Great College

I loved my college, still do. No college is perfect, but mine had an excellent faculty and its heart in the right place. The approach was always tad more conservative than we'd have liked, but I believe students and teachers often have different viewpoints on this. But the knowledge the teachers imparted was invaluable. They prepared us for the outside world, made us into confident young women capable of finding our place outside.

A written test was held, and my name was included in the selection list. There were no marks as such. I opted for this college because it has a high ranking English department.

The course structure is rather conventional as is often the case with Calcutta University. Though it does set a very strong base for people wishing to study English literature at a higher level. My pass subjects (History & political science) were also taught competitively but traditionally.

No, our college did not (at that time at least) provide internship. So there was no general stipend or overall experience - and it is strange that this optional question requires a 100 character answer.

None of this happened in my college. Most of the students were going to the university for post-graduation. A few were going abroad for graduate studies. Some were getting married and settling down. The ones who wanted to work looked for job opportunities and applied. Being from Lady Brabourne College helped, but there were no placement facilities offered by the college in my time. I don't know if the same is offered now.

We'd have an intra-college festival with various competitions, and an inter-college festival called Kaleidoscope. Kaleidoscope was a huge affair with colleges from all over Calcutta & also Kharagpur (IIT) participating. We also celebrated Rabindra Jayanti with a wonderful dance drama performance. Every alternate year, we had a reunion, which also featured a cultural evening.

It was highly subsidized and really cheap. I think the fees were about Rs.1200 a year. Admission fees were likewise very less. I didn't stay in the college hostel but I remember that being very cheap too. It is highly subsidized by the Department of Education.

I wasn't aware of the same, not needing any. But maybe it was there. The fees were so low that one didn't need loans to pay them.

This was a all girls college, so the gender ratio question is irrelevant. The crowd was mostly Bengali, but we did have people from other states as well. We had a fair number of Muslim students too, being in a dominantly Muslim neighborhood. Religion and ethnicity was never an issue amongst us students. We were all students together, and friends.

The hostel facilities were pretty basic and I heard my hostel friends say the food was just about okay. The hostel seats are few and given on merit basis. I stayed in a private hostel run by nuns nearby, called Nazareth Villa. It was much better in terms of cleanliness, comfort and food.

I haven't had any interactions with the alumni except on social media platforms, where we have groups and enjoy being in touch. We talk about good old college days, but haven't had any reason to reach out for help.

Since I was in the Arts stream, we didn't have labs. Exams weren't too often. In fact I don't remember it being a very hectic schedule. Yes, some days may have had too many classes, but most of the time, we'd have a few breaks between classes. We managed to have enough fun, hanging out with friends, or sneaking off for a movie or two.

I collected admission form from college after paying a nominal fee. I was in the know as I'd done also done my class 12 level (Higher Secondary) in the same college. The notification came out after West Bengal board Higher Secondary results were declared. I filled the form, and took the entrance exam on the set date and qualified. The entrance examination was not terribly tough. Once the list was out, and my selection was confirmed, I took admission by paying fees. I believe there's an online admission system in place now.

The faculty, especially that of the English department, was excellent. The teachers were erudite, involved and dedicated. Some of them made us fall in love with English literature, thus transferring their own love for the subject. They were all from good colleges, most of them having done an M.Phil or a doctorate, and still continuing their journey of learning. They were friendly and always willing to offer extra help outside the classroom.