Arunima Awasthy's Review On Pearl Academy West Campus, New Delhi

Our college offers a great environment. However, it lacks certain facilities such as longer college hours for individual learning and the right decorum. Its fun and work combined. I have working whether it's my everyday assignment or the module projects. I can notice the change in me at this point itself. I have become more observant, responsible and have developed a new perspective towards things

I took NIFT, NID, MIT, Tdv entrance tests. Results were satisfactory. I opted for pearl due to its international system, giving us a global exposure and also its industrial connection with one of the leading brands in India and abroad

The course curriculum is great. It consists of Visual studio, Design studio, Material exploration, Context and Communication, Digital studio and technical studio. We are assessed at every step which helps us improve there and then and helps us move in the right direction.

Our college does provide internship but that is from the third year of college. As of now i’m not aware of the stipend or the companies that offer internship.

The college offered 97% on campus placements in the last year. One of the best companies come to the campus for placements, including Walt Disney, Manish Malhotra, United Colours of Benneton, H&M, Amazon, Myntra, Yash Raj Films and the list goes on.

Our college celebrates almost every festival and important days in the Indian culture. We have a Diwali mela for all Pearlites where we put up stalls inside the college. We played with colours on Holi in the foyer. We even have a Dandiya night on Navratre. On 25th August and 16th January, we dress up in tricolor to mark the auspicious day.

The fee structure is expensive- about 5-6 lacs per year. It costs us roughly about ₹1000 per class. This amount does not cover any stationary or excursion fee. We have to pay an amount of about ₹50,000 in the first year as security. The fee is comparatively much more in comparison to other Design colleges in India- private or governemt.

The college offers a merit scholarship for the first semester of the first year based on your performance on entrance test and interview. I received a scholarship of upto ₹90,000 in the same. It also offers yearly scholarships based on the yearly performance of a student

The gender ratio is rather unequal in the School of Design approximately 5:1 girls to boys or even more. The college does have many societies such as the Dance Society, Music Society, Drama Society, Literary Society and Fashion Society. However their participation is rather less than enough. The college is pretty tolerant in regard to gender, ethnicty, race, religion, sexual orientation, politics and economic status. We do not have a dress-code and everybody has the freedom to present themselves in whichever way they like

Unfortunately, the hostel facilities are pretty bad. Being an outstation kid, i wanted to live in their hostel, but looking at their condition, i had no other option but to look for accomidation elsewhere. The rooms lack proper ventilation are unkept and donot provide facilties such as wifi and transport. And the fee is exorbitant in regard to the facilties they provide

I have had the opportunity to view the work of the Alumni and the graduating lot of Pearl at the Amazon Fashion Week. Its truly inspiring and reassuring to see their work and do something great in the future

Being a part of the School of Design, we didn’t have exams, however, we had juries at the end of each module- 4 times a year. The good thing about this structure was that it always kept us on toes but at the same time didn’t stress us out like exams usually do if we followed the process. The ongoing assessment and interaction with the faculty members ensured that our work is being completed in accordance with the scheduled time so that it doesn’t get piled up in the end.

I filled the form online, appeared for a written exam somewhere in April (both creative and aptitude) and then had a personal interview a day after my written exam. The process seemed fair as i had a chance to interact with the faculty face to face. I was able to show my portfolio personally, get their feedback and get my doubts cleared. It was only after the interview that i was so sure about going to Pearl

The faculty is extremely qualified. They teach us as per the guidelines but at the same time give us the freedom to explore new things and develop our own style. They encourage us to take up challenges instead of following the easy way out. They are pretty approachable and are always there to help us whenever we get stuck somewhere. They focus not only on the final outcome but also the process that leads us to it.