A brief overview of NITT

I chose mechanical engineering course because I was very interested in design, manufacturing and developing cutting edge technology which has to do with domains such as aerospace, thermal, adhisive manufacturing and other forms of manufacturing technologies. Mechanical engineering gives a broad base/ platform to further develop in masters. Subjects such as thermodynamics and fluid mechanics interested me greatly. Unfortunately the curriculum isn't very updated and professors do not take the time to compare basics/fundamentals we learn with developing technologies to give a contrast between what we learn and what is being research upon. Most of the labs if not all are under developed "due to lack of funds" therefore the course really does not prepare us for real world applications and essentially forces us students to learn on our own. Making learning more real world connected with applications that are being used right now and comparing it with the basics we learn that were estabilished 50-100 years ago gives us more concept clarity and depth. Exam frequency is perfect and no changes is needed to be done.

Internship opportunities are provided by the college from 5th semester. Compulsory internship is to be done during the summer vacation between 6th and 7th semester. Companies such as Bajaj, Tata steel, ITC, P&G, AB InBev, Pernod, Ricord, Tata Steel, Bajaj and SLB have come. Apart from these companies, research internships are also provided by the college.

NITT placements varies from branch to branch. In our 5th semester we prepare for internship which we are supposed to do between 6th and 7th semester. Around 10-20 students out of 140 students get internships from the college. Students who perform well in the internships have the opportunity to get PPO that is pre placement offer from the company the intern in. Essentially from 6th semester we can recieve placements however official placement season begins from 7th semester to 8th semester. Around 65% of 140 students recieve placements from college. Typically for Mechanical engineering companies such as, Bajaj, TATA Steel, Boeing, Rolls Royce, Ford, Mercedes, Exxon Mobile come for placements with the highest package being 30 LPA. Apart from mechanical companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, City Corp and Oracle etc come for placements with the highest being 65 LPA. My plans after btech is both off and on campus placement and writing GATE or ICRB exam for ISRO and HAL or other PSUs or prepare for masters abroad.

Since I am part of the DASA category, I was asked to pay an admission fees of 4000(USD) of which 25,000(INR) got refunded back to my bank account since I am part of DASA CIWG. Yearly Course Fees is 1,25,000(INR) Apart from the Course Fees, an additional set of other service fees which includes computer fee, internet fee, examination fee, library fee, registration and allotment fee, culturals fee, festivals fee etc which must be paid every odd semester and it amounts to 20,750(INR) however this amount changes with every odd semester. Total ammount for one year comes to 1,45,750(INR) Apart from this an additional one time fees must be payed before admission which amounts to 29,200(INR) for admission fee, campus development fee, alumini and convocation fee, medical fee, institute deposit and library deposit. In total for the 4 year course the final fees figure amounts to 6,25,700(INR) There is no news of it increasing or not

The list of annual and technical festivals are given below: 1) Orientation Program (happens for all first year btech and mtech) - Happens right after admission 2) Festember (Cultural fest) - Happens in early October 3) Pragyan (Technical Fest) - Happens in March 4) NITTFest (Official fest of Nitt) - Happens in February 5) Synergy (Official Fest of mechanical engineering) - Happens in April Apart from these there are also other fests for other branches and cultural fests for Onam, Diwali, Pongal and other festivals. The central library is a 3 storey building which houses all the books and journals in the campus. They have their own website through which we can access books systematically. Unforunately the only issue with the library is the lack of wifi and cellular network access. There are two lecture buildings in the campus, LOGOS for first years and ORION for all other students. LOGOS have smaller classrooms with projector, projector screen, blackboard, tables and chairs, fans and speakers. Some classes also have Air conditioning. Orion classrooms are much bigger have tables, chairs, fans, speakers, projector and screen, and black board. There is a large sports center with badminton, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, carrom and chess facilities, apart from this there is a cricket ground with cricket pitch, newly inaugrated football pitch, outdoor basketball court, tennis court, hockey ground, koko ground, handball ground, swimming pool and fully equipped gym. There are multiple student groups such as RMI(robotics), 3D aero(aerodynamics and rocketry), DC (design club), Delta Force(development club manages nitt portals), Spider(robotics, AI and ML), Nakshatra(astronomy), Graphique(digital art), Dance Troupe, Music Troupe, Thespian society (acting), MUN club and literature club. Students can join these clubs to develop their knowledge and show their expertise with other students. In total there are 33 clubs registered by the college that are studentrun

There are different hostels for boys and girls. For first year boys Garnet A, B and Agate are provided. While for first year Girls Opal A is given. Garnet A and B are three people sharing and each person is given a steel table and chair to study/work, steel bed and a shelf to keep items and clothes. Agate is a four people sharing room but the rooms are bigger and the same ammenities are provided. Toilets are shared with four western cubicals in each floor in Garnet A and B while no western toilets in Agate. Drinking water is available in the common water coolers. Wifi is provided for all rooms however the availability is random and speeds can be low. Mess for first year is divided into two sub groups, the south indian mess is called Kailash while the north indian mess is called A-mess. Depending upon the caters the mess menu changes every year. Mess menu is divided into breakfast (7:30 to 10:30 AM), Lunch (12:30 to 2:30 PM), Snacks(5 to 6) and Dinner (7:30 to 9:30 PM).

Although I applied for other colleges including the following: IISERs NISER NIT Suruthkal NIT Warangal BITS Pilani MIT Manipal VIT Sathyabama SSN I decided to choose NIT Trichy because it is ranked one of the best colleges in the country (NIRF 9). Also the college is known for its excellence in the mechanical engineering branch. Apart from the following reasons I also chose NIT Trichy because I am residing in Chennai, therefore NITT gives me proximity to my home (7 hours by train). NIT Trichy also has a wonderful Alumini circle and an active Alumini cell located in the college itself. With an incredible campus and a 60+ year history, it became my immediate choice. I did not get admission in IISER, BITS Pilani and NISER because I did not get the required cut off rank in the admission test and I did get admission in MIT and VIT but rejected it because NIT Trichy is ranked better than both, is cheaper in terms of fees and has a higher average package for mechanical engineering branch.

The faculty to student ratio in NITT is 6:72 that is total number of teachers by total students. Most faculty members are not very approachable and the relationship ends with the classroom. Faculty members also do not take time to explain concepts and rush with the syllabus. However there are a couple of professors who are extremely approachable and are very professional. Most faculty members are also very old school and make sexiest jokes towards girls. Profesor Maheshwari have had multiple complaints. In a single semester, there are normally two tests called CTs which is tested on specific set of topics for 20 marks, or one Mid Sem test which is tested on a larger set of topics that are completed by Mid sem for 40 marks. Certain subjects even have all three. Apart from these there is a full syllabus test conducted at the end of every semester for 80 marks. Tests are not hard and can be passed by just reading professor notes and they ARE NOT MCQ. Depending on the professor, the number of students failing may differ however around 10 students fail every sem on average.