Living my Best Life at IIT Palakkad

My experience till now at IIT Palakkad has been full of adventures. The quality of the education I am receiving is remarkable. The faculty and staff are always there to make the journey smooth. The facilities and infrastructure of the college is satisfying.

The course structure is all-inclusive and obviously hard but is overall beneficial considering that its the best in the country. When you plan your schedule accordingly there's a lot of time sit back and relax. Time is a very important factor in Engineering. The practical education makes it further interesting and less immersed in the books. We visit industries and sites often to gain hands-on experience.

IIT Palakkad was established in 2015, therefore only in the last year did the placements begin. Yet, the campus placement has been a huge success. Many high-end companies like Mathworks, HSBC, Arista Networks, Fourkites visited the campus to recruit students. Highest salary offered was 16.75 Lakhs per annum. It is highly competitive. Almost all the students get internships from the college with a stipend between Rs.14,000- 20,000. The job as well as the internship placements are conducted through Career Development Centre (CDC) in the college. Since I am only approaching my third year, I haven't yet taken any internships.

The most awaited event of our college is the Techno-Cultural Fest called "Petrichor". The fest enables us to showcase our talents and students from different parts of the state as well as the country gets to participate. It an event we all look forward to.

Total fees for 4 years would amount to INR 8.34 Lakhs. The fee is paid on a per semester basis and it varies for students from different categories such as SC/ST/OBC. I find the fees to be overall feasible given the facilities and education provided.

There are a few scholarships available here. One is the Merit-cum-Means (MCM) Scholarship. Students with parents whose annual income is below 4.5L and ones who have a minimum GPA of 5 can avail this scholarship. It exempts students from paying fees and also includes an allowance of Rs. 1000 per month. There's also Free Studentship and other scholarships for SC/ST students. Students can also approach SBI or Canara bank for student loan. Besides that, IIT Palakkad has signed an MOU with SBI Kanjikode where students, whose parental income is less than 9L per annum, can apply for loans for tuition fees under Vidya Lakshmi educational loan scheme.

There are numerous active clubs in the college because just academics isn't enough. Drama Club, Design Club, Robotics Club, Aeronautics Club, Astronomy Club, Music Club, Gaming Club & Photography Club are some of them. There's also a well-established media body named "The Fleet Street" for the students to display their talents and voice their opinions. The Women's forum called "Kadambini" works in enhancing the role of the women community of the institution. There's no room for racism, sexism, or any kind of injustice towards any student in the college.

I have opted for the college hostel for accommodation. It is a comfy and clean place and comes with basic furniture such as bed, desk, chair etc. There are two hostels for boys and one for girl. The living arrangement is two in one room basis and all the rooms are bath attached. It is walking distance to the campus. There are many facilities in the hostel such as recreational area, gym, washing machine on each floor etc. The yearly hostel fee is Rs. 46,200 along with a refundable hostel deposit of Rs. 3,000. There's no scarcity for hostel seats and all the students are easily accommodated in the campus hostels.

Since the college is a recent establishment there isn't a strong alumni network as of now. The inauguration of the Alumni Association was in 2019 with the first batch of graduates from IIT Palakkad. It is only a matter of time for the network to expand and strengthen.

It has always been my dream to study at IIT and pursue a career in Electrical Engineering. The journey up till now has been riveting. After my 12th grade, I applied for the JEE Main exam. Clearing that, I appeared for JEE Advanced which is the gateway to any IIT. The merit list decides whether you've made it or not. The next step was to participate in the JoSAA Counseling which involves 7 rounds at the end of which, I had to report at the allotted college with my documents. The whole process was interesting and worthwhile.

Major part of the faculty of my course are IIT alumni. Therefore certainly, we are being taught by the best in the field. The classes are practical as well as . The faculty team is highly passionate about what they are teaching which is transparent in the way they teach and approach the subjects. They are the pillars of this fine institution and are always ready to help us. All of my professors are dynamic and knowledgeable that actually makes me want to attend their lectures.