Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi M.A Review By Akshay Kumar

Having completed my PG from DSE, I wish I could have prepared myself a bit better. Having done my graduation from St Stephen's College that is just in front of DSE, never though I will be North Campus for eternity. Before joining, I hardly had any idea about the kind of course DSE provides and that Department of Economics will be this hard. Any PG course for that matter would be hard, but DSE perhaps had the toughest going in education career. My review might help the students to prepare upfront as studying at DSE is not a cakewalk. A lot of the stuff was same as UG course. From the first day itself, you will realize that you will have to work hard or things will speed away from me. Do your research project that is based on government profile as they get more attention. At DSE, you will be tested daily so work as hard as you can because once you pass out from DSE, victory will be yours.

There are six compulsory subjects in the first year and one optional subject. The compulsory subjects are divided into two parts and two individual professors will teach each part. DSE was flexible with lectures as attending the lectures at DSE is not essential. I always thought that I can study from my room and library and ace the exams. After the mid-term itself, I realized I was wrong. Midterm exams are held in September and the term starts in June. Thus, you hardly have any time to prepare for the terms. 40% weightage is carried by mid-term exams so don’t you dare missing or skipping them. 40% external marking and that is evaluated by the professors so always maintain good relation with them. If a student carries more than one essential repeat means they are making their life tougher.

There are six compulsory subjects in the first year and one optional subject. The compulsory subjects are divided into two parts and two individual professors will teach each part. DSE was flexible with lectures as attending the lectures at DSE is not essential. I always thought that I can study from my room and library and ace the exams. After the mid-term itself, I realized I was wrong. Midterm exams are held in September and the term starts in June. Thus, you hardly have any time to prepare for the terms. 40% weightage is carried by mid-term exams so don’t you dare missing or skipping them. 40% external marking and that is evaluated by the professors so always maintain good relation with them. If a student carries more than one essential repeat means they are making their life tougher.

Placements were divided in two parts depending on our research projects. Many PSU companies have come to find economists who can solve their crisis and because the course taught us to be challenging, I chose the difficult path. PSU sector companies like ITI, HMT, Bhel, and NTPC were the best recruiters from PSU space. Since all my research projects were for some of these companies, I got the placement easily from the campus. The numbers may not be that attractive if you have done MBA but for M.Com students, the numbers would be way above their imagination.

Being a Delhiite, I never wished or thought of staying at the hostels. DSE also doesn’t have its own hostel but have reserved few seats at the university hostel. Most of the outsiders though used to stay at flats or PGs as that seemed more convenient. Hostels are cheaper but DU hostels have seen a lot of fights and that is why outsiders mostly stay away from staying at the hostels.

DSE campus is beautiful and one largest in North Campus. Second in terms of area after St Stephens. Some of the facilities were shared by North Campus colleges like the university ground, and TRENA auditorium. Some of the common workshops and seminars were held at the DSE facilities. DSE has its own lawn, air-conditioned library with a huge reading hall. The cafeteria would be the right word because canteens have limited menu but DSE cafeteria's menu was the widest. From North Indian dishes to South Indian dishes, the college’s cafeteria used to cater the students with a lot of variety. All in all, the campus of DSE had great facilities and one can thank Delhi government for funding the college as and when required.

Making friends with seniors and batch mates is the only good memory of my DSE’s campus life. DSE campus was always busy as students were seen rushing to the classrooms, the library and the canteens. The students will always be in hurry as they were being taught to pace up the life. It has helped me as catching a metro daily at 7 am and then changing it from Rajeev Chowk hasn’t been easy if I haven’t adapted myself to the fast life of DSE campus. DSE will make you tough for sure because there are no free lunches here.