College Was Fun!

I had a mixed experience in School of Communications. There are things which I really enjoyed and there are some things which I wish had been different about campus life. College itself was mostly good. Most of the teachers too, I found to be really nice. But certain teachers account for the messier part of college experience. The crowd is good and diverse. There is a lot of inter-cultural interactions going on as a result.Overall, I would say the college experience was fun for me.

The Manipal University is not a central government university. It has its own entrance exam, which the students apply for. Entrance to different courses is based on the rankings in the entrance examination. There was no separate interview process afterward. We are simply called for the counselling sessions soon after the results. I had previously got into the NIT at Surathkal but I left Surathkal in 2 months to join the college in Manipal. I always wanted to pursue journalism as a career. Moreover I just wanted to quit science. I had heard that the college was good, so I took it up when I got the chance to switch.

The course design is one of the better ones I've come across and I really like it. Compared to the curriculum of similar courses in other Universities, this is a more updated one. We get both theoretical and practical knowledge. I would say the course is 50% theory and the other 50% practical learning. Yes, there are research initiatives and the institute is continuing to develop its facilities for research further. Open electives I had for my course were Online Journalism, Radio Journalism, Public Relations, Film Making, Magazine Journalism, Newspaper Journalism, Animation. And for language, German and French. There is a lot of options right here in the electives and students are able to choose their own interests to specialize in.

The college helped its students in finding internships. The benefit of having internship experiences for placements was a stress right from the start. A lot of students worked while at college that way. Average stipend given was around 10-15k. Mostly the experience was good. We learned more about our course and its scope and all from journalism internships. Such experiences were really helpful in getting placed

Placement scenario is stressed upon right from the time we join the college. There is a separate placement cell and all. All the students, who registered for placements got placed in one company or the other. We get a lot of help preparing for the placements during the college years. The average placement package is not declared so I don't know about it. Major companies who came recruiting were Reuters, Cognizant, Viacom18, Goldman Sachs, Adfactorts, and Edelman. Overall, you really won't be disappointed about the placements in Manipal!

Events were student-organised and college authorities did not involve themselves in them. There were plenty of events throughout the year. Being the School of Communications, there was always some program or other going on. There is an average footfall of 400-500 in every one of these events. Since only the students were involved in organizing, it could be rated as being at an average to above average level.

Fee was quite high in Manipal for the course. Still it is on the lower end when compared to other private colleges. For the whole first year, the structure was 1,02,000 in total. That is only for the first year and in the subsequent years it was 96,000 each. This is the details of fees of the year when I joined college. The fees keep changing, actually increasing, every year. But the fee is worth the course and the college because everything is of nice standards, both academics and the campus.

The college helped in getting loans but did not provide any scholarship. Since the fees were quite high, most students who hailed from middle-class families resorted to getting loans. There were branches of some banks working inside the campus during the admissions to help parents in arranging for loans.

College's push for extra-curricular activities was relatively less.Only those who had personal interest in activities participated. The facilities to pursue such interests are plenty inside the campus. There were many clubs that organised programs like competitions and workshops.

Hostels of Manipal are probably one of the best in the country. There were plenty of options to choose from. There are single, double sharing, triple Sharing, single Attached Bath, Double attached bath, Triple attached bath, and Deluxe Hostels. All Hostels had an option for AC so depending on need, people could choose. Food was hygienic and well maintained. But, menu was a little monotonous.

Alumni Network needs to be better developed. The current one is a disaster. We don't get to meet or talk to the alumni. Only personal acquaintances are the ones present now. I think if improved, these exchanges will help students more in getting a placement as well as in utilizing college life.

Exams were never the focus. They focused more on the learning aspects and constantly gave assignments to imbibe the same. Overall the pressure was less. Focus on individual learning also was given. So I think students improved a lot on an individual knowledge basis, no matter how they performed in the examinations. The teachers guided us to attain a better understanding of the subject we were learning. While a relaxed environment is nice, too much of it is not.

Faculty overall was quite good. I would give a ratio of 70:30 comparing heavily experienced to inexperienced professors. But that is the case in almost all colleges and not just Manipal. Faculty was open to talking most of the times outside lecture hours but the 30 in the ratio I provided often was a little hesitant. The other group was really happy to help and appreciated us for approaching them for doubts or anything.Also, the ones who really knew their matter well went the distance to improve the way they teach. For example, in classes for Public Relations and Film, they'd draw out examples from real life instances and formulate teaching.The overall teaching quality has to be pumped up a little. More experienced faculty should come in.