Indore Institute of Science and Technology B.Tech Review By Chirag Tyagi

IIST is a brand name that has no value left. In the name of placements only few students irrespective of their branches are placed in Tech Mahindra and TCS and college will keep patting themselves on their back that they have got their students placed in some of the top IT companies of India. Fees is quite low and that perhaps is the only plus point because in 2 lakhs one can easily become engineer here which is not possible in most of the private colleges or universities in India. I was doing Civil engineering and with just 34 students in all, IIST Indore was running Civil and hats off to that to the college for that. Even with low fees, one good thing that college has done is that they still provide merit scholarship and, in some cases, the entire fees is waived off. The college’s infrastructure needs a patting on the back because they have maintained a lush green outfield throughout the campus.

To strengthen student’s profiles, many certification programs like SkillRack, and NPTEL among others were running. However, I enrolled in one of those and trust me it was of no use. The college is affiliated with RGPV University which still has an outdated syllabus. The college though provided us internships in which we were trained with equipment’s and we were also taught almost the software that are applied in Civil like the STAAD- PRO, EDGE, PRIMEVERA, RAVIT, and AutoCAD to name a few. The internships though were unpaid but even CSE or Electrical branch students went for unpaid internships. Exams were just too much because we used to have practical exams, 2 mid terms and one final semester exams. Even today when I talk with students of other colleges, they are like two mid-terms is unheard of. Well, IIST used to have that and we had no choice but to appear for that.

Faculties used to deliver lectures but I don’t think they were qualified enough. The one good thing about them was that they were supportive and had string views that Civil Engineering stream is indeed dying and therefore most of us were actually inclined for doing MBA or other courses after engineering. So, they helped us out in preparation of stuffs like competitive exams. Their idea that civil engineering won’t lead us anywhere was indeed true because I don’t think I would have even had a job today if I was just a Civil Engineer.

Just a few IT companies came for IIST Indore placements and were open to hire students of any stream. It’s just that they were ready to shed 4 lakhs for CSE branch students and for the same role they offered mechanical and civil branch students 3 lakhs. It was not unfair on their part because they anyways have their own training program and before making employees permanent students has to complete their training and prove their mettle there. I was not ready for doing all that after learning EDGE and AutoCAD, so was happy to shift the course as my faith from engineering was definitely lost at IIST.

There were two blocks each of boys and girls hostels. Three students used to share the room that had space and the furniture that could accommodate three students. The hostel building was average but the facilities were great as my hostel friends were quite happy with their hostel stay. They used to send me snaps of playing table tennis and chess till wee hours of the morning at the recreational facilities of the hostel. The mess food was average but there were canteens at the campus and students can have their food there. Of course, they had to pay extra for that.

One thing in which no one can beat IIST is their labs. International standard labs for each department as even our Civil Labs looks as good as the ones that would be there at Michigan or any top universities of the world. The two-floor library was always kept busy but the timings of the library were beyond me as it used to get close by 5.30 pm. The football ground was right next to the main building and trust me it was one hell of a ground because it’s difficult to find such leveled grass at any college level ground. All the electrifying performances of the students took place at the beautiful auditorium of the campus. There were two auditoriums as one was used for departmental events and the bigger auditorium for the combined events.

I never used to bring my lunch along as the college canteen which was more like a family restaurant provided some of the best cuisine and I still remember the entire menu as that was our go to place at the campus. The college events and parties were good as those were the only times when we could wear what we desired because otherwise the uniform of the college was no less than being called pathetic.