Anas Ahmed's Review On MEASI Academy Of Architecture, Chennai

On the whole, one may say its a fairly good college a very strong administration as it is headed by a Great Architecture - Prof. Althaf Ahamed, who has recently received the lifetime achievement award and the Feild of Architecture by the IIA. Also being ranked as one of the top colleges in architecture in the South of India, it does justice to holding that title.

NATA - is the exam one has to take up to be qualified for admission into any architecture college. Its based on both your 3D and drawing skills. There are two halves to the exam - one half being drawings based on perspective and Sciography skil. The other half is an online quiz based on general architecture knowledge and 3D surface knowledge there are many centers providing coaching for NATA exams, and don't worry you can write the exam more than once if you aren't satisfied with your grade, i which case the second result the average sum of both the test results. So Beware its tricky.

Its a 5 year course wherein one entire year goes for practical training (internship). The other four years is a variety of activities and literature but majorly in house studio work as architecture being a very crafty and artistic course which needs a lot of practical work than just studies and exams. There will be a lot of exploring, experimentation and hands-on-work as its a very expressive course.

The college doesn't but we can apply for any firm of our choice in any city of our liking for experience and exposure! Applying for this internship involves creating a CV and an attached "portfolio" which contains all the in-house work and extra curricular activities one is involved with and judgment on the quality is based on the diversity and creativity one has put into the portfolio There are many online sites onto which people share their portfolios.

There are no placements in most architectural colleges that i know off. The one year or professional training/internship, gives oe an insight to the practical field of architecture and decide what to do so accordingly the internship year will teach you to concise on what you want to be practicing in the future, like be part of an MNC firm or a small designer firm.

Measi allows you to take part in architecturally related competitions and also host yearly sports day competitions involving athletics and sports. Cultural's isn't usually considered as most part of your curriculum depends on the academics. These competitions play an important role in shaping an architecture student and brings a great deal of exposure to the standards of other college students and activities.

There are three divisions when it comes to Fees. 50% being through anna university counselling, 40% management and 10% NRI the counselling anna univ students comes upto 40k per annum, management students about 150k and NRI varying between 200k to 250k INR. Its a pretty decent fee structure for a college that is ranked number one Architecture college in the whole of South India.

Scholarships particularly are available based on the your merit and credits acquired and there is a scheme available for special mentions either by case or government certifies (first graduate in the family etc) So there are many concessions available.

There are is a great diversity in male an female students as it is a course favored by both genders so its not gender-specific people come for different backgrounds with different experiences and it is a pretty decent exposure. Campus life is pretty happening although the infrastructure isn't quiet the expected but the diversity and rich vibrancy brings in a great deal of a happening environment.

There is a mess for hostel students and an indor canteen for regular tea and snacks. There is a Boys hostel in campus as it is located inside the compound of an An all boys Arts college, hence provision for Womens hostel becomes quite inconvenient. There are plenty of Girls hostel available around the vicinity of 1-3 km in a comfortable price range , ranging from 5k to 15k per month.

Alumni system is prominent and being an architecture on heavily depends on the connection as ideas and experiences are best known when shared.

There are only 7 exams. Half of them at-least in the present curriculum have become Viva exams where one has to explain their work to an external faculty who will crtic their work. The Design exams are based on 75% internals and 25% externals so maintaining a clean rapport with the teaching faculty is of almost importance.

The admission forms are given 3 or 4 months prior to the starting of the first academic year. It should be submitted with your NATA and 12th grade result and other blanks as specified in the admission form. The administration is quiet straight forward and clear in selection process based clearly on merit even management. (Except one or two seats, which are reserved for dubious reasons).

This is the major advantage of being a Measiite which has the biggest ful-time available teaching faculty with great experience and dedication who have so much to give and easily approachable. These 5 years can easily make you a extroverted person as it involves alot of discussion and sharing and expressing of ideas and creativity.