Life @ IIT Indore

IIT Indore's course curriculum for its B.Tech. program is heavily influenced from that of IIT Bombay's, making the curriculum and course structure one of the best in the country. The course covers all the basic as well as advancec concepts of mechanical engineering required for a successful engineer in the professional world out there. Several courses such as applied thermodynamics, machine design, etc. are actually used by students once they pursue their professional careers. The teaching methods however could include a bit more of practicals especially in courses such as machine design. Having said that, majority of the technical courses do include laboratory experimentation. The examinations are held twice in a semester which means four times throughout the year. While some of these were difficult to crack, with good preparation, one can stand out.

Internship was not offered at the campus. This was only selectively available to students of CSE (Computer Science Engineering) while others had to look out for themselves, in case they wanted it. Internship was not a mandate and majority students preferred to take up B.Tech. projects.

The placement season at IIT Indore for my batch was quite spectacular with over 90% placement achieved across all three branches. The placement season that begins in November pans out till March depending on the company schedule. Some of the companies that visited the campus include DE Shaw, Amazon, John Deere, ISRO, BPCL, Texas Instruments, Flipkart, etc. While the average package was around INR 8 lacs per annum, the highest went up till INR 45 lacs per annum. While I had secured a placement with one of the leading companies in the industry, I chose to pursue MBA as I had an admit from IIMA.

The year wise fees at IIT Indore for all branches under the B.Tech. umbrella stood at INR 4.5 lacs. It has gradually increased over the years and currently stands at INR 6 lacs per annum. This is the increment in the tuition fee over the years. There were several other fee components such as hostel fee (if opted for) that stood at INR 22,000 per annum. Apart from this, a yearly fee of INR 10,000 and one-time registration fee of INR 5,000. There was a security deposit of INR 1,000 that was refundable upon successful completion of the course. The fees structure, except the tuition fee, was same for all students. The tuition fee was completely waived off for SC & ST category students and 50% waiver for OBC students. Additionally, there was an MCM (merit-cum-means) scholarship funded by the government wherein a combination of the student's family's annual income and the semester grades were combined to offer waiver on the tuition fee. The JEE Advanced rank was used in place of semester grades to calculate the MCM scholarhsip for the first semester. This scholarship offered a waiver on tuition fee starting from 25% to 75% depending on both the factors, i.e. grades and famiily income.

IIT Indore organized the annual techno-cultural fest named Fluxus, the biggest fest in central India attracting crowds from all over the city and the state as well. This is generally held around January or February. It is quite a fun filled event. The college provides for extensive learning opportunities both in curricular and extra curricular boasting a central library with over 50,000 books and periodicals across various categories. The classrooms too are tech. enabled enabling smarter learning opportunities. The campus also offers access to various sports such as football, basketball, swimming, cricket, etc. with IIT Indore being a leader in almost all inter-IITs those have been held over the last few years. IIT indore also has quite a few student run clubs such as Literary Club, Cultural Club, Techno Club, Robotics Club, etc. that engage students beyond the classroom life.

Students are provided shared accommodation at IIT Indore with two students sharing a relatively large room. The amenities include a bed, chair, table, almirah, and access to shared washrooms with geyser facility. The mess food varies in cuisine and taste depender on the contractor. The meal food is average although weekends could be a treat. Resgistration for hostel and mess is done at the start of every semester via an online form. These are quite affordable with yearly expense less than INR 25,000. I took up the accommodation within the campus itself.

I had applied to various colleges under the JEE umbrella including IITs and NITs. I got admission from various colleges via my JEE Mains and JEE Advanced ranks. Some of these include IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Guwahati, IIT Roorkee, NIT Allahabad, NIT Warangal, DTU, NSUT, IIIT Delhi, etc. I chose IIT Indore majorly due to the choice of my branch that was being offered, the city of Indore which is well connected with airport and railway station, and the modernity of the city. I did not get a rejection per se from the choice of my college as the selection criterion is purely basis the JEE rank. The admission process to IIT Indore (like any other IIT) depends on the JEE rank and the seat is finalised during the online counseling process.

The institute boasts of a very healthy faculty to student ratio. Even though the student strength was smaller in our batch, this ratio is quite better even today (with a higher student population) than other similar colleges. This ratio stood at 1:30 i.e. one teacher for every 30 students (on an average). The faculty members are also quite approachable and helpful if the students wish to take their advice on any aspect. I have vivid memories with Prof. I.A. Palani with whom I completed my year-end B.Tech. project for which I had earned accolades. Another professor with whom I worked on several co-curricular initiatives was Prof. Santosh Kumar Vishvakarma, and I learnt a lot from him during my formative years. Every subject or course in a single semester has two sets of exams i.e. mid-semester and end-semester. These hold high weightage and students are graded on their performance across these exams. Lab examinations are also held for specific courses with practical sessions held beforehand. These exams require proper preparation and students work hard to make sure they score well in these exams. While majority students pass the exams, and many so with flying colors, there are a very few number of students who end up failing in the exam (1 or 2) from the entire batch.

Indore is quite a fun city as it is filled with educational institutes thereby having a great student population. The 56 shop lane at Palasia and Sarafa Bazaar are a food lover's paradise. The city has quite a good number of cafe options too where students can go and chill around. The breakfast scene is good as well. The hostel mandates return to rooms by 11 PM for both male and female students thereby making sure students are safe.