Meenakshi College for Women MCA Review By Kavya Venkatesh

MCA is not a distinguished course and therefore very few colleges offer that. Meenakshi College for Women was one of those and that was one of the prime reasons for me joining this college. The college campus is relatively small. It wasn’t that small but if I see it against Madras Christian College it was. Also, the campus was a little dirty but I always believed in never judging a book by its cover. Facilities or campus may not be that good but education wise MCU was good. The Dean and all were strict as even though it’s an all-girls college, there were many restrictions on what students can wear. So, in a way it was like a dress code of civil dress. Chudidar and leggings were all that girls mostly wore. On occasions the girls had to wear a saree as it is considered auspicious in Tamil Nadu. Since I was rooted to the state, the treatment that I received was different to what students of other states received. I condemn that totally and something that I will never endorse.

MCA is a very rigorous course and therefore 6-7 hours of college was mandatory. Our classes were on the left side of the wing for the first year and during the second year, classes shifted to the centre as the computer lab was next to our classes. The first year was mostly theory but second year was maximum practical. Whatever we studied during the first year, we had to apply it all in labs during the final year. It was a good mix as both years or shall I say all four semesters were correlated to each other.

Boring because the theory classes of programming take a lot of courage to attend. There’s no way in this world that any student can understand those but we still had to be at the classes. The faculty's stature was high in terms of knowledge and experience but their teaching methods were poor. The best player is not necessarily can be a best coach. Late Diego Maradona is one such example. Choice was not in our hands though as their degrees, and experience justified their jobs and students' feedback didn’t hold any value.

MCA students are considered above B.Tech students but below M.Tech and therefore the placements were also in-between. MCW placements were average as only half of our batch got placed through campus. All the top tech giants like Infosys, TCS, L&T Infotech, and Capegemini have visited the campus. However, they cut down their list of requirements and that is why only half of the students could get the placements. The placements were finalized before the final semester because had Covid come early, I don’t think even half the students would have had the placements. The college seriously needs to raise its bar because placements on the whole can be termed poor.

MCW doesn’t have any hostel at the campus. Outsiders were very few so the need was also not there. The college is in one of the prime locations of the city and therefore finding a rented house or PG is not as difficult. One of my friends stayed at a PG which was around 3 kilometers from the college. One doesn’t have to have deep pockets in finding accommodation as Chennai is reasonable in this regard. I have seen cities like Bangalore and Pune where it is very expensive.

From the look of it, the college looks worse than ever. The interior though is exactly the opposite. Digital is the way of moving forward and therefore all the classrooms of MCW have become smart classes. The college building is towering and imposing as it has eaten up the maximum space. Everything though is inside the buildings right from the auditorium to library, you will find them inside the building. The auditorium was huge and was fully air-conditioned. A small canteen majorly provided beverages and snacks. The computer lab was the biggest of them all with over 100 pcs in it. Just outside the building there was an amphitheater. One distinguished part of the infrastructure was the Temple of Ma Sharadamba and opposite to it is the statue of our college founder.

Life at MCW was anything but happening. The strict rules and fine imposed if the rules aren’t followed made life hell at the campus. So, for me it was all about going to college, and coming back as soon as the lectures were over. I have hardly stayed at the college beyond the college hours. The open amphitheater was my area as I have delivered many speeches there and I was also the host of the annual event in February 2020. So, I don’t have many good memories at MCW which I think I can share. The college is good for studies but placements are poor.