Pune Institute of Computer Technology B.Tech Review By Swayam Narendra

So basically, I chose PICT just like others because of it being a reputed institute. And, to be very honest, the institute seems to be living up to its expectations as of now. I have been in this institute for more than a year now, and have seen 2 full blown placement seasons here. You get shocked seeing the pay packages which the visiting companies offer. But the real deal here is the crowd which comes here to study. Before coming to the institute, I heard that majority of the crowd here are into coding and as the internship season is approaching, I have found myself doing the same thing. Every student here has built such profiles; it can easily compete with a senior developer. Apart from this major stuff, there are things like excellent Alumni-network, PICT being nationally and internationally recognized institute, etc. Institute is quite strict with its assignments. They value discipline over anything else. Sometimes, you'll feel like you have taken admission in an Army school. Due to its limited campus, you miss out on many opportunities of enjoying the so-called "institute life". You'll find yourself engrossed in coding 24*7, with very few respites. Faculties are not very good. Majority of the faculties, though are very knowledgeable with Masters / Ph.D from IITs, they don't know how to teach well. That's a negative point as you'll have to be studying by yourself. But on the brighter side, the exam papers are not very tough.

I am enrolled into the Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering program. The cut-offs of this institute have always been quite high. The minimum cut-off that can go, in the spot rounds for ENTC engineering is 7000 CET rank. For other branches, it’s higher than ENTC. So all in all, you have to have a minimum rank of 7000 in CET or 97-98%ile in JEE Mains to actually stand a chance to be in PICT. You have to give CET / JEE Mains to get admission here. The initial rounds are CAP rounds conducted by the CET cell of the Maharashtra government. If you really are interested in only studying in your institute life to secure a high paying package, then your motives align with the motives required to be in PICT.

Well, all the placements and other good things come at a cost. The faculties here are knowledgeable, but they don't know how to teach. Honestly, even the professors having Ph.D can't deliver proper lectures (except a few). And still, they expect every single detail from students. The overall academics are quite strict. The assignments are expected to be completed before the deadline or else marks are cut. You are reprimanded for being late to lectures. Also the attendance criteria are very strict over here. Student gets detained if they don't maintain attendance over a particular threshold. You don't get any marks if your attendance is below 75% which affects your CGPA.

Yes. Our institute does have a placement cell. Majority of the crowd who comes to PICT is eyeing for high pay packages in the tech domain, or Software industry to be specific. The average on-campus placement is 13LPA and the median package is around 12LPA. This number usually goes higher off-campus placements. But, strictly speaking about on-campus placements, majority of the companies that visit are of Software Engineer roles, few QA tester, and very few of core Electronics domain and business analyst. The placement cell of our institute is one of the most reputed cells of, if not Maharashtra, Pune. Majority of companies offer packages above 10LPA, and are product based. Mass recruiters also visit the campus, but the students here aren't interested in low pay packages offered by them.

Our institute has a dedicated Girls' and Boys' hostel buildings. The girl’s hostel is actually very nice. But the boys' hostel is not up-to the mark. There is no waterproofing anywhere, so leakage is a common site. Boys prefer to stay outside the campus renting a flat or as a paying guest. There are many hostels around the area too. The canteen food is very, very mediocre to say the least. People usually eat at messes around the area than the hostel. I'm not saying that the food is very bad, but not very good. There are not much recreational facilities available for hostellers apart from a Carrom and a chess board. There are very strict in-times and out-times followed.

There are 6 buildings inside the campus. The main building or the "A" building is divided into 3 parts A1, A2, and A3. All the five departments have their main base over there. There are many labs, lecture rooms, seminar halls, research labs, dedicated spaces for PG students. Then there is the "F" building, which is specifically for the First-Year engineering students (FEs). So you'll find the engineering labs of other non-tech disciplines and lecture rooms too. Then we have the canteen and sports building, where there is a big canteen, which can supposedly host 200-250 people. Also, there is a sports department with many sports equipment kept. We have an EDC (Entrepreneurship Development Club) building. It’s the only club in PICT to have its own building. Then the other 2 buildings are the Girls' hostel and the Boys' hostel. The institute has a very moderately-sized, but though well kept ground. It has a volleyball court, basketball court and a cricket net setup. Also there is a Table-Tennis hall where we have international grade tables for playing TT. Then last, but not the least, we have a full-blown gymnasium with a trainer, with no membership fees.

Speaking about campus life, though not much as compared to big Tier I and II colleges, it is still above average I would say. We have a Technical fest known as INC (Impetus and Concepts), where there are multiple events along with expert sessions and hot topics in the tech industry. There is also an international level hackathon, Techfiesta, which is a big event overall. The non tech fest of institute is Addiction, where students usually perform. There are many Tech and Non tech clubs, which have their own fests. The clubs are one true heart of the institute. The juniors learn from the seniors, while the seniors put their past experiences to use. Overall its fun.