City College B.Sc Review By Indrashis Mukherjee

City College Kolkata is situated in the heart of Kolkata near College Street. This college is one of the oldest colleges in the country. It is affiliated with Calcutta University and was established by Anandamohan Bose in 1881. It played a huge role in social reforming during the Renaissance of Bengal. The college provides a huge number of subjects from several streams that you can take honors courses in. It provides opportunities to a huge number of students every year to take good courses under the best faculty in every department. The college management here is also much disciplined; they handle the students and their political union very well.

Getting admission to City College Kolkata is as in the case of any other college is through an online portal that opens only during the admission period. After you have your high school certificates you can apply by filling up online forms for the subjects you would like to study. The form requires your academic and personal details along with your aadhaar card number and picture. Once you have completed the form it requires a nominal submission fee. Then after a few months, students are called for counseling based on their position on the merit list. The selected students get to experience college for three long years.

To get a bachelor’s degree in science from Calcutta University you can apply to this college. They provide honors in mainstream several subjects like botany, zoological, physiology, physics, chemistry, and so on. The requirements for applying for a bachelor's degree in science you will need to have a science major in high school and will require above 55% marks in the subject you want to do honors in and the same percentage in total. Make sure you know applying doesn’t mean selection. The college releases a merit list of applicants with their ranks and students are called for counseling starting from the top of the list. Everyone has their reasons to select the courses they study.

My interest was biology so I chose B.Sc with zoology honors. The college has an impressive science faculty along with the classes the professors are always there to guide you in case you face some issues with the university. The college holds several scientific seminars to encourage students to become great scientists. They not only give you the notes you require for a University examination but also take the preliminary mock examination to prepare their students for the real University exam. The science department of the college is also big and we’ll maintain modern labs for every subject. The students here enjoy a full scientific experience for their B.Sc.

The science faculty in this college is one of the best under Calcutta University. The science departments have strict discipline when it comes to the attendance of students. If you take admission to this college make sure you are devoted to your study otherwise you will feel trapped in a classroom for three long years. The college also has a playground and a permanent cultural platform, so the students here can do whatever they are interested in and explore more of themselves during their days in college.

The faculties in this college and especially in the science departments are excellent. They are well equipped in the subjects and have impressive teaching skills. If you are lucky you might form rare connections with your faculty too. There are a total of 18 professors and 52 lecturers and assistant lecturers all over the science department of the college. All of them are researchers and very skilled in their subjects. Each faculty has a minimum experience of 3 years of teaching in colleges. The management hires the faculty very carefully. Some part-time guest lecturers from famous research institutions are brought in to teach some aspects of the subjects occasionally. These guest lectures are one of the best academic experiences you can get.

In the science department of the college, the placement has to be earned. The institutions and companies that do training and seminars here hire based on your knowledge and skills. They don’t offer interviews, so it is recommended that you approach the officials or guests with your previous papers and work experience details for getting into an internship during the bachelor’s degree. After the degree hiring and placement is limited here and sometimes hiring does not even happen. The companies are reluctant to hire someone with a bachelor’s degree in science.

All you can do is apply for an internship in several foundations and institutions that interests you. Out of campus placement is quite high if you are a science graduate from City College Kolkata you can get a job with a minimum monthly salary of Rs. 10,000. Within the campus, hiring is not practiced in the college. So packages received from in campus placement are none. The highest package that anyone has received after passing out from the college is over Rs. 30 lacs per year.

The college does not have a hostel facility anymore however you can find several other hostels near the college. Several students come from all over India to study in City College Kolkata. The privately-owned hostels provide food and rooms at a very low cost as students do not have huge funds to stay in Kolkata. The hostel experience of college life is memorable; students that have never lived in a hostel will never know what it feels like to stay with other students for long periods.

The food and rooms in the hostels are not very bad; they are comfortable and healthy enough for a student. The staying charges and management have nothing to do with the college. This is a personal choice and responsibility to find a place to live. The college management might guide you with it or recommend a few good hostels for you. The rest of the responsibility is yours and of the hostel that you are going to stay in for the three years of your college life. Search for hostels online before you apply to the college.

The college building is divided into two sections. One is the old heritage section and the other is the new section that was built a few decades back. The classrooms of the heritage section are huge and have very high ceilings as it was designed in authentic British architecture. Each classroom can hold a crowd of 150 students each in the heritage section. Most of the laboratories are in this section of the college. The new section has relatively smaller and fewer classrooms. Both the sections stand 5 stories tall and between the sections is the playground where sports like cricket and football are played.

The college has a common room with indoor games like carom, table tennis, and pool. There is also a gymnasium where if you are interested in physical training you will have to give an application to the trainer. There are two cafeterias one for students the other one is for staff, both of them are clean and provide tasty hygienic food to people for a reasonable price. There is also a bookstore inside the campus that can provide you with most books and other stationery items you require during college hours. If there is a medical emergency in the college the patient is immediately taken to the sick room where there are medical staff ready to start initial treatment from here the patient is taken to the closest hospital or any other medical facility.

Campus life in college is very much fun. You can do whatever you want on the campus as long as it is not vandalism or any other criminal activity. The common room is well decorated and maintained by the students union that keeps an eye on the students’ welfare and enjoyment. You can play outdoor and indoor games during your off periods and also can avail of performing arts if you are interested in them. Several sports and cultural events take place on the campus. The two major events that happen annually in the college are Shangri-La or the annual fest and the annual sports ceremony. All the students wait for the whole year for these two events. Other small events like teachers' day, fresher’s parties are arranged here like any other college.

Shangri-La is a five-day-long event on the college campus. No teachers or management are allowed on the campus during this period without a special invitation. Students are free to do anything they want inside the campus under the supervision of the students union. Many famous performers come to perform in City College during this time of the year. There is a DJ night among the 5 nights where the college goes wild. The annual sports are arranged in a nearby ground where the whole college competes together for the winner title. There are individual competitions, departmental competition, and even course based competition. The sport goes on for 5 days. During this event, all the college staff and faculty are invited.