Fergusson College M.Sc Review By Tej Mishra

Ferguson College, Pune made me a competent IT professional with reliable experience in the practical aspects of programming languages. My bachelor's degree college did not have the same faculties or staff to teach me as it was present in the Ferguson College. It is NAAC grade A certified and was a deciding factor when I applied for the M.Sc course. The admission procedure was fairly simple with no excessive demands about multiple screening interviews or document verification. It is a great place to study and prepare yourself for a career that will continue to evolve as you mature in the industry.

I chose to complete my master's degree in computer science and enrolled in the M.Sc computer science course. My admission was based on the obtained merit and subsequent comparison with the other applicants. I secured a seat in the self-finance course that had just 60 seats. I will recommend this course only because they also provide optional electives with courses such as SEO and SMO, apart from the basic electives. I got to study advanced python, cloud computing using Microsoft Azure, and full-stack development and am fully satisfied with the layout of the course. I toiled for a year as a freelancer before landing a job as a full stack developer in Mindtree that was through off-campus placement.

Given that there are too many computer courses, the faculty is surely a handful. I didn't see different teachers for python or cloud computing and was dejected by the sheer lack of variety. ML and full-stack had dedicated and experienced veterans from the IT industry and taught me a lot about the reality of landing an IT job. Most faculties were Ph.D. with a few of them currently pursuing the Ph.D. from the university itself. The first two semesters were a blend of the above qualifications, while the last two semesters were Ph.D holders only. The faculty was a lot more interactive and indulging in teaching the nuances of the programming languages and was well above my expectations.

The placement was a very bad experience for me as most of the companies that visited the campus had too little to offer. The placement went as high as Rs. 17 lakhs per annum, but the spots for that were only a handful. I didn't go for the college placement even after landing a job in an IT company that I heard about the first time. My batch mates shared a similar story with placements offers, dangling between three to four lakhs per annum and that too with a stringent bond in place. Suresh, a batch mate, landed a Rs. 14 LPA placement in Infosys Pune and was the highest scorer in terms of placement in our batch. I still get calls from many who opted for the minimum placement package and are currently searching for a better job profile, so placement in my course was a lackluster approach.

I had a few hostel friends that tried to get into the hostel but couldn't because I sadly lacked the money for it. I found shelter in a PG located in the proximity of the campus that was cheaper than the hostel. My fees were almost Rs. 1.10 lakh and restricted me from joined the hostel. The food was not up to the mark as my hostel friends snatched my lunchbox in the break and avoided the mess lunch on many occasions. I tried the food once or twice, and for the money the hostel administration charged from the students, it was below average. The ladies and gents hostel are located apart from each other and do not allow the students of either gender to enter the hostel premises without written permission.

My department was far from the main gate and requires five to seven minutes of walking to reach it in time. The building, especially the main one, reminds me of the old colonial building of the 1920s and is a sight to behold in bright weather. I never encountered any problems with the allocation of books from the library, or a dedicated system for projects after college hours. I am a book worm and never made it to the playground for recreation but frequently visited the local cafeterias in the college. A few were cheap while the others were way out of a college student budget. There was a tiny MI room for common medical problems and was always full with students, making the waiting time excruciatingly long.

Campus Life at Ferguson College is not as you see in movies or TV shows. It is bland and monotonous to be precise, and not livable without the students. The amenities are great for a college with clean drinking water, bathroom stalls, and spacious classrooms that are never full. The college holds a few commemorative events due to its long history of great academicians and actively encourages students to participate in it. I liked the fact that not every event required mandatory participation or an entry fee, as both were out of my capacity.