Indian Institute of Technology Madras B.Tech Review By Chirag Somani

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has been NIRF 1 for many years. It offers variety of degree courses like B.Tech, M.Tech, MBA, Ph.D, MS, MA, HS and specialization courses. It has one of the best research facilities among all the colleges across India. It has a large campus with total area of over 600 acres and around half of it is covered with forest because of which we have very rich wildlife inside the campus itself such as monkeys, dears, endangered black bucks, fox, cats, snakes, etc. Whole area of the institute is divided mainly among 3 parts: residential, academic and hostel zones. We have in total 21 hostels and 4 mess buildings which offer variety of north and south menu along with option of Jain food also. The campus also has some eateries such as Himalaya food court, CCD, Campus cafe, Creamstone ice cream parlors, food trucks, coconut shops, etc. One of the best things about IIT Madras is that it is one of the few IITs that are located inside the city, which makes the connectivity really good. I chose this branch because of the fact that it is the only branch that offers the course of Engineering Design according to my ranking. My overall experience has been great till now, I got to meet people from various parts of India and got to know about different cultures also. We have variety of clubs and teams here, in which you can apply for according to your interests and preference.

I am pursuing my dual degree course in department of Engineering Design which is a comparatively new branch as it started in 2007, but it is a great branch and covers designing aspects of engineering. To tell about courses I will say it’s somewhat mixture and combination of Mechanical, Electrical and Computer Science. It is a compulsory 5 year course and entry is based on JoSAA counseling cutoffs. It is a hectic branch as compared to other branches of IIT Madras, because it has too many lab courses each semester till 3rd year, so your week will pack during the semesters. One of the best things about this branch is that we get an opportunity for compulsory 6 month internship in the 8th semester apart from regular summer internships like all branches. After 2nd year you will have to choose between Biomedical and Automotive, hence batch will be divided into two parts equally. One of the best thing institute does is bringing Inter Disciplinary Dual degree program which is you can extent you Bachelors to Master and get a specialization in around 14 courses such as Data Science, Quantitative Finance, Robotics, Electric Vehicles, Computational Engineering, Public Policy, Tech MBA, etc. In terms of grading system and exams, I will say it is moderate level. We have 75% attendance policy.

The institute has some of the best professors who have done their Ph.D from renowned institutes. They are experts in their fields and have great knowledge. Generally professors are very helpful and supportive to the students. English is the mode of teaching. Because IIT Madras provides variety of degrees, we have departments for all the fields because of which students get huge number of options when they have to choose electives. IIT Madras is best known for its research culture and research facilities.

We have a completely student run placement cell which is responsible for both placements and internships. Many companies from non-core and core sectors come to recruit from IIT Madras. Placement statistics are good at IIT Madras, though there was a drop in 2023 due to recession as well as flood situation in Chennai during placement season. Companies come with varieties of profiles to recruit students. But we have one student one offer policy to increase the number of unique offers. Average and median packages are decent here, to check exact data you can visit placement cell IITM website. We have startups working in IITM research parks. Nirmaan and other incubation cells of IITM which keep bringing internship opportunities for students to give them industry experience. We also have career development cell which helps students by providing them guidance about placements, make resume, and get details from placed seniors.

I will say Hostel facilities are average at IIT Madras, same like any other government college. In first year you get triple sharing rooms, then in 2nd year you get double sharing rooms and third year onwards you get single sharing rooms but washrooms are shared throughout 4 or 5 years. Hostels do have common rooms and play rooms. Some of the hostels have gym also. Mess facilities are not in the hostel but in the separate common buildings, you fill your preference each month. Food is average only, but it's okay once you get acquainted to it.

IIT Madras campus has good infrastructure, almost every department has their department buildings, some common classroom complexes, library, 24*7 reading hall, lab facilities, sports complex, gym, grounds and courts for all the sports. We have good number of amenities in the campus such as CCD, food court, campus cafe, eateries shop, general stores, utility shops, shopping complex, etc. There are buses running through the campus from hostel zones to different gates of IIT for helping students to travel. Every Saturday we have movie screening in open air theatre and the vibe is best.

Overall my campus life has been great till now, apart from a really hot humid weather here in Chennai (summers are almost inhabitable). We make new friends and get to know different cultures because there are people from every part of India. Senior-junior interactions are also good here. We do not have big ragging culture. We have variety of clubs and teams here, be it cultural (like Drama, Choreography, Music, etc.), competitive teams (Raftaar, Avishkar Hyperloop, Agnirath, etc.), entrepreneurship (e-cell, Nirmaan, etc.) and other teams that you get to know once you come here. One of the best things about IIT Madras is that all the things are run by students unlike other IITs, so you get to learn about student politics also. We have 2 annual fest Shaastra (tech fest) and Saarang (cultural fest) apart from E-summit, sports fest, etc. Every weekend there will be some event going on in the campus maybe a lecture, fun event, or some celebrity or guest speaker session.