Thapar University, Computer Science and Engineering Course Review

The admission process was divided into various rounds, and I got admission in the final spot round. The application form can be found on the university website (thapar.edu). The form comes out in the month of March and stays open till the final results of JEE Advance are declared. The application form fee is Rs. 1500 and will require you to upload class 10 and 12 scanned mark sheet, JEE result, and a photograph along with some personal details. The admission process is divided into two modes. First one being based on JEE mains score/rank of the year you are applying in(i.e., if you apply in the year 2019, then only the score of Jee mains 2019 is considered), the second mode is based on marks secured in 10+2 in PCM. The seats for B.E./B.Tech is equally divided into both modes. The University uploads its eligibility criteria every year on its website. I feel the application fee is too much and should be reduced.

The B.E. Computer Science and Engineering is the second-best course in the college in my opinion after the B.E. computer science course. Yes, these are two different courses. At the time of admission, the first one was the one that I could get into based on my marks and rank. Both the courses have the same course material taught, only the latter has more students admitted and thus has more competition amongst peers. Every branch is divided into batches of 60 students approx. for lectures and 30 for labs, each having one teaching staff which makes the faculty: student ratio pretty good. The exams in Thapar are divided into sessional and mid term and final term exam. Before each term exam you have a sessional exam/quiz for each subject taught and a lab evaluation(which is counted into sessional exam) if the subject has practical credits. So the exams happen very frequently and is relatively easy to pass if you perform average in every test but the term exams are still moderately difficult.

The internship in the CSE department is scarce but present. Some companies come with internship opportunities but only a handful are selected so a lot of students try to find off-campus internships. although that is different for placement and should not be confused with an internship. The internships are generally for project intern positions and are selected based on tests and resumes right from the fourth semester till the sixth semester. Although a lot of students focus on improving their individual resumes by doing more projects and then sitting for the on-campus placements. Summer internships are allowed and can be done from off-campus opportunities.

The placement is the reason many students choose this college in spite of the huge fee issue, you are eligible to sit in placements from the seventh semester of your course. Almost everyone in the Computer Science and Engineering branch and various related branches gets placed. The placement records can be checked from the university website. Almost 200 companies visit the CSE branches and 1-2 offers are the average for each student. The college has also included a Capstone project from the sixth sem for CSE students which helps a lot in placement as good projects are a must for all the companies. Also, research projects can also be done under the mentorship of any faculty member which is useful if you want to study abroad.

The fee is in itself very high and the college hikes it every year by 5-10%. The fee per semester is around Rs. 2,00,000 and this is excluding the hostel fee and your expenses. A hike in this fee would mean your course lectures would have to be at par with the lectures of universities like IIT's, sadly they are not and this is why I feel the course is not affordable. As for the scholarship, in the first year, you could apply for a scholarship based on your 10+2 marks and JEE rank but the criteria would still be your family income being less than 8 LPA. The university has also started a merit-cum-means scholarship in which anyone can apply if they have a CGPA higher than 7 and their family income is lower than 10 LPA but the seats are limited and you will get the scholarship based on the list of every applicant's family income arranged in ascending order. In my opinion, this is one aspect that the university needs to improve. The college provides internship opportunities.

The campus life is very good and various student societies that are present on the campus are very good. Every year after the admission of freshers, during the end of September and start of October a fest is organized by all the societies in which various artists coming to perform and is in total a very good experience considering a lot of us do not experience anything like that in our school years. The classrooms are all very good with air conditions and projectors. The library is the best and the biggest buildings on the campus which spans to 5 floors and has books for every course and tables with charging points to take your laptops or phones inside and study. The sports facility is also very good and is maintained very well. There is a cricket ground a synthetic running track a football ground, a tennis court, a basketball court, an indoor badminton court, a swimming pool, and various facilities. There are many student groups on social media to discuss your problems amongst peers.

In my opinion, the hostels are one of the best when compared to any engineering college hostels in India. The downside is that the hostels are also expensive, although if divided on per day basis it might seem that it is affordable considering that when paying for months and not in small numbers rather around 300-600 students pay for a hostel in each hostel, the fee is expensive and should be reduced. The quality of the meal is very good and the members of mess commit are students from hostels and recommendations are considered into the menu. The hostel rooms are of various kinds ranging from 1 bed to sharing in 2 beds with attached washrooms and sharing washrooms. The hostel allotment process is online and is easy.