IISc at a glance: An Institute with a Legacy of Excellence

There wasn't really any. It was mostly the friendliness of the profs that pulled me into maths. Do note that in IISc, the first three semesters are common and you pick majors after that. The maths curriculum prepares you for a future in either industry or academia. Moreover, one can take courses in other departments to help their industry pursuits. Only way would be to make some courses more interactive, but this hasn't been a problem for me personally. Most high level courses have two exams. Sometimes not even that. And exams generally aren't difficult for someone who has kept up with the course.

There is a placement cell but I personally do not have experience with it. But there are a lot of companies that come in. Notable examples include Airbus. Students are allowed to take three months internships with no question and longer ones with permission. Not sure what the stipend is since most maths people don't opt for this. Sadly I haven't taken any internships so I cannot comment on it.

15,200 per year for academic stuff. 1k per month for hostel Varying fees for mess, but usually around 6k for non veg food. Good food for the cost. Separate fees for swimming pool. ug students get 5k scholarship per month in BS.

There's Pravega, the UG fest and Rhapsody, the pan-IISc fest. Months are not very strict but this year they are in Early Feb and March respectively. The library is one of the most extensive in the country. Classes depend on the major you choose. Maths department doesn't have a lot of tech, but it doesn't need much for example. There's active sports groups playing most sports you can think of. Cricket, football, hockey, badminton, tennis, table tennis, carrom, swimming, etc. Most hostels have a TT table and a foosball table. There's also a music and a drama club which have yearly showcases. There's a lot of student run activist groups whose impact isn't very relevant on the average student.

Rooms are quite basic, with shelves, cupboards and a study table. Some hostels have attached kitchens/bathrooms and newer hostels have common cooking areas. Overall the rooms are quite good given the price. IISc has the best messes of any institute in the country. There are five messes with at least two more planned. They offer a variety of cuisines. Students are assigned one mess and can change every three months or so. But they can be guested in to other messes by paying. The menu is very varied and most food items are amazing. NA.

I applied to IISER Kolkata and got accepted. The choice was governed by IISc having a better ranking and being further away from home. No. I did not apply to any other colleges. Right now, officially, the two entry exams are JEE-Adv and IAT. In the past, KVPY, JEE-M and NEET were also options. Cutoffs vary every year and since this is the first year with only JEE-Adv as the exam, it is difficult to guess where the cutoff would be. The admission process is quite smooth. Or at least it was when I joined.

In maths UG, there's usually at most 20 students and a similar number of faculties. Most of them are friendly and very approachable. Some of my favourite faculties are Dr. Khare, Dr. Banerjee and Dr. Gupta. This is due to me having more interactions with them due to them being my advisors over time. There are no faculties I didn't like other than occasional disagreements. Exams depend on what course you take. Most courses have an endterm, a midterm and possibly a few quizzes or assignments. Have never heard of anyone failing an exam. As for course relevance, that depends on the specific course but most are relevant to whatever they're trying to teach.

There's a night canteen which is open till 4 am. Library is open all night except Sunday. Public areas are never closed off. There isn't any sort of curfew for hostels or for campus in general. Department terraces are fun to hang out on. There's also sarvam complex. Not sure how safe the locality is around night but haven't heard of any incidents.