SSN College Review: A student's perspective on Academics, Opportunities and Life

My course in Information Technology specializes in the necessary basics of computer science like concepts like Data structures and Algorithms, Design patterns principles, Operating systems, Automata theory, Compiler Design, Digital Logic, Database systems, Computer networks and Principles of Software engineering. The course is designed to be more focused on Machine Learning too as the above courses are majorly covered in the first two years of college whereas courses like Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learing, Deep Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Image processing, Computer Vision, Augmented and Virtual Reality, and Text analysis are there in 3rd and 4th year.

In my college, it is compulsory to do an internship at the end of 3rd year. This can be done in a few ways: 1) A handful of companies come to college and recruit students for internships and based on their performance in their internships they may be provided with a pre-placement offer (PPO) to join the same company as a full-timer at the end of the final year. 2) There are companies that come and recruit students just as interns, these are generally lesser established companies but provide a good stipend for students. 3) Students who are interested are motivated to take up research internships in various universities. This year students pursued their research in prestigious universities like Carnegie Mellon University, Indian Institute of Technology, etc.

SSN has a very good placement cell compared to other major colleges in the city. Every year consistently more than 95% of students appearing for placements get placed. This year majority of the students are placed with offers more than ?10,00,000 per annum in CSE and IT departments. Famous recruiters like Citi, Barclays, Avalara, Fidelity Investments, Natwest, BNY Mellon, Amazon, L&T, Royal Enfield, GE, Mckinsey etc had come to my college as of now.

SSN provides admissions through two ways one is the Anna University counseling and the other is by writing the college's entrance exam. The fee structure varies for students based on the form of joining the college. I joined through the entrance exam of the college also called management seat. The split is 50% through Anna University counseling and 50% through the management entrance exam. The fee for students who join through the management exam is slightly higher and as follows. The fee structure is the same for all departments in the college. The fees paid is every year and therefore students must make 4 payments to pursue their undergraduate. The fees split up is as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | Tuition Fees | ? 2,12,750 | | Bus Fees | ? 72,000 | | Hostel Fees | ? 98,000 | | Exam Fee | ? 4,000 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Students must take either the hostel or the bus compulsorily. The exam fee must be paid once every semester and the tuition fees along with bus or hostel fees based on the student's accommodation preference are to be paid once every year. SSN also provides many need-based academic and sports scholarships. Sports persons who excel in their sports and represent the university are provided a scholarship of ?70000 per year. Similarly, SSN also has a 7.5% scholarship for students from rural and economically weaker sections of society. These students get from 30% up to even full-ride scholarships to rural students. SSN also has a separate scholarship plan for students from Jammu and Kashmir and they have a subsidize on the fee.

SSN has a lot of club activities for students to choose from. Some of the most active clubs are: SMC: Music Club N2k: Western Dance Arudhra: Classical dance Q!: Quiz Club SSN MUNSOC: Model United Nations club All these clubs and many more are present to cater the interests of various students. These clubs conduct regular events and competitions that students can take part in. Socially SSN is a great place where we get to meet lot of ppl from different places and backgrounds. This makes SSN a highly recommendable place for students who want to pursue engineering as an option. Every year the magnus opus even INSTINCTS is conducted where the college becomes a festival place for 3 days with DJ night and performances from famous singers and bands.Promotions of big movies and stand up shows by top stand up comics also take place along with the inter college cultural fest.

My college was a more attractive option as it had a good scope for different activities. I had gotten admissions in colleges like VIT, SNU, Amrita, Shastra, etc. These are the major colleges for engineering in south India. But I chose SSN as they had good placements and also promoted extracurricular activities like sports and other cultural activities. In fact, SSN has famous alumni in other fields like Ravichandran Ashwin who is an Indian cricketer, and Ashwin Marimuthu who is a south Indian film director. SSN had a great track record for placements too.

There are many well-read faculties in SSN. All faculties have doctorates and specializations in various fields across each department. The faculty members are very approachable and generally work closely with students on projects and research papers. In IT department, the faculty members all specialize in various fields like machine learning, Deep learning, Software development, Data science, and Natural Language processing. Faculties don't follow students much on class activities and generally are liberal. The level of interaction is to be maintained by students and should be approached if any help or guidance is required.