NIT Rourkela, a wholesome experience

The college has mostly lived up to the expectations that I have had. The fact that this is a college that lived up to its claim of being free of ragging, is commendable. I often get to hear that despite all claims, most other colleges haven't been able to tackle this menace. Besides, the college has a mentorship system as well, where each fresher is assigned a mentor, who is a senior student, generally from the same branch. Negatives of the college could include its location, which is quite far from the heart of the city, and the fact that the city has no airport of its own, which affects the number and kind of visiting companies to an extent.

The curriculum was heavily revised for our batch, and allowed us ample time to explore our interests in the first year. In our sophomore year, our coursework was branch related, and was interesting and extensive to an extent. Even grades aren't that hard to get if you put in some effort in understanding the subjects.

Our college does provide internships, however it does so in our third year, which I haven't started with yet. So can't say anything about my experience and stipend. But as far as I know good companies like Microsoft, Goldmann Sachs, Qualcomm, Schneider Electric are regular visitors.

Placement opportunities are plenty, provided your CG doesn't slip down beyond a certain level. Majority of the companies that visit, offer jobs under software profiles, so the branch with the best offers, qualitatively and quantitatively, is generally CSE. Most of such companies allow circuital students to appear for the selections as well. ME also has numerous offers in the core sector, considering the fact that it is one of the best branches in NIT Rkl. Core placement opportunities are somewhat scarce for ECE and EI, however companies like Qualcomm have been regular recruiters. Chemical, Civil, Mining, Metallurgy too have their share of offers from the core sector, but a bulk of the students are recruited in non core profiles.

There are two major fests in our college, the technical fest Innovision, and the cultural fest, Nitrutsav. Innovision experiences greater footfall and hosts a celebrity night as well, on which popular performers are invited. It consists of a variety of events, technical and otherwise. Nitrutsav mostly consists of non technical events and cultural programmes. Besides these two, there are a few minor events as well, which are mostly an intra college affair.

The entire fees is divided into eight instruments, one corresponding to each semester. The first installment includes admission fees as well, so it reaches around INR 110000-120000. From the 2nd sem onwards, the fees hovers around INR 95000. This is inclusive of all charges, those for hostel and mess as well. This fee structure is relevant to my batch, and might differ in subsequent batches.

It's quite easy to avail a loan for a student of this college. You'll even find banks with outlets on the campus, ready for approving loans for anyone who needs it. As far my knowledge goes, the institute doesn't offer any special loans, although there are provisions for fee waivers, on the basis of reservation category and annual income of parents.

Labs in my department are satisfactory, however certain labs need a lot of formalities for access. Almost every sport has a team representing the institute so there's ample scope for those interested. There are two stadiums inside the campus, a basketball court and a swimming pool as well. Clubs cater to all those interested in other extra curricular activities, with significant support from the institute.

Hostel infrastructure is acceptable, with adequately sized rooms, clean bathrooms and non erratic electricity, water supply. Most of the floors have water purifiers and coolers. Each floor in each block has two bathrooms, so there's no congestion during peak hours. This is relevant to the hostel I live in, SD Hall of Residence. But as far as I know, most of the hostels are quite hospitable, with no major problems that can't be dealt with.

Being a college more than 50 years old, the alumni network is vast and deep rooted. Alumni relations have helped a lot of teams find much required sponsorship and have also brought investors to promising startups. Senior students are mostly helpful with a culture totally free of ragging.

Exams are conducted semester wise, as in any other engineering college. Each semester consists of two major exams, midsems (30 marks) and endsems (50 marks). 20 marks are awarded as TA, which is given according to the teacher's discretion.

The process starts with appearing for the JEE Mains held over two modes, online and offline. During the time of my admission, each student had a single chance at cracking the exam in a year, there was no arrangement of multiple exams with the best score being considered (the rules have changed as of now). Once the results are out, you'll be able to know if or not you are qualified for the next exam, JEE Advance (results of which are considered by IITs and a few other colleges). JEE Mains ranks can even give you an idea about the colleges and branches you might qualify for, on the basis of past records. Once the results of JEE Advance are released, CSAB will allow students to submit a preference order of various courses. Students are expected to fill this form on the basis of the factors important to them and on the basis of previous trends. Once done, you need to submit your choices and the first mock seat allotment will allot you a seat on the basis of your list and rank. Students are allowed to alter their preferences before the 2nd mock allocation, after which starts the actual allotment. After multiple rounds of allotment, you will end up with a seat in one of the colleges under CSAB. There will be some formalities to be completed, like document verification after 1st round of allotment and admission after final allotment. Once the formalities are done, you will officially become a student of NIT Rkl, provided this is where you have been allotted a seat in.

It'll be unfair to review the faculty from other departments, who I haven't known well enough. As of the faculty from Electronics department, they have a good grip on the subjects they teach, and in most cases, deliver what they know quite effectively. In terms of nature, most of the teachers are approachable, and wouldn't give you a tough time when it comes to grades. Most of the teachers pursue research in interesting fields, and allow even undergraduate students to assist them, which in turn helps us gain experience.