Tsomo Wangchuk's Review On School Of Planning And Architecture - [SPA], New Delhi

Every college has some good things for which they are known. However, since nothing is perfect, there are some drawbacks of the college as well.SPA, Delhi is one of the best architecture colleges in India and therefore the knowledge you get from here is outstanding. The faculties are interactive but they make you work like crazy. But that's how we go about it. The fest and the other activities are very fun and there is no way any one misses it. However, the drawback would be how the administration works. SPA being a Government college, lacks behind how the office works and how the cleanliness isn't maintained. This issue is trying to be solved, but other than that evrything seems normal.

I had appeared for B. Arch, JEE Paper- 2 in which I got around 91 percentile. I had chosen for this course as I always had a keen interest in this field of subject. And moreover SPA, New Delhi was forever my dream college and getting selected here, I couldn't think of any other college.

The course is B, Planning is very interesting. It deals with the major concerns of today's world. The course not only deals with the physical activities of the region but it is more of a multied discipline nature covering all the economic and social aspects of the region.The faculties are wonderful. I love how they interpret things and how they makes us think and perceive things differently. The try to have more of an interaction rather than just speak by themselves which makes class even more interesting.

Last summer I did 6 weeks internship in Town and Country Planning Department in Pondicherry. There was no stipend for as this was a government office. It was a beautiful experience as we could see how things actually work on ground. The processes they had to undergo to make the various implementations they wanted was not as easy as we thought it would be. Planning is very much linked to Law and Politics and so to decide anything, one has to follow all the rules and acts and get it approved by various bodies. However, it was interesting and I am looking forward to many more internships to come.

There isn't any placements from our college and as far as jobs are concerned, there is competetion everywhere. So it would very much depend on individual's marks and performance along with their presentation skills. Planners are very much in need in today's world. And so the job opportunities are pretty good.

The biggest college fest in SPA, Delhi is Utopia. It is held around February or March every year and is continuous 3 day festival. The college has various societies and they participate showing the best they can bringing something new collaborating with the theme every year. Many artists and other performers are also called and invited from outside which thrills the audiences making Utopia even more happening.Majority of the students are busy during this time as they take part in various societies, whereas the rest of them enjoy themselves watching the performances as audiences. The night ends with a DJ night and that 's when everyone is on the dance floor until the sunrise. And that's when they have to say Good Bye to Utopia and eagerly wait for the next one to come as soon as possible.

Few Scholarships are provided by the Government. One of the scholarship is for the ones whose family income is less than 3 lakhs per year. They get their college fee paid and get a stipend of 1000 every month. The other scholarship is Apurva Rustagi Scholarship made after the alumni who passed away just after she graduated. For this scholarship, an essay is to be written, the marks is taken into consideration and lastly an individual interview is taken. Only two students is awarded this scholarship for which their entire tution fee is paid by the college.

Campus Life is fun as it ought to be. The only problem being that the planning block and architecture block are at a distance which makes the differences inspite of the college being small already. Gender Ratios depends from class to class. However overall, the no. of males are more than that of a female.There are wide varieties of co-curricular activities being conducted in hostel from time to time. The participation of the students is appreciable. And other activities like debate, etc. takes place only in classes or during Utopia.

The Hostels are fine looking into the account as how Government Hostels usually are. However the facilities are taken care of. The fees is very reasonable which is around 20, 000 per year. The Mess provides a wide range of food with different items being prepared everyday with the fee of around 27, 000 per year. The Hostel seats are limited and depends on the result of the marks you receive. Moreover there is no option of a single room and sharing is mandatory.

It is a wonderful experience to get to talk to the alumni and the seniors. They have so much knowledge about everything and the feedback one gets from them is magnificent. It makes everyone feel so happy to see them successful that nobody seems to regret the decision of coming into this college and choosing this field of study.