Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University B.Sc Review By Shrutkirti Sharma

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University is situated near Katra, Jammu and Kashmir. It is a well-established State University recognized by UGC. It has been ranked 80th globally and third within India in Times Higher Education Impact Ranking 2021. In 2020, the University was ranked between 100-150 by NIRF. SMVDU admission is done through registration on the website and selection is done through an entrance test conducted by the University itself or other National tests. The management is quite well, there are different departments for every activity be it administration, network, academics, and much more. There are many courses that the University offers are under the faculty of Engineering, Architecture, Art and Philosophy, Management, Science, and Maths.

I am currently pursuing M.Sc. Economics, which is an Integrated programme of five years. This includes both bachelor and Master Degree. In this degree, there are almost 10 semesters. There is also an option of B.Sc. Economics (3 years degree) and can choose to pursue it further for M.Sc if you want to. The eligibility criteria of this course are you must have passed your high 10+2 in Economics or Maths and must have scored at least 60% marks in class 12th examination. I joined this course because I was a student of economics in class 12th and also because of my interest in it. This course also includes math although I was not a big fan of mathematics, but in this course, the concepts are quite basic at the beginning and dealt with it with time. But I really do enjoy studying economics. From basic concepts of economics and its branches. And exploring more about the economy through different subjects of the course which include how the economy works in different sectors be it agriculture, financial, international, environmental and many more. With maths, economics and other fields of economics, this course also includes statistics and econometrics as main subjects. This course is very beneficial for the people who would love to work in RBI which is the Central Bank of India, or different Economic Sectors.

There are around 100-150 faculty members in our college. In this course, there are around 10-12 faculty members including the HOD (Head of the department). The majority of the staff is young. The very different and good thing about the faculty is not all of them are from the same region, they all belong to the different parts of the country carrying different teaching experiences. All the faculty members are Ph.D. degrees. All of them have expertise in their respective subject and teach them with the same interest and also helps with all the problems be it academic or non-academic. They all have an average teaching experience of about 4-15 years. All of them are very patient and helpful.

I personally do not have much experience with it but I have seen my seniors getting placed through campus. But not all of them have any good experience with it, especially in Economics. There are many placements that have done in all the departments of the University but it is going well with the passing year. I have heard that it is the number of recruiters growing every year as the Training and Placement cell is actually working on contacting companies for the placement. Till the time other batches will pass the number of campus placements will be more. I would not comment much on this yet but surely update with time.

As I mentioned previously, SMVD University is a fully residential-based University. Each student has to stay in the hostel only. The hostels give homely vibes with proper hygiene and cleanliness. There are different hostels for both boys and girls. The timing of closing of hostel gates for girls is 8 pm in the night and 8:30 pm for the boys. The charges of hostel per year are around 20000 INR. The mess is within the hostel itself. The food is of good quality and they serve different dishes on different days of the week, sweet dish is also served thrice a week, special breakfast on the weekends. Total four meals are served per day are firstly breakfast, second is lunch, next is evening tea with different snacks each day and the last meal is dinner. The charges of mess are around 24000 INR per year. Total charges of mess and hostel are 44000 INR per year. The security is well as I told you about the closing time of the hostels and there is a fixed time of attendance every day after the gate closes. In addition to this, there is also paid canteen inside the hostel only. The study room and gym are also provided within the hostel, open ground inside the hostel to play outdoor games like badminton, volleyball, basketball is also there.

SMVDU is covered with mountains all around with the perfect view of Trikuta hills, where the shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi is located. It covers around 470 acres of land. The campus and the residential area cover around 470 acres of land in total. There are different buildings for each department. There are four fully air-conditioned lecture halls. There is a fully air-conditioned library with all academic informative books for different subjects and departments, with a separate study room also. Different labs for all the departments for computers, engineering, science, and many others are also there. A playground is there for all the outdoor sports are there, a separate tennis court is there. There is a grocery area for all the necessary and food items. Nescafe is also there not just one central cafe on the campus and different cafeterias within all the hostels. Medical and Emergency support is also provided within the campus. Probably every food item is available inside the campus only. An auditorium with fully air-conditioned and comfortable space.

The campus of SMVDU is amazing and if you love to live close to nature then this a great place to be. The campus life is amazing, you get to stay and roam around the campus from 8 am in the morning to 8 pm in the evening. There are different clubs for different interests like music, dance, art, and many other activities. NSS activities are done which also includes plantation drive, donation drives, cleanliness drives in the surrounding areas, also a yearly trip to the holy shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi. There is VIKALP a kind and helpful activity to teach poor students living near the University is done in the University itself which is done by students and staff of SMVDU. Students of nearby villages come to the campus to study, they are taught social and academics values by students. Different kinds of fests are organized throughout the year by the different departments according to their subject and topic. During the fests, the campus is decorated and different famous artists are invited, different games and activities and dance performances and DJ nights, and much more fun. All festivals are celebrated in the University. Overall it is fun and engaging to the different types of things at the same place.