My college experience

We had an excellent learning experience during the three years spent there. It has made us what we are today. They imparted knowledge without any bais.

From my perspective, the course was something different from the regular engineering and medicine course which normally one pursues and gathers knowledge about beforehand. I had no one in the Hotels to guide and hence I was absolutely unaware of the curriculum. The three years spent there including internship really helped me to gain an insight into the workings of the Hotels, which has helped me all these years. To the extent that I have worked as a General Manger for a few hotels including 5 star properties.Industrial visit and internships are well planned and for sufficient duration for the Student to plan his / her future.The curriculum was so designed as to provide great knowledge of the various departments and to try and become Industry ready.

All major hotel chains of that time conducted campus interviews and the placements were almost 100%. There used to be a presentation and then written exams after which the shortlisted candidates had personal interviews.We used to have preparatory classes to crack these campus interviews depending on the department opted for.

We had a lot of events. All major festivals were celebrated. We had an annual Trade Fair where the students used to put up various stalls and sell different food items. This was open to the general public also. Most of the students used to form teams and participate in the 3 day fair

The fees during our time was close to ?8000/- per annum. The mode of payment was cash / cheque or demand draft. Since it was a Government run institute, there were no additional charges. There was complete transparency about the fees collected. We were provided lunch everyday and we had the option of choosing veg or non- veg

We did not have any scholarships offered by the Institute. As for education loans I had not opted for one

We had a congenial atmosphere in the campus. The gender ratio was around 60:40 and we had some international students also. The hospitality industry was a great leveler during our time. Everyone had to do everything that we were told to do. Right from cleaning toilets to washing dishes, we were trained to do so. This cleared all the fields and everyone got along great on the campus. We were fortunate that during our time we were not bothered or concerned about race / religion/ ethnicity/ etc.

I had not opted for hostel accommodation as I was staying with some relatives. There was a hostel facility from the second year onwards. The hostel rooms were on a sharing basis and had 3 inmates in each room. Apart from these there were a few PGs also available in the vicinity.

The network of alumni has always been helpful to set roots in the industry. Our seniors were our mentors in the industry who guided us when we joined the hotel

I had an interest in Cooking and wanted to pursue a career in the Hospitality Industry. During the 80s Dadar Catering College ( as IHMCTAN, Mumbai was popularly known as) was the premier Institute to pursue Hotel Management and to procure admission there was a dream.Every year the National Hotel Management and Catering Technology, under which the Mumbai Institute is managed, issues a Entrance exam notification. After filling the form, you are asked to appear for the entrance exam. After the results are declared, there is a panel interview and then the seat is allotted in the college. You are asked for your preference amongst the various Institutes all over the country and you are selected as per your performance in the entrance exam and personal interview and sent to the Institute as per your selection.

We had great Teachers who had immense knowledge of the Industry, having worked in the various departments of the hotels for a few years before turning to teaching and impart their knowledge to the students. We had probably around 8 subjects of were 4 were core. We had theory as well as hands on practicals which were continually evaluated with tests.