Good education overall

College management was little old fashioned then, interactions with lady students were not encouraged, hostels were separate, we were all made to concentrate more on studies and less on extra curricular activities life NSS, NCC, etc. Even preparing for IAS was not encouraged. Now, students are given coaching from fifth semester onwards which is good.Plus many new courses like MBA has started opening doors for students to new avenues.

There was no entrance exam in Gujarat in 1993, for admission based on merit, also got scholarship.Among Bachelor's in Veterinary medicine, B. Sc. Agriculture and B. Sc. Geology, I chose agriculture. This was because agriculture is the best field among all

It spanned over 4 years with subjects in soil chemistry, meteorology, applied mathematics & statistics, entomology, plant pathology, agronomy, agricultural engineering, field studies & visits, horticulture, etc. It was divided into eight semesters of six months each with eighth one for visit to agriculture colleges and living among farmers to get first hand experience. The best one was practical crop production where we had to raise a crop on an allotted plot, it was great fun !

Our college did not have any internship program, it's not even today. We got hands on field training from first semester onwards and practical crop production in fifth semester. Plus, there were field trips to farmers villages in seventh semester and visit to other Agriculture colleges in other states. The only time we got paid was in practical crop production where we got to keep what we earned by selling our produce. Anyways, the fee was very less and we never had any issues managing ourselves.

There was no placement cell when we passed out in 1997, we had to ourselves look for jobs which were hard to come by. The best opportunities were available only in agriculture inputs marketing like pesticides, seeds, etc. The packages offered then were around 50k per annum. Now, there is a placement cell and a coordinator who keeps in touch with prospective companies, the packages offered are around 250k now and many agriculture input marketing companies, banks, research institutions hire students and there are only a handful who do not get good placement.

There used to be annual function celebrations, debate competitions, cultural events, sports events, musical festivals, drama, paper presentations, research meets, agriculture gays on state level, national level seminars, etc.

Fee structure was very good for us students. We paid 2000 rupees per semester and hostel fees were 3000 rupees per semester. Rest was covered by government grants, we also got scholarship of 2500 per semester. That was not at all expensive.

I availed of scholarship from central government which was given to meritorious students, it was rupees 2500 per semester which used to be substantial during the 1990s and covered all expenses on books and stationery.

Campus life was very good. Our college was situated away from busy city, had a lot of greenery, there was real piece of mind to study, we got to interact with our seniors from masters and those doing their Ph.D and learnt a lot from them.There were also students from dairy science which was the only college in India. We did participated in inter college culture fest called volcano where we competed against students from arts, sciences, engineering, HR, social science, commerce, etc. All these colleges including ours had co education system.

Hostel facilities were very good, the rooms were spacious, wash rooms were maintained clean, tv room and space for indoor and outdoor activities were provided. There was also a college gymnasium and huge ground for playing football, cricket, volleyball, etc. The mess facility was also very good, food provided was of excellent quality and charges were only 1000 bucks a month which was very cost effective.

The official alumni association was started in 2010 only and we are now connected with our juniors and senior college mates who are note positioned differently in all walks of life.

Exams used to consist of 03 short & un announced quizzes, two hourly examinations, one practical exam plus assignments , semester ending external examinations. In all, we only had a month free of exams during start of the semesters which was good keeping in mind the vast scope of the subjects

The faculties were good, experienced, qualified & more than willing to share knowledge. They took much pains in imparting knowledge by way of lectures, discussions, practicals, field visits, etc. We studied in a time when digital technology and audio visual aids were not available. The lecturers took great pains in writing the slides for presentations, handing over printed bullet points, at times we took notes in lectures, etc. But we enjoyed to the fullest the personal touch and attention we got. It's not like now a days where there's no personal touch.