBSE for students who had marks above 80% for their 12th CBSE exam and their family income less than 7lpa. It was a total of Rs 50000 with Rs 10000 during first 3 years and Rs 20000 in the last year. But there were scholarships which paid more than this. College was very supportive to do any help for attaining any scholarship. Only rule is that you should not avail more than 1 scholarship simultaneously.

I studied Mechanical Engineering. In my class there were no girls and we were 63 boys. During my 4 years there were only 2 to 3 girls in the entire mechanical engineering department studying B. Tech. In CSE and B. Arch department boys to girls ratio was almost 1:4. In Civil Engineering Department and EEE department the number of girls and boys were almost equal. Overall in the college the ratio was 1:1. Our college had strong student political parties including ABVP, KSU and SFI. Elections were conducted every year to select the college union. This union will organise most events conducted in the college that year. Cultural clubs included music club dance club, literature club and arts club. College also had NSS which usually engaged in social working and around the college. Sports club were also there. Cricket and football teams of the college participated in many inter college tournaments and won prizes. Our college had seen a mix of cultural, social and economical range of students. Students from all parts of Kerala studied in our college. Also students came from Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Manipur. This helped us to understand different culture all around India.

Seniors in Mechanical Engineering Department were like friends. They mingled with us and interacted with us from the first day. They made us feel home in the college. Most of seniors kept in touch with us even after passing out. There is an alumni interaction every year on December 27th.

I joined RIT on 2013. It is a Kerala government institute. So it is necessary to write Kerala Engineering Entrance Exam. Admission was based on merit list prepared by considering both entrance exam mark and 12th standard board exam mark. After considering 50% of each marks, a normalised score was calculated based on which merit list or rank list was published. I secured a rank of 1690. I chose RIT because, it was well known for its Mechanical Engineering Department especially Mechanical Engineering Labs. So I gave Mechanical Engineering in RIT as my first priority. At that time most demand was for Mechanical Engineering, but my rank was enough to get admission there. I got admission in general category. Admission that year was done in three rounds and then spot round. I got RIT in the first round itself and I confirmed my seat there. Then I was called on for certificate verification and later for counseling.

Faculties of Mechanical Engineering Department was very much supportive and encouraging during our time. In first year some subjects were taught by guest lecturers. In later years only twice we were taught by guest lecturers. All core subjects were taught by expert and experienced professors only. Overall we had 44 subjects, 14 labs, 1 seminar and 1 project Assistant professors was usually between the age of 30 to 45. Associate Professors were between age of 40 to 58. HODs in our college had a reign period of 2 years after which they were succeeded by the next senior professor of that department. Many professors of Mechanical Engineering Department have industrial exposure and working experience. So that helped the students to get internships or even placement.