IIT(ISM): The place to be

I got my seat in Mining Machinery Engineering branch in IIT(ISM) Dhanbad through JoSAA counseling based on JEE Advanced rank list. I applied for all major branches in top IITs but neglected the lower branches from other IITs, proximity from my hometown Bokaro was also one of my priorities. I come from OBC community and got OBC quota reservation in getting my seat. Scoring minimum cut-off score for qualifying JEE Advanced is required for getting admission in IIT(ISM) and admission is based on rank list. The admission process was completely online owing to the pandemic situation. We were required to mail all the relevant documents through an email and online payment of fees. The admission process was quite smooth and the administration was interactive throughout.

I choose Mining machinery engineering because IIT(ISM) because is one of the giants in India when it comes to the Mining sector. A core engineering branch was the one I was looking for and proximity to my hometown was also one of my priorities. There are several professors and instructors for each course and programmes. All deeply concerned about a better understanding of the concepts by the students. The faculty here is highly qualified with various degrees and dedicated to a better teaching-learning process. Online classes were held in a smooth manner and instructors gave an extra yard to cater the gap. We had four internal quizzes and an end-semester examination each semester. The quizzes were objective and the end semester was descriptive. Questions were based on concepts and a relative grading method was implemented for grading.

IIT(ISM) provides fairly good internships. It has its own internship cell with advisors which provides information about internships and also helps students to get placed. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Coal India has offered internship opportunities with stipend. Many projects are also taken up for uplifting skills and knowledge, which also boosts one's CV for better internship and placement opportunities

Students start getting stipend internships from the second year of the course itself. The placement percentage is around 70%, around 150+ reputed companies visit for on-campus placements. The highest package this year was 90 lakhs per annum and the being lowest 6 lakhs per annum. I plan to get a job in core sector after completion of my degree.

The yearly program fees are 227500 INR in IIT(ISM) Dhanbad which consisted of 200000 INR as tution fees and 27500 as other fees. The Institute provides many scholarships like Merit Cum Means scholarship, ISMAANA scholarship, Benevolent fund Scholarship and a few others for financially aiding the students. Tution fee waiver scheme is also for economically weaker students in which 100% tution fees is waived for students with family annual income less than 100000 INR and 66% tution fees waiver for students with family income between 200000 INR and 500000 INR.

The annual cultural fest is - SRIJAN. It is a 3-day long fest held in March every year. It is one of the biggest Eastern India college fests and some celebrities had performed in it. CONCETTO is the technical fest. PARAKRAM is the games and sports fest. BASANT is the alumni reunion fest and PRANTIBIMB is the interdepartmental cultural fest. KRYPTOS is for 1st years. Apart from it, numerous cultural festivals are celebrated. The Central Library is extremely large and beautiful and one of the hotspots site of the Institute. Clubs are run by the student with respective professors as the guardian. Student Gymkhana is the student's elective body that establishes the connection link between students and administration staff. Some departmental sites are also there and various student chapters like SEG, EAGE exists.

There are nine hostels in the Institute(7 for boys and 2 for girls). Two students are accommodated in one room. Each hostel has it's own mess, gym, laundry, table tennis table in each floor, and a supplies shop. They are also equipped with Wifi and some television sets. The registration is also along with college so it's quite hassle-free. Meals quality is pretty good and the option is available for veg or non-veg food.