St. Xavier's College B.Com Review By Vaibhav Sharma

St. Xavier’s is a 150 years old institute and the heritage building is so appealing that I visited Mumbai after my 10th exams and decided that I will join this college. The campus of the college is one of the best in Mumbai and the crowd is also one of the best. The college doesn’t hog on academics alone as the number of events that happens in Xavier’s are higher than many colleges combined. The fests have given some of the finest talents to the country such as Mukesh Amabani, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sunil Gavaskar, Vidya Balan, Zeenat Aman, and Aditya Thackrey among others. St. Xavier’s have given this country the top politician’s, cricketer’s, and actors. This has made college give more steam towards fests. I can proudly say that I experienced a great college life at St. Xavier’s and the kind of faculty and people I saw there were perplexing. All the students who were in my batch all passed out from some of the top colleges of the country. Since I was a commerce student I found my life at the college easier as I lived my life to the fullest.

Unless you boast a talent that can convince the management that you can’t attend lectures due to other commitments, you will have to attend the lectures compulsorily. The lectures are always on time and attendance of 80% is compulsory. If it is between 50-80, you will be asked to call your parents. If it is below 50, I have seen students being thrown out of college. Hence, do anything in the college but don’t skip the classes no matter what. B. Com is affiliated to the University of Mumbai and syllabus at least for my liking was easy. The result of Xavier’s science is always on top but Commerce and Arts stream don’t produce the results as per the efforts that college puts in.

Strict or should I say too strict. Not just with attendance but if you score low marks in class consistently it is noted and you have to be available for the extra classes as well. One can’t get rid of them if they aren’t doing well in studies. Xavier’s is not that college where the faculty or the management will let go things. Faculty review can be person specific as I had a mild relation with the faculty members. There were 10 faculty members for the commerce stream and all of them were knowledgeable.

Slim or should I say very slim. Only if you have scored over 65% in graduation then only you stand a chance for placement. However, that is also not guaranteed. Placements are mostly for science stream the B.Com students were asked to do the formality of submitting the application to the placement cell but nothing changed as we knew from the start that we won’t have placement by the end of it.

The college doesn’t have a hostel facility but YMCA hostel has its branch near the college. Likewise for girl, YWCA Lady Willingdon hostel is located nearby college. Besides that fort is one of the top most areas of Mumbai and finding a flat or PG is not at all difficult. The PG will cost around 25k per month which as per Mumbai standard is not that high.

The college area wise is not that big but has enough classrooms to accommodate students of all three streams at the same time. The building is old but has all the facilities that are modern day requirements. The classrooms have turned digital and so is the college library. One stretched building is all that you will find at the campus. The college gives a whole lot of importance to sport and therefore have facilitated a world –class gym for the students. The college has a carom room, badminton court, full sized volleyball and basketball courts and 2 table tennis tables. Azad Maidan cricket pitch has been leased by the college and it’s the St. Xavier’s college that has given India one of the best openers of all time is Sunil Gavaskar. The auditorium is open for over 100 days in a year as guest lectures and seminars are conducted in the large auditorium. The infrastructure is appealing but has some ripe areas that need attention.

The college is great and the campus is bigger than many of the Mumbai colleges. The reputation of the college is great and the kind of students that it has produced over the years is a proof of that. Now coming to some of the grey areas. The Principal is too strict and will ask students to call the parents even for petty things. The fine at the campus is an everyday thing. If you forget to wear I-Card and the management sees you, they will immediately fine you. Also as it is Mumbai there are bars in the college vicinity and if anyone from the management see you in any of those bars, you will again be asked to call your parents. For every small thing you will be threatened to call your parents and since my parents didn’t stay in Mumbai I actually dared breaking the rules.