SRM University Kattankulathur B.Tech Review By Kinnari Ashar

I have graduated from SRM, Kattankulathur main campus. The college has a total of 4 campuses, and the admission procedure for all is common. Based on the cutoff and course, the admissions are given. Hailing from Gujarat and going to a remote location wasn’t that easy. However, after getting the tag of SRMites, I felt blessed. The college was established in the year 1985, and our campus is the oldest one. After this two more campuses were built in Chennai and in the early 2000s, the institute’s Ghaziabad campus was also inaugurated. The college is known for its engineering faculty, but it offers various other graduate courses as well. Sharing my experience has both negative and positive points. The biggest positive is that n number of opportunities is provided to students at SRM. Like there are 100s of clubs and teams like camber, 4ze, conrods, and robocon where students can build their cars and bots. I short, you can do anything of your field at SRM. For males perspective there are a lot of pretty girls and as far as the placement is concerned its well above 80%.

The campus has all the facilities one can ask for. If you think there are only positives, then let me share my negative thoughts as well. Mostly affluent students join this college, and hence every other student is a drinker or chain smoker. The faculty to student’s ratio is way too high. Only 5-6 faculties manage a batch of 600 students. The curriculum hasn’t been revised from 20 years as all you need to do is pick last three years question papers and you will score well in exams. The grades awarded to students are pathetic. Even after graduating from there, I can’t evaluate how they gave the grades. Research is less to none as the faculty hardly have any publications. If you know anyone from management, you can get the seat without writing the entrance exam. Also, if you can afford, you can quickly get a seat through management quota as I believe there is no restriction on strength. Strange but true.

As I have said, earlier the curriculum needs a revision as when I used to go back home and compare my engineering books with that of my friends, I felt disgusted. This is one thing which the institute should address immediately. The classes were held in the morning, and therefore the attendance was never more than 60%. Some people, of course, used to skip the classes citing last night hangover.

The institute is a deemed university and therefore hardly students failed. Even if the students had back by final year, everything gets sorted. However, this is a harsh reality about the college. However, there are various positives, as well. College has workshops and has roped in experts to teach students. The students were given complete liberty and can do anything of their choice. If you come up with an idea, the institute itself will sponsor your idea. Hence, if you are self-sufficient and believe in your own abilities, you should join this college.

The most unsatisfactory thing about this college is its faculty. The students to faculty ratio already discussed. Faculties are also not skilled as most of them are postgraduates from some local colleges. Barring a few who have passed out from IITs rest all don’t even have the complete knowledge of the subjects. My only question here is when the university has spent so much on infrastructure, why not on teachers.

I would have rated the college as a 4 star, but teachers have eaten one point. Faculty’s pathetic nature is the reason for low attendance. Faculty don’t bother in creating student interest, and therefore even students don’t care. Some of them already cleared in their head that they will do everything on their own. I wish the university take a note of it as for research the college is best to none. With teachers though worst to none.

SRM has a strength that can be termed as massive. Yes massive and still placement was not an issue. Over 80% of people were offered jobs during my time. The institute has set up a placement committee and must say they are doing a commendable job. IT sector has been the flavor and therefore, companies like TCS, Wipro, and Infosys among others were among the top recruiters. As again though the college has concentrated on quality rather than quantity.

Therefore the average CTC was just around four lakhs. For students with Mechanical background though were offered a CTC worth six lakhs. Having said that in the time where it is difficult to find a job, SRM at least got us one. Therefore no complaints in this regard.

There are 5 hostels in all. 3 boys hostel of the same size with 400 rooms in each hostel. 1 is an international hostel with 200 rooms, and 1 is a girl’s hostel which has 300 rooms. Talking about the girl’s hostel, the hostel was huge and had all the necessary amenities. The rooms were on twin sharing and the rooms were fully air-conditioned. The hostel was full wi-fi and has two single beds in each room. Both the girls have their own cupboard and 2 study tables. Also, the bathroom size was good enough and each room also has a balcony. Though you can’t see beyond campus from that balcony as the campus itself is too huge.

A large common area with gymnasium was available at the hostel. The food served at the hostel had variety and something which will not let you miss home much. There’s also an international boys hostel which can be called as a hotel as well. If you are loaded well, I would suggest you can try that as some excellent breakfast was served in the room, unlike our hostel where the buffet was placed and we have to take ourselves.

I don’t know where I should begin with because I will brag about this section where on earth, you will find a 250 acres campus. Yes SRM, Kattankulathur Campus has. There are over 40 blocks and a nice 3-star hotel within the campus. All the buildings are huge and tall. The architecture is extravagant for a college campus. Will start with the college’s auditorium. It’s one of the largest with mind-blowing acoustics and fully air-conditioned. It can accommodate 5000 students at a time. Labs have all the adequate equipment’s and are added almost every semester. No outdated instruments are used. The campus has five hostels and out of which one is an international hostel.

If your parents have big bucks, you can stay in that hostel as continental breakfast is served in that hostel and also Mexican and Thai dishes for dinner. There are various clubs for everything, and if you have any interest, then I am sure you will find a club that suits your interest. A vast resourced central library is the highlight of our campus. IT building which has nearly 5000 computers. A 32mbps wi-fi enabled campus and you can surf all that you want. Smart classrooms and modern lecture halls. One unique that you will not find anywhere is a language lab. Hence, if you are interested in learning Japanese, French, Chinese, or German, you can join this club. There are 15 canteens in the campus, and you will get all from the full-fledged cafeteria to fast food. The college also has prayer halls for almost all the religions followed in India.

The campus is huge. One best part about the campus was cultural diversity can be seen. It’s not that you will only find people from Tamil Nadu. You will find people speaking in all the foreign language and a lot of Nigerians too have enrolled in the college. Therefore you will find people speaking in African languages like Igbo and Hausa. Also, students from nearby countries like Nepal, Oran, and Sri Lanka are also found in the college. You will see a Tamilian girl going out with a Nigerian guy and a Chinese girl with a Punjabi boy. English is the widely spoken language in the campus as most of the students come from a well to do family and therefore flaunting will be seen. The only problem that I saw with international students was some Nigerian students were in the mid-30s and are still studying. This was beyond me but as I said earlier if you have big bucks you can easily get admission I this college.

In campus, there are nearly 30-40 buses available and therefore going to the city was not an issue as soon as there are 15-20 students in the bus, the bus will take you to the city. The college was more like a hotel and talking about the hotel there’s a 3-star hotel inside the campus. For the parents who come to see their kids at the campus can stay there. College campus is something that was way beyond my imagination and there smoking corners inside the campus where you can go and smoke. I don’t know why but even after complaints no action was taken. As a girl from a different province, one thing that I can guarantee is security. The campus is secured, and no one can dare to approach you without your permission. Thus the campus life was as good as anything, and I must say if you are interested in research work and also if your parents are wealthy, you should join this college.