Presidency University B.Com Review By Preethi Bhatt

'Presidency University' was hot and cold on the fact that they have kept most parts in check, but at the cost of strictness that is unnecessary in College life. The University intake is unlimited, so most students who study B. Com from here are hardly encouraged in studies. I thought I would take part in seminars and competitions, but the University has a restriction that one student can only participate in a certain number of events. All these rules made life a little vulnerable as I chose B. Com, so that I could explore my other interest areas. In studies, though, Presidency University made our course look like an engineering course as we had to attend many seminars and many certification courses were provided at the University. Strategic management which is not supposed to be a part of the B. Com program, the faculties urged us to do that certification course. So, more light was thrown on education here than other things.

It didn't matter how tough the University made rules; students found a way to bunk classes and get through it. Passing here is quite easy as there are a few dark nights before the exams and one will be through. The course and content that we had in B. Com was quite high, as I compared our books with that of Christ University and St. Joseph, which I guess are the best commerce Colleges in Bangalore; and will say that the course of Presidency was much more advanced than that of those. Yes, some parts were irrelevant, but books are books; one can't let them bite the dust if you have to study at Presidency University.

Faculty, without any doubt, were great, but it was the quality of students that made them look average. Some students did their best to lose their cool and cancel classes. They still went on and did their things, but even though they had to keep the University results in check, they didn't spare the ones who made mistakes purposely. Students repeating the year were less because faculty hands were tied. Otherwise, if they had full freedom, more than half the class would have repeated semesters. The number of faculties is very high here because even for B. Com (Hons) there were 8 sections of 100+ students each. No complaints about the faculty because they did their job to the best of their abilities.

Even the best of Universities like DU couldn't place its students; so one should not be expecting them from the Presidency. Engineering is the flagship course of the University and those students had some great placements. For commerce students, even the ones that were doing integrated courses didn't have any significant placements. Most students went for higher studies as the University itself approached us to enroll for their MBA program, which many students did but I got one of the Best Colleges in the country or might have been stuck here for my PG too.

Hostels were amazing and they were well within the campus of the University. Proper flat kind of accommodation was provided to students with four students staying in one flat. The capacity was less, and from what I heard they were on their way of expanding the hostels. Since I was a localite, I have seen the hostel buildings from outside. No outsiders were allowed to enter the premises as there's a small garden next to the girls hostel, and that was the area where we could go and meet our hostel friends.

The campus is quite big and most of the area is untouched. The courses offered by Presidency University are quite less than other private Universities like Jain University or Reva University. Most academic blocks were acquired by the engineering department as only the CS branch had over 1000 students. The lecture theater was huge as many times it happened that students of all sections had to attend common lectures. The auditorium was great, as even though it couldn't accommodate 25% of the College's strength, it was modified like an English theater. Canteens were great and so were the sporting facilities. For medical emergencies, there was a small hospital inside the campus and for coffee lovers; the campus had one of the biggest branches of CCD at the campus.

Now since we had to maintain around 70% attendance, we were left with 30% leverage to take part in other activities. Unlike many Colleges that shut down classes during the events, Presidency classes will go on till eternity. There was no shortage of seminars and events, but as I have said, the rules didn't permit us to watch most events. Also, to all these, I was staying 16 miles from the University and one can imagine the amount of time that it takes to travel 16 miles in Bangalore. So, I didn't have the best of campus lives, but the hostellers seemed quite happy.