NIT Durgapur - a brief guide for prospective students

Got a seat in NIT Durgapur through JOSAA counselling and went to the campus to verify my documents and complete my admission. Chose this college as it is a well-known Central Government institution with good professors, good infrastructure, good placements and decent research opportunities for the future. The hostels are also clean and food in the mess is decent. The campus is also close to city center in Durgapur, the bus stand and railway station.

I chose Mechanical Engineering because I have wanted to study it for quite some time. The mechanical department in our college is one of the oldest departments and was there when the college was founded back in 1960. It is the second largest department in terms of faculty strength and has the most laboratories of any department in our college. The placement record for the department is also quite good and some professors from the department have research ties with the CMERI which is located just on the opposite side of the road. The mechanical department also has a good faculty:student ratio and the faculty are very well qualified and have effective teaching methods. Most of the professors are the alumni of this college and they are easily approachable and very helpful. The examinations are taken thrice in each semester and they range from moderately difficult to fairly difficult. During the lockdown period the professors have devised innovative ways to make the online examinations proportionately harder.

Companies visit the campus to offer internships during the third year. These companies include Microsoft, JPMC, Wells Fargo, Texas Instruments, PWC, CESC, Thermax, Tata Metaliks, Bajaj etc. These internships are done at the end of the 6th semester and the internship period is usually 2 months. If the company is pleased with your performance during the internship they usually offer a PPO. Besides these one can also opt to do research internships instead of industrial ones if they can obtain them.

Students become eligible for placement if they are going to graduate at the end of that academic year so 7th semester. A total of 116 companies visited the campus in 2019-20 and offered over 500 jobs among which were Microsoft, JPMC, Amazon, Qualcomm, CESC, Thermax, Hero, L&T, Tata Steel, HPCL etc. The average and highest packages across all departments were 8 LPA and 39 LPA respectively. Across all departments about 80% students got placed and specifically in the mechanical department it was around 70%.

The annual techno-cultural fest AAROHAN is the second largest of its kind in Eastern India and it is conducted usually in February. However in 2020 AAROHAN was conducted online in April owing to the lockdown. The cultural fest of our college is known as Nityamini and is conducted annually but has not been conducted in 2020 due to the lockdown. The collection of books and journals in the library is quite good and whatever is needed is mostly available in the library. The classrooms are good and the laboratories are well equipped. There are plenty of opportunities and facilities for students who are interested in sports or athletics and they can represent our college in the annual inter NIT event. There are a lot of technical and non-technical clubs for students with various interests like coding, automobiles, playing an instrument, dramatics etc many of which represent the college in competitions on a national level. There are also student societies like CHESS for chemical engineering, MESA for mechanical engineering, ECESS for electronics and communication engineering etc.

The fees have to be paid after the start of each semester and it is reasonable considering the quality of education and accomodation. There are reduced fees for students from less fortunate backgrounds or minorities. There are also scholarship opportunities specifically for less fortunate female students.

The campus has good infrastructure and a lot of open space. A new auditorium has just been inaugurated and a 14 storey hostel is also very near to completion. Sports facilities are quite good and there are two fields, a basketball court, a tennis court and a gym in the campus. The campus doesn't have a swimming pool. Every hostel has a wi-fi connection however since many students use it at the same time the speed is very low and personal internet connections are recommended. The library is quite big in size and is presently being expanded and has a good collection of books and journals. Every department has well equipped laboratories.

The rooms in the hostel are quite good. 2/3/4 students have to share a room in the first 3 years and everyone gets a single room in the 4th year. Each student gets a bed, a wall outlet, a reading lamp, a table, a chair and a closet/almirah to store their belongings. The food quality in the mess is good and the menu varies from day to day. Vegetarian students have seperate serving stations in the mess. The timings of the mess are convenient. The hostels are affordable and are reasonable considering the accomodation and meal quality. Students can also choose to order takeout if they prefer.

I did not have to face any interview during the admission process to this college. The admission criteria is solely the rank secured in the JEE Main examination and a minimum of 75% marks in board examinations.