Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce B.Com Review By Gaurav Karnany

Symbiosis College of Arts & Commerce is the only Symbi institute that is affiliated with Pune University. They have a junior college of Arts & Commerce and also the senior college of both the streams in the same campus. The same campus once accommodated 9 institutes of Symbiosis. Today Symbiosis has 6 campuses in Pune and some in other cities as well. A 4-decade old institute and today becoming a heartthrob in colleges can’t be a joke and for people who have become daggers of the college must rethink. People calling it a paradise or safe haven of riches but the reality is something else. I have seen people in my batch coming from small towns I have never heard of. Out of the total strength of 600, 200 for sure are outsiders. Rankings can be manipulated but students' views can’t be. The college has made me confident enough and made me tough to rise above my skills. There are 2 points, the college doesn’t care if you don’t involve in college activities but if you do there’s so much to learn.

In B.Com there is hardly any special learning that you have to study for months and months before the exams. The attendance at the college is not at all strict and one can get away only if they are present during submissions and practicals. There were 5 sections of 120 students each. During the first month, everyone was regular but after 3 months out of 120 in each class only 20 remained and the remaining 100 would have been lying in a bed of roses at the home as Pune’s weather is so beautiful that it makes you lazy. Other than academic though there are so many things to learn at the Symbiosis that is if you get involved in those.

They didn’t care at all. For the 20 that were regular, they were looked upon so well by the faculty and the rest 100 didn’t bother them as the faculty even scolded a few who came for a day and then disappeared for months. They had all the knowledge of the world and they shared with us with a full heart. It was their advice that B. Com from any college in India won’t matter if you don’t pursue a PG degree. They were caring for the regular students and ignorant for the non-regulars.

As I said earlier that B. Com won’t take anyone down the lane, some odd jobs were offered by banks and other financial institutions. The companies visited in the final year and after spending 2 weeks at the college they took some 60-70 students out of 700. The placement cell department reached out to each student and literally begging them to at least appear for the placement interview. If there were 20 in classes, for interviews some 40 students from each section turned up. The placement for B. Com is not something that you can make a career out of it. Hence, if the placement is your criteria and you think Symbiosis will help you get that then please don’t join it.

There’s just 1 NRI hostel that has some floor of girls hostel and some floors dedicated for boys. Some Indian students also stayed there like Amol Palekar’s nephew was my classmate and he was given admission in the hostel. Hence, if you are influential you can get accommodation at the hostel otherwise the college is full of NRI’s and the hostel doesn’t have enough rooms for them also.

A pocket-sized dynamo if I may call it. The college campus finishes before it starts as there are 5 buildings in an area size of an acre. The main building was at the end which was ours had the reception hall and all the commerce classes both for junior and senior colleges took place there. The next building was for the arts section. There is a huge canteen inside the campus that served some of the best Pohe for breakfast. I am saying as there were hardly any options and out of them, Pohe was the best option. There is also a mess inside the campus which is for the hostellers and no one else was allowed in the mess. Just outside the college, there is yet another canteen called NCC Canteen. The NCC ground was just behind the college but only the Symbi students were found in the canteen as the NCC guys were seen running the whole day on the ground. The campus suddenly became lively during the events and the fests. Jam sessions were organized on Valentine's day and that was one day when you can witness 70-80% of the college strength at the college. The college as a whole is a beautiful package and as they say, all good things come in small packages, the Symbi campus may be small but was one of the best.

Studying with students of 40 odd countries and some of them who can’t even speak English was surprising. The college has some 18-20 clubs and no matter what interest you have, you can join that. If you some new ideas then you have a club for that as well and if your idea has power, you will be allowed to start your own club as well. The only ill point out of all was that only a handful of students actually used Symbi for all the good reasons that it has. I utilized it through thick and thin and can only then the college from the core of my heart.