ALL ABOUT IISERB

The best thing about this college is the interdisciplinary courses, once you reach 2nd year you can choose your subjects, maybe you like physics as well as computer science and economics as well, and guess what you can take all of that. Coming to admission procedure, there are 3 ways in which you can enter. 1. KVPY: Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana is a scholarship based test for 11th and 12th class, where one has to get under 250 rank for any iiser. The difficulty of the paper is quite hard . 2. JEE advanced: rank within 10000 is required. And you all know about the toughness of this exam. 3.SCB: IISER Aptitude test or IAT is to be given and approximately a rank about 6000 is required for any iiser, obviously higher ranked students will choose Pune or Kolkata first. I preferred this college because iiser bhopal is the only iiser which provides BS degrees in engineering degrees economic science, out of which I preferred engineering.

I chose this course because I liked computer science as well as maths and physics a bit. Talking about the faculties, they are top-notch, all of them are highly qualified and doctorates. The faculty-student ratio is also pretty good which is about 2:5. Nowadays as all of the teaching is in online mode, the professor are doing a great job making this online semester happen. Whereas offline a huge LHC or lecture hall complex is available for teaching with all the necessary technologies. Coming to exams, they were a bit tough but actually in the offline semester they are even tougher and passing exams is easy if you study well but if one does not study then he/she may get an F, but there’s always room for improvement in the makeup examination where one can give the exam again to improve grades (which I personally feel is great). Passing exams in the online semester is easier compared to offline since one always has the notes ready but still the proffesors are wise enough to not give extra time.

Most students got internships in top colleges around the world like UCLA, Cornell, Harvard, Hokkaido Columbia, Carnegie Mellon etc. Most of the students work under highly qualified teachers and knowledge with the benefit of getting paid to learn and work.

After the 4th year one can sit for placement i.e after achieving BS degree. Major recruiters are companies of Pharma, Chemical, and biotech in their R&D. Students who passed out in 2018 recorded 87% placement rate which I feel is pretty good and now with the introduction of new courses like Data structure, more companies will be willing to conduct placement. There is no exact record of the highest and lowest salary but the average package is 7-8 LPA. My plans after getting the BS degree is either to stay one more year and complete MS from IISER Bhopal itself or prepare for GATE and do MS from other top institute or abroad.

The fees structure is comparatively less than other colleges but still on the higher side. In the first semester we had to pay 51900, and rupees 37400 in the second semester. Plus there are hostel, mess and other miscellaneous charges. Getting a scholarship is tough, one will get the first chance by qualifying KVPY where one will get 5000 rupees every month. Another chance is through inspired scholarship where one has to score as per requirements set by them. For example, in cbse one has to get over 94.6 percent to be able to avail that scholarship and the amount is 80000 per year up to completion of graduation. Talking about jobs, the only jobs available here are of junior research fellowships or JRF, or of lab associates. For UG students there aren’t any jobs on campus.

The annual festival is obviously held every year and it’s called Enthuzia. Different iisers have different names of annual fest. Annual science fest goes by the name Singularity. Enthuzia is usually conducted in the month of late October to early November, whereas singularity is conducted in early October. Library is literally huge consisting of every book one requires for his 4/5 years of undergrad + books that phd scholars require. Moreover, there are multiple lounge-type chairs or sofas you can say to study. Coming to sports, except a swimming pool you literally have everything, starting from football and cricket grounds, indoor and outdoor badminton courts, kho kho ground, 3 volleyball courts, 2 lawn tennis courts, basketball courts, common rooms for indoor games like chess and table tennis. There are many groups run by students such as Uday magazine, fine arts and literary council, science and earth and environmental clubs, social groups like CS club, confessions page on Instagram.

Actually, I couldn’t visit the campus due to COVID 19 but as per our seniors, hostel rooms are quite comfortable and spacious, there are two sets of almirahs, table chairs for 2 students living in the room. 24/7 Internet connection is provided in the hostel as well as on campus. Mess meals are just like any other colleges, above average but once in a week one has the option of having either chicken or paneer which is really tasty. The menu of each mess differs but every 21 days meal is repeated so up to 21 days some varieties is there with every meal. IISERs are completely residential for Students where one has to compulsorily stay in hostel. They are quite affordable as well. There is no particular registration process for hostels or mess, they will be provided automatically. One can change hostel rooms once they reach 2nd year because 1st-year students are allotted rooms by the administration. One can have meals in any mess they feel like which is really nice.