A mesmerizing ride!

I pursued my Bachelors as well as Masters in English Literature. This is the best place for studying this subject due to the colonial past and British influence that it still carries proudly. Apart from the great faculties, we have a good and standard syllabus for both Undergraduates as well as Post graduate courses. Our syllabus is regularly preferred while preparing for any competitive exams like SET, NET, and other exams for UG and PG entrances. The curriculum includes all the major authors and their works along with a research paper and a seminar presentation for the undergraduate course. For the Masters, the syllabus becomes wider and constructive as we choose betwe American and Indian literatures and study one of these widely. Apart from British literature, both the courses follow literatures of various countries or World Literature in detail. There are two dissertation papers and presentations in the Masters. Exams happen every 3-4 months, mid sem and Sem with ample study time.

The university provides various internship opportunities for the students. There are many charity organisations, social organisations and IT companies that provide internship options for the students. Many internships come without any stipend and a few come with good stipend. The placement cell and coordinators help out the students to apply and get enrolled into the programmes in order to improve their career experience as well as academic and personal outlook with such internship opportunities. Students are given all the support from the faculties as well. One has to keep an eye and look for the available options if one is serious about taking on internships. Almost every department has some general internships to follow. Once the internship is done, the organisations reward with stipend as well as certifications.

The placements as discussed are regular for the professional and self-financing courses. They promise some good and capable companies in the recruitment drives every year and session. The non-professional courses in Science, Commerce and Arts also get recruitment drives at the end of every session and the placement coordinators reach out to the students on time to provide them with the benefits. There are various internship programmes, paid and unpaid which are shared in the groups with proper information bulletins. Various subjects have diverse processes of recruitment starting from academic performance to sharing resumes and attending interviews and assessments as required by the companies and organisations. The employment opportunities however, can always be improved and increased keeping in mind the large number of students enrolled into the university every year. The students take in various internship opportunities remotely while studying in full time courses for good experience.

As a total government institution, the fee structure is much more affordable for the students. Upon that, there are certain deductions for female students as well as students who belong to the SC, ST and EWS categories. The fees I paid were around Rs. 700-800 per year. This includes all the tuition fees. During admission, a nominal amount was required to be paid by demand draft. For every semester exam form fill-up, the fee is around Rs 200-250, depending on the subject. The non-practical subjects cost less than the practical ones. The professional courses, on the other hand, are completely non-governmental and are self-financing courses like BBA, MBA, ITM etc. These courses cost some lakhs on average like any other private institution. However, there are plenty of placement opportunities for all the courses. Good companies arrive for the campus recruitment drives and sometimes, there is mass selection as well. Students find support from the placement cell for free whenever needed.

The campus life is amazing, there are various clubs that one can take part in and remain active through out the year like literature club, film society, musical clubs, dance clubs and other social and cultural clubs for artistic development of the students. Every hostel produces its magazines every year with contributions of artistic pieces by the hostelites. The cultural fests are regularly organised by various communities and the students are allowed to take in sponsorship by various organisations like dance academies, coaching academies and more. There are lit fests, food fests and always a gathering of people painting pictures and singing and open mics going on in the campus. The campus safe and eco-friendly, and there is a canteen for the students' benefit. The hostels provide guest meals and all of this improves the social aspects of the students. The infrastructure I s lovely and beautiful, gates guarded with security.

The admission process is time-taking as in any other government institution. However, the faculties try to make it as smooth as possible. You first go through the entrance exams which are quite tough in you want to get into this university and if you belong to the general category. For the undergraduate courses, there are no entrance exams, you need to score well in your 12th board exams to get here. There is a state entrance for the PG courses, CPET which was introduced 2-3 years ago and it is a standard exam that requires hard work and preparation. Only the students who are in the top 100 list in the state get a chance to join Ravenshaw University for Maters program. I had secured the state rank 2 and opted for the same university. There are 4-5 phases of admission generally so one has to be patient till the very end i.e. when all the seats are filled and the admission is closed by the government's higher education department. It is a lengthy process requiring patience but is worthy.

The faculties of all the departments are doing a great job by imparting the best to the students, which is why this university is the most preferred one in the entire state of Odisha. Talking of my department, the faculty members are hard-working and talented individuals who have published papers, books and articles nationally and internationally as well. The ratio in a class on average is 40 students per teacher and it goes quite smoothly for the general subjects. Apart from being good teachers, they are good mentors. The guest faculties of my department are just like our personal mentors and good friends to us. Every time there is a guest faculty appointment, we are never disappointed by the choice the department makes. Only the best people are here. However, very few of them are not so competitive in teaching. The rest of the teachers are good for taking guidance, even on a personal level. They're highly reachable all the time and give their best to help us to achieve great in life.