A glimpse of the life of a VITian

ECE is the perfect combination of hardware and software. A student of ECE can pursue their interests in the core subjects of ECE or take up careers in Computer Science and IT. ECE also provided good placement opportunities to the students. Our college has exceptional research facilities with the faculties and lab attendants ready to help out with the research work. The hands-on experience with various equipments helps to further grow interest and curiosity. One drawback is however that a lot of outdated technologies are still taught that have no use in the current industry. Syllabi needs to be updated every year in keeping with the industry standards. Every semester has three main exams - two continuous assessments of 50 marks and a final assessment of 100 marks, along with quizzes, assignments, lab exams, projects and other tasks. Continuous assessment 1 is a closed book, continuous assessment 2 is an open book exam (tough) and the final exams are of moderate difficulty.

Microsoft, HCL and a few other companies came during the 3rd year to provide paid internships (summer internships) and a chance for PPOs. The students who did not get selected carried out their internships (paid and unpaid) from different companies (off-campus) after getting approval from their respective departments. At the start of the 4th year, companies started to provide both internships and full-time offers (sometimes only 1 was available) to the students sitting for placements. I did my unpaid summer internship off-campus which lasted for 1 month. I did my internship at CESC Ltd and had to prepare a report at the end of the internship. I was offered a full-time role and did not get any internships. I had to complete my Capstone project under a faculty of my department to receive my degree.

Students are eligible for placements at the start of their final year (7th semester). VIT offers placement to all students who have registered for the placement process. VIT offers regular, dream, super-dream and restricted offers along with a couple of marquee offers. All kinds of companies visit year-round for placements (startups, MNCs, the big 4 consulting companies, IT giants, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Siemens, Schenider, Texas Instruments, Blackrock etc.) For my batch around 750-800 companies have already visited and provided offers for the students. Around 6000 -7000 offers have been made to students from all branches. The average package for this year is around 9 lakhs and the highest package is around 80 lakhs. A huge number of profiles are offered (Data analyst, Graduate Engineer Trainee, Software developer, Core job profiles etc). VIT offers a 95 to 100 percent placement rate with the placements still going on for my batch. Placements are offered year-round. I was placed in Sept.

I was in Category 3 of the ECE branch. There were 5 categories with Cat 1 being the cheapest and Cat 5 being the most expensive. My yearly fee was 402000 with caution fees of 15000. Cat 1 yearly fees were around 2 lakh, cat 2 yearly fees were around 3 lakh, mine was 4 lakh, cat 4 was 4.5 lakh and cat 5 was 5 lakh. I had spent two years as a hosteller, the fees were 1,62,000 yearly for a 2 bedroom, laundry charges and special mess. The top 10 rankers during the time of admission (by taking the entrance exam VITEEE) received a full scholarship and their entire tuition fees were waived. Some other scholarships are also given to economically backward students through the VIT Alumni Association, they have to register through their college emails and a background check will be done. So including everything, my total expenditure was around 20 lakhs for the 4 years of engineering, hostel fees, mess fees and other facilities. The fees tend to fluctuate slightly with every new batch.

Gravitas is the technical festival and Riviera is the cultural festival. Gravitas is held in Sept-Oct and Riviera is held in February. The library has a vast number of books on all fields and the availability of particular books can be tracked through the college portal. Students can use the library and even after the hostel in-time students can access the night library till late at night. The drawback is that it does not have a 24-hour open policy, but that is also keeping the students' safety in mind. All classrooms have smartboards where faculties can present their lectures and there are a huge number of labs with state-of-the-art equipments. Basketball courts, badminton courts, gymnasiums (both free and paid), a swimming pool, as well as volleyball courts are open to the students. The college has around 250 clubs and chapters covering almost all topics of interest from technology to food to music to movies. All students are a part of one or more clubs and chapters.

Wi-fi, housekeeping, and ACs (which can be opted for with extra fees) are provided. Students can choose 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom, 4 bedroom and 6 bedroom (both AC and non-AC are available). Students can also choose to stay in an apartment-style hostel block (R block) which is costlier compared to the other hostel blocks. There are 3 messes (veg, non-veg, special) along with paid mess which the students can choose at the time of registering for their hostels. The messes serve 4 meals every day, with different times available every day. Students have to sit for the hostel selection process and they can opt for their desired rooms based on their college rank (CGPA) and the availability of the particular room. You can choose your roommate and your desired hostel block (if available at your rank). Messes can be changed every month depending on the students' choice. I was a hosteller for almost 2 years (the first two years were online due to Covid). The food quality is very good.

I was a part of the Covid match. Hence the college only considered the results of my board exams. Exams conducted on all boards are eligible. Other batches have to give the VITEEE which is the entrance test for the VIT. To be eligible, the student needs to have cleared their 12th grade exam and keep their marksheets, and transfer certificate ready to be submitted. The application form is available on the college portal and can be accessed by everyone and all the details are also mentioned on the portal. Reservation benefits are also provided on the portal (vit.ac.in). The VITEEE is conducted every year around the JEE Mains (VITEEE is conducted between April and June). The test is moderately difficult containing sections of Physics, Maths, Chemistry and English. It is a time-based exam with no negative marking. The admission process is simple enough, and as of now improvements are not required. Ranks 1 to 25000 receive the first round of counselling.

Every class has around 50 to 65 students and one faculty per class. I feel the ratio could be a little better but over the years, faculties have managed. The faculties use smartboards for presenting their lectures, sometime guest lecturers are also called in for special classes. Notes are regularly uploaded on the college portal. The best part is that all the faculties have to upload notes for their respective subjects. All the faculty details, their available timings and cabin numbers have been provided on the college portal for the students. Most of the teachers are approachable and encourage doubts and conversations. Obviously, there are faculties who are problematic, but the college conducts quality circle meetings, where students can go and raise their issues and complaints. The college takes action against the faculties accordingly. At the end of each semester, feedback forms have to be filled out concerning all faculties whose classes you have attended.