Thapar University B.Tech Review By Gurcharan Singh

I studied at Thapar Institute and did B.Tech CSE in 2016. The placements were average but still the best in this region. Don't expect much from faculty as there are just decent. Fees is a little high, and thus the college is for those who can afford such high fees and, along with that, capable of doing self-study. There are some major pros about the university, such as infrastructure. It's top class, and students get Wi-Fi access on the entire campus. Hostels are pretty good and also the sporting facilities. My fellow students will like it the most because college runs only 5 days of the week, and we had the entire weekend for fun. The city Patiala is also good as it's not as fancy as metro cities but still has everything available in the city. Many societies can be a part of many events that happen during the academic year. All these should fancy you to Thapar University but let me tell you some cons as well. Just a week or so is given before the final exams because the syllabus is lengthy, and classes are on till the penultimate week of the semester. Punjab quota is 50% who will take up half the seats even after scoring half of what you have scored at JEE. I was from quota, but I am strictly against it.

The labs and the classes are too good. Attendance criteria is 75%, and it's not just for the sake of having. One has to have that much attendance or pay a fine and listen to management taunts. The syllabus is vast, and completing that was like climbing a hill. No help from teachers is provided, and one will have absolutely no idea what will come in exams. In practicals also you will have your task cut out because if not done properly, one may lose out on marks and practicals, which are considered as free-scoring opportunities in many universities, it is not the case here at Thapar.

Faculty were experienced but will do anything possible on the earth to finish the course. They will organize extra classes after the college hours will go at warp speed, but all they care about is finishing the syllabus on time. Some of them were fired when I was studying, as many students did mass bunk against them. Students hold rights, and that has what kept the teachers on their toes. Complaints against them were taken seriously, but they also got a fair chance for an explanation, and some of them took advantage of that by criticizing the students. The relation between faculty and student at Thapar is not what I would like to see at any other place on earth.

Patiala being the hometown of ex-Punjab's CM, they did all they could to bring the companies to Patiala universities. Many big IT companies attended the campus placements and were also happy with the progress made by the students. More than our academics, they saw what extra we could offer. The students who had that extraordinary talent were selected, while those with good academic numbers but had nothing to offer other than coding was left out. One has to be extraordinary to get placed at Thapar.

Thapar University has 7 boys and 5 girl’s hostels. Each wing was different as I stayed in Block B for 2 years, and there were all triple sharing rooms. For the final year, I shifted to A Block which had single sharing rooms. The hostel's dining hall was amazing, and the food was also brilliant. There was also a night canteen at the hostel, and if we didn't like the food at the mess, we could always approach that canteen as it remained open till 2 am and served everything from Maggie to sandwiches. Hostel A was the biggest of all as it was an 8-floor building and had a recreation room, reading room inside the building. The rooms had attached bathrooms with a geyser facility. The hostel of Thapar University is just too good.

The campus is humongous as it is spread over 250 acres of land. The classrooms and the equipped laboratories were great. The chemical lab, which in a way was no use to us, was one of the best you will see. The fountain besides the main building and gardens that were used for experiments were beautiful. The university library was one of the biggest that I have seen. The entire campus is security camera-enabled, and there were many people placed to monitor the campus. Since it was Punjab, the fights were considered casual but not inside the campus. Students faced axing from the colleges because of that, and hence if you are aggressive, don't you dare come to Thapar. The university has 3 canteens, including the night canteen. The university's sports ground was again a treat as it was well maintained, and experts were hired to keep the development of the grounds in check.

Thapar was good in some ways and bad in some. I didn't enjoy a great relationship with my teachers but made some really cool friends. The university is full of events, and one gets to see many different cultures at Thapar university as students come here from various states of India.