Indian Institute of Technology M.Tech Review By Ashish Bajpai

Reaching IIT was a dream and I was more than happy to be at one of the best IITs in the country. There's only one thing that can go against a few and that is the Institute's idea of all-around development of students. Students of the first year PG course, have to undergo a mandatory physical training. This was a lynchpin of the Institute and one has to do it no matter what. So, if your engine can pass through, life is amazing here. No restriction of timings, at least inside the campus, as students can enjoy a night life inside the campus. The SIS guards were placed in the entire campus, so don't dream too much that you will have all the luxury of roaming. As long as it's a walk at the campus or roaming with friends singing, it's all good. Don't go beyond that thinking one can smoke or have beers inside the campus.

Academics showed glimpses of good things right from the start, and as the days passed, we could feel that if we attend the classes and have a leader within the pack, the academics will take care of itself. If it comes good, it will go great; but if you are one who likes it alone then might find it a little difficult to survive. Don't let course content get into your skin as there are seniors, fellow classmates and professors to help at any point. One has to be a little vocal and read the situation because M. Tech is a course where we see many students quitting because they couldn't speak up. Our first guest lecture was on mental health issues, as students who have crossed all barriers and reached here can't be weak in academics. It's that mental fatigue takes over sometime and for that enough help and assistance is provided inside the campus.

The best thing about the faculty was they gave students a sense of freedom and they stuck to their guns. They taught us to take the odd risk and at the same time not be reckless at all. They were the people whom one can count on day in and day out. From what I say, they did their best to make sure that students get adjusted to the environment because those who crossed the first six months, survived the entire two years. Their teaching method and way doesn't need any string mention because they are here for a reason. Yes, they were the best and here they were who started a tradition of making friends with students. So, I looked at them as I never had friends in my professors, but here, I can make some.

Now I am going to disclose a few things which may sound a little exaggerated, but yes, they happened in front of my eyes. Samsung offered four students from our batch a package worth 90 Lakhs. The next best was Tower Research that offered three student's jobs worth 42 Lakhs. Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs both took two students each at a package of 25 lakhs. The placement again was not 100% but some placements were blown out of top. The placements here are not a bad call as the average may come down to 12 lakhs per annum because the domestic recruiters like Flipkart, Wipro, and TCS took majority of the students in between 8-10 Lakhs.

Since IIT holds a residential program, the residential facilities were top notch. I have a major learning at the hostels of IIT Kanpur as there are as many as 10 boy's hostels inside the campus. That's not all as all the hostels of IIT Kanpur are well equipped and have all the major facilities we can think of. Unlike many other hostels, we were free to use any appliance that we wanted to. The late-night Maggie at the hostel and some guitarist who would set the mood to make hostel life worth living. We went to many places in Kanpur as it's a small city and if any one differs from my title that there's no better residential facility in Kanpur than the IIT Kanpur campus can go and find out for themselves.

The campus was massive as it had tons and tons of facilities to talk about. For a moment let's get aside from the academic facilities that were there at the campus as let me share insights about the sporting facilities. The sporting facilities at the campus were such that even a professional athlete can train in those. World-class tennis and squash courts. Badminton, which is widely used as that, is one of the most popular sports going around. In terms of sports grounds, I don't think there is anything more than one can wish for.

Every year over a million students dream about getting into IITs and few of those get the opportunity. Being one of them always gave me a sense of belief while walking around at the campus. All the dirt and noise of Kanpur city is far from IIT's serene campus that has produced some of the best engineers this country has ever seen.