VIT Vellore: A Brief Review

I chose my course because I was always interested in pursuing fields related to sustainability, green hydrogen, renewability, fluid dynamics, fuel cells etc, and hence I felt Chemical Engineering would be the perfect course for me. The course curriculum is quite relevent in terms of real world applications. The first year subjects are common for all branches. Some of the courses in the subsequent years include heat tranfer, mass tranfer, momentum transfer, process simulation etc. The difficulty level of the exams are moderate. A student can score well if one understands the concepts, make appropriate notes and put in their hard work.

Since I am a fresher, I am not quite aware of the companies visiting VIT Vellore. But after doing some research by asking some seniors especially in Linkedin, I've learnt that internship opportunities are quite good if the student is hardworking enough. Top companies like Microsoft and Amazon provide internships to exceptional students.

As far my knowledge, students become eligible for campus placements after 6th semester. According to official page of VIT Vellore in Linkedin, as of 10th December 2024, 10458 offers are made from 409 companies. The highest package was somewhere around 1cr/annum bagged by 2 students from CSE. Average package would be somewhere around 9-10 LPA. My plans after getting the degree is to pursue higher education, especially from abroad.

I will be paying close to 4.2 Lakhs per annum(including tuition, hostel and other miscellaneous fees). There are various category fees depending upon the student's rank in its VIT's entrance exam called VITEEE. For tuition fees I will be paying 235000 per annum since I had to pay category 2 fees but some of my peers who are in category 1 pay somewhere around 173000 per annumm as tuition fees. Hostel fees depends upon the type of room that a student selects. There is no financial aid/scholarships that I am aware of.

The Technical fest of VIT Vellore is called Gravitas, held typically between the months of September and October. The cultural fest of VIT Vellore is called Riviera, help typically between the months of February and March. There are 100+ clubs and technical chapters in VIT. In my course there are 3 chapters called IIChe VIT (Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers), AICHe VIT (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) and SPE-VIT (Soceity of Petroleum Engineers). The classrooms are spacious but not air conditioned. The labs are air conditioned. Periyar Central Library is the name of the huge library of VIT Vellore. It has wide range of books ranging from technical, literature, fiction, non fiction etc. The library has a total of 2,48,591 books (according to VIT's official site)

Hostel room is a bit small. We are provided with a bed, cupboard and a table with a chair. Meal quality depends upon mess to mess. The mess quality at my mess is quite decent. Students can change their mess caterer every month online. All registration processes can be done in VTOP, a website where students can also make their payments.

I applied and got admitted to Manipal Institute of Technology but instead chose Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore because the fee structure for MIT Manipal was too high for my family, whereas the fees of VIT Vellore was quite reasonable and had more or less the same reputation as MIT Manipal. I also got admitted into Assam Engineering College and Jorhat Engineering College but instead I chose VIT Vellore because of the exposure I will be getting from VIT which will ultimately help shape my carrier.

Most of the faculties are pretty good, helpful, approachable and knowledgeable. They encourage students to make more contributions in the research field. There might be partiality by some faculties towards South Indian students but they are rare. There are 2 mid sems of 50 marks (converted to 15 marks), and 1 end sem of 100 marks (converted to 40 marks). Also we have 2 quizzes and 1 DA or 1 quiz and 2 DAs in a semester, and the difficulty depends upon faculty to faculty. Mid terms papers are made by respective class faculties while end sem for a subject is common for all students irrespective of their branch.

Some of the hangout spots in VIT are Foodys, KC Ground, SJT Ground etc. In boys hostel, there are 3 gyms, one free and two paid. There are a lot of cafeterias inside the campus, including DC canteen, AC canteen, Arasan and also a Dominos, KFC and an Amul outlet. Nightlife is pretty strict here as hostel intime is 9PM for boys and 8.30PM for girls. But during special events and fests, night intime can be extended by having night slips. Campus has lots of security guards so campus is pretty safe to roam around at night.