A review on SASTRA Deemed to be University

My first preference was SASTRA Deemed to be University, so I didn't apply to other universities other than Anna university counselling. The admission process in sastra is purely merit based, there are no seats that are available by paying capitation fees. The application process is done in two types: type 1 and type 2. In type 1 they consider 75% of 12th std board marks and 25% of JEE MAINS mark, the cumulative total is used to put up a rank list and the seats are filled in preferences of the students in descending order. In type two it's the same but instead of 75% and 25% of board marks and JEE MAINS marks here, it is 100% board marks. The admission process is done batch-wise where the 100-150 students of top rank are called upon to select their preferred course, the next 100 follow up on the next day to fill up the courses. The students who couldn't get the course of their preference because of the course getting filled up must choose another course.

I had chosen biotechnology because of my interest in this particular field. In the 1st year we would be taught the basics of all the courses available in the university, for eg: basics of civil Engg, ECE, mechanical Engg etc, after 2nd year we'll be taught only the subjects of the particular course we enrolled in along with maths. The faculty to student ratio is nearly the same as in schools in the classrooms alone, with nearly 50 students per class. But many facilities take various subjects and many faculties taking classes for the same subject. And the educational qualifications are considered very important in the employment of faculties with a PhD being the minimum requirement to become a lecturer. The exams are a bit tough compared to other universities and the marking pattern of the final semester paper and the result still puzzle students because it is very complex and sometimes the marks obtained at the finals would be very less than what we had expected.

I honestly don't know much about the internship part and I don't want to give any false information so I think it would be wise if I skip this part. But I know some of my seniors have got internships in some foreign universities as well as in India

We are eligible for campus placements from the 7th semester (4th year). There are many companies from nearly all fields of study which visit sastra each year to pick up deserving students. Mostly the majority of these companies being computer science or IT related. Many core companies also come and pick up the students. I've heard someone saying our university has 100% placement. But I'm not sure about the credibility of that. My plan is to do further studies (Mtech) in biotechnology and do a PhD in either foreign or India.

The fees and other expenses in this university are very less compared to other universities. With just 70,000 tuition fee per semester and 10,000-20,000 hostel fee per year, these are very affordable for most of the students. Loans and other offers are also provided by the university to make sure the student can study without worrying much about the cost. The mess fee is around 3000 per month and the quality depends on which hostel we are staying in because of different contractors in each hostel. I haven't got any scholarship, financial assistance or job so I don't have a proper idea on that part.

There are 3 fests that occur in the even semesters of every year. The sports fest known as colosseum is held first which is an inter University sports event in which students from various colleges around Tamil Nadu participate in various sports like football, volleyball, athletics etc. The tech fest known as Daksh is held next, in which students show their technical skills in various events like drone making, coding tasks etc, it is also an inter University fest. The next fest is the cultural fest known as Kurukshetra which is an inter University fest where students participate in various cultural activities like singing, dancing competitions. Many chief guests honour these fests, many prominent sportspersons, CEO's and people in the film industry have come to these fests. Apart from these inter college fests we also have inter college fests which happen from time to time. Also, there are many social, literary and technical clubs/group to join.

As a boy, I can only talk about boys hostel here. There are around 8-10 hostels on the campus each having different types of rooms ranging from single occupant to a maximum of 10 occupants per room. The rooms are given the minimum requirement of fans, tube lights, beds, and tables, there are no AC rooms available. The mess is operated by different contractors but the overall verdict would be that the food provided at sastra is below average. The food is strictly vegetarian and some dishes are good and some are just very bad that you feel its better to sleep without eating than to eat the actual food. They give breakfast, lunch, dinner, evening snacks and night and morning milk/tea. There are stalls outside the hostels for snacks too.