Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration B.Com Review By Swati Richhariya

I had other colleges on my site as coming from Purulia, my parents agreed to send me to Kolkata but only if I get to some of the top colleges like St. Xavier’s, Scottish Church College, and others. Well, the cut-off of those colleges was way high and with my moderate percentage, Goenka College of Commerce was the best in that percentage to pursue B.Com (Hons.). It wasn’t a sad ending here as the college is good and obviously different because academics were mixed with a balanced extra-curricular activity to make sure students have some fun too. College life at Goenka was good maybe not as happening as one of Bhawanipur or the other private universities of Kolkata. In the very first week, the turbulence was all gone as I made friends and everything just eased out. The college never dictates their terms as students have enough liberty here. The faculties of the college were highly skilled and produced something which at least I didn’t expect. So, Goenka is a good option for average or rather moderate students because getting admissions to top colleges can never be everybody’s cup of tea.

Don’t mistake me as I have said that the college is for average students, the cut-off here is still 85%. Education here doesn’t mean just studying what’s in the syllabus. Skills such as communication, language command, and moral science were some of the elective subjects here. Attendance can always be an issue here because 75% even in the elective subjects was mandatory. Many students were pursuing CA alongside and because the classes commenced at 11.15 am, and finished by 4, they had all the time in the world to take morning or evening CA classes. So, the accommodative part of the college was indeed great.

Well, they emphasized building our communication and language skills and also made sure that in class everyone maintains English as one common language. However, while teaching, they themselves used to give examples in Bengali. There were many non-Bengali students and for them, it was a shocker or heartbreaker. We all come to the college to better ourselves and I agree the teachers were quite skilled but they have to lead by example. If they want us to do certain things in a certain way then they should do it themselves and show us that this is how it is done. So, skill-wise 10 on 10 but execution wise 5 on 10.

Even the B.Com (Hons.) students were asked to go for internships. So, some students were hired from the company where they did internships while for others the college brought a few companies to the campus. Some of the students were offered generous offers of 3–4 LPA as demanding more than that was nearly impossible. The communication subject and the classes which we did on communication helped in placements as more than our accountancy skills the interviewers were happy with our way of talking.

Well, Goenka College doesn’t provide a hostel facility even when a number of outsiders take admissions to this college. For boys, it was still not a problem as Eden Hindu Hostel had 40 student capacity rooms reserved for Goenka College students. For students like us and especially girls, there are PGs around the college, and also the metro station was close by, so even if someone took PG at a distant place, they could still easily travel because from buses to metros, the college’s location was adept to find our means of transport easily.

Well, some famous names like Uttam Kumar and Rajatava Dutta have passed out from this college and one lecture hall and auditorium have been named after them. This was a nice tribute to the legends who have taken Kolkata’s name to the world. In all, there were 3 auditoriums, two small and one big which were used only during the main events. There are common areas separate for boys and girls at the campus. The college’s cafeteria was quite small indeed but everything served there was provided to us at a subsidized rate. Kolkata is known for its football prodigies and thus there was a small football ground inside the college and a nice gymnasium too.

Music is the core of the college as every year at the campus a music fest is organized. Even the annual and social fest Quest has a lot of musical things on as Kolkata and good music go hand in hand. It was a wonderful and controlled campus life at Goenka as nothing went nasty. The college is quite secure and the area of the college is also one of the best. Not just best in terms of transportation but in terms of hanging out with friends too.