Remarks
Scottish Church College is the oldest college in Kolkata (established in 1830). For physics, this is one of the best colleges affiliated with the University of Calcutta. I gave the entrance exam of physics in 2018, and it was my dream to study in this college. I never thought that I will get admission here, but I was lucky to be selected here. The entrance exam was conducted for Physics only. Other departments select students on the basis of Merit only. But the physics entrance was stripped-off in 2019 by college authorities, citing economic reasons, despite resistance against this decision by the physics faculty, after which, the Department of Physics also has to select students based on the board exam's merit only.The physics faculty is very nice, and have understanding professors, who try to help any student even in their personal problems. The environment of the college is also the best in Kolkata. This college is a site for cultural heritage. Freedom fighter, Shri Subhash Chandra Bose, spiritual monk Swami Vivekananda, ISKCON founder, Swami Prabhupada, all studied here, and the list goes on. Department of Physics also has two dedicated computer labs only for physics students, for computer programming, and two different laboratories for physics experiments. Everything about this college is good, but it seems that the college authorities do not release much-required funding on time. Apart from these, the college and the department separately take time to time anonymous feedback from the students, and I have noticed that they act accordingly on the feedback to improve the downsides. From this year, the physics department has started a bi-weekly career and entrance exam-oriented course for the students.
Course Curriculum Overview
I chose this course because physics and mathematics seem most logical to me, and a physicist can also do mathematics throughout life.In our class, there were 38 students and 8 professors.6 out of 8 professors have PhD. One professor is completing his PhD. The teaching methodology of each professor is unique, and our professors have the urge to teach. They even take extra classes when the college is closed for students. Regular assignments are provided to the students, and class tests are also taken. Our college also has a dedicated LMS (learning management system), where notes, videos, ebooks, assignments are provided for students. Students can log in and submit their respective solutions, or queries about anything.Every semester, there is an exam conducted by the University of Calcutta. The exam consists of first an internal assessment, where questions are prepared by department professors, and answer scripts are checked by them. Then, the final exam in a different college under Calcutta University. There are also practical exams.The exams are very easy to pass with class notes, assignments, and regular study. Any regular student can ace the exams.
Internships Opportunities
Many students do summer research projects/internships to get to know about research.
Placement Experience
Since a B.Tech degree is not awarded here, so most B.A and B.Sc students go for higher studies without doing a job. Few students may look for a job immediately after graduation for hardship in their family. Scottish Church College has a placement cell, and a placement officer is present. Various companies like Amazon, Infosys, TCS, etc, look for young and talented, hard-working graduates, and many students get employment after the course. Also, there is a B.Ed building of our college, where, people complete B.Ed to become teacher in high schools.
Fee Structure And Facilities
The fees for the odd semesters is about 15K for lab-based departments and for the even semesters about 5K to 7K. This fee structure is mediocre, not too high like in private institutions. Our class also had good students who were from poor or lower-middle-class families. One can complete his/her graduation within 60K to 70K for lab-based departments. Arts student's fees are lower than this. There are also three boys hostels and two girls hostels.The students can register for scholarships, but the college does not provide any notable scholarships. The students get scholarships from the Central Government (INSPIRE) and/or the State Government. The college staff helps the students in preparing the necessary documents to get the scholarship.There are no campus jobs available.
Campus Life
In February of each year, there is a college fest called "Caledonia". Also, each year, a science fair is conducted in front of the college, sponsored by various schools, colleges and institutes. Various school, college students take part in this, and anyone can take part in the fair. Various science, tech, mathematical projects are kept on display.The college has separate girl's and boy's common-room, where, there are various recreational instruments, such as carrom-board, table-tennis, etc. The college has two canteens. The canteen in the millennium building is old and quite affordable, whereas the canteen in a new multi-storeyed building is quite expensive and crowded at lunch hours.Department of Physics organizes multiple events, such as annual picnic, reunion, seminars, etc. The Departmental reunion is very notable in the whole college and is being conducted successfully through decades, and the participation by the alumni in the reunion is quite impressive.
Hostel Facilities
I stayed in the "Wann Hostel" of Scottish Church College. The meal is awesome, but the facilities are age-old. There are only four old latrines and a common place for everyone's bath. Warm water is available in winters. A single room is provided to everyone, and the rooms are quite spacious, but the rooms and verandah in front of the rooms are very old, and the floor vibrates when you walk over them, indicating weakness. But, renovation started just before the pandemic, to overhaul the whole kitchen, mess, toilets etc. But after the pandemic, hostels are closed for the students, so the status of renovation is not known.There are three boys hostels and two girls hostels. All the hostels are of the British era. But one of the girls' hostels was demolished, and a new premium apartment type building was built, which is at par with modern hostels, with all modern facilities.
Admission
There used to be an objective type entrance exam for admission in department of physics, but it was scrapped in 2019. Now, admissions in all Bachelor courses are done on the basis of Class XII board results.














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