Panimalar Engineering College B.Tech Review By Ayush Aggarwal

I graduated from this college in 2013, and we followed some of the strictest rules one can follow. We had to avail college's bus facility as no one is allowed to come on their own to the college. We were not allowed to bring our mobiles inside the campus as checking can happen anytime. Not just cell phones but even iPods or any form of music players too were not allowed. For boys, only formals and for girls, not even jeans were allowed. Even a black shirt was not allowed as they didn't consider it formal. Boys can't keep their beards as they have to shave almost every other day. One of the most bizarre rules was that boys couldn't even talk to girls inside the campus. The list is not over yet as if you are planning to miss college for three successive days; your parents will have to come or call and take permission before. Even if it's your best friend's birthday, you can't even celebrate that inside the campus.

Classes were so fast that there was no breathing space. As soon as the lecture was over, the other professor would be ready to take their class in the next five minutes. So, we always had to stay focused because every class had a doubt session solving at the end. Also, Saturdays were entirely a doubt solving class. So, what happens within a week has to be cleared in that week. One can ask the same doubts or questions once it goes past the week in which it was taught. We were given lab coats from college, and imagine; we had to wear those even in computer labs. If the rules weren't this strange, the college was good, at least in academics.

Every staff was PhD-holding staff, so one can imagine the kind of knowledge they would bring in the classes. Their teaching was excellent, but they will take time out to remind us about the shit rules that existed in the college. If anyone has kept long hair or hasn't shaved by chance, they will remind them or, to be precise, will humiliate them in front of the whole class. Students always remained poor in front of faculty, and that's the only drawback. Nothing wrong with their teaching, as their teaching was crisp and clear.

If you don't get placed after all this strictness, how will you feel? The feeling is unimaginable as I have been through that. Only 15% of the students from the entire batch had the placements. These were the students among the geniuses that every engineering college has. Some of them gave a monologue better than that of Karthik Aryan, while some showed off the projects they did. So, them getting a job was nothing surprising. So, placements were poor even after such a strict approach from the college.

The college has a feeling that when students stay in tandem, they can learn more and therefore both the boy's hostel had the same features. The feature is that three to four students will stay in the same room. The rooms were spacious as three to four students could easily accommodate inside that room. So, the room part was still manageable, but the food part. It was compulsory for students staying at the hostel to apply for the mess. The mess was one as it served both veg and non-vegetarian food. I belong to a Hindu Baniya family and never had before in my life sat beside people and eat who are eating non-veg. At the hostel, I didn't have a choice but to sit alongside them. The food was better, but the rules were again bizarre.

The campus is huge and has a lot of facilities. The campus area was 250 acres, but don't be surprised as many colleges in Chennai have equivalent or perhaps an even bigger area. There were seven to eight labs, but as I said before, you can enter the lab only if you are wearing your lab coats. Now there were four libraries then, and I am sure they must have added at least one more. PG students had to use their library, while UG students had to use theirs. Only the central library was accessible to all, but in my four years, I never went there. The gym was built during our time by consulting some of the best fitness enthusiasts, and therefore it was probably the best gym in the city. Playing areas were divided as boys can’t use the area where girls play and boys can't use the area where boys play. One thing which I assume is tough to find at any college is a salon. PEC had that as well at the campus.

The campus was more of a jail because even my school doesn't have many restrictions. If anyone is seen talking on their phone at the hostel after 11pm, their phone will be seized for a week. I stayed there, but I wonder if such rules are still in place, no one can stay there for four years. Even though the college was academically brilliant, I lost all my faith in engineering.