SRM University, Kattankulathur Campus

After SASTRA, this is the second in the what-u-can-call 'SERIES'!

Hi all! :)
Cometh June and we see students running helter skelter for counselling! We all browse through all the colleges... in and around Tamil Nadu. All the 'College of Engineerings', 'Engineering Colleges', Universities, Multi Tech Colleges, High Tech Colleges, NITs, IITs, BITS and what not! But alas, not all of us
land in our dream colleges, if at all we have any! :) One valuable suggestion - whenever possible, try to visit some colleges to get a better idea! After all, you are jobless (vetti) most of the time after finishing HSC board exams! :D

Here in this post, I would like to give a brief account of the main SRM University campus at Potheri. You can decide better whether this suits you or not! :D

First of all, students and especially the parents of students often ask me this question... "This is a DEEMED UNIVERSITY right?" Even though there is a lot of difference, people still are not yet clear about what a UNIVERSITY means! A University provides UG and PG courses and awards degrees (like Anna University, SRM, Calcutta, Madras, etc.) and a deemed university is one which can of course design syllabus and conduct exams, assign fees on its own. But the degree is awarded by its parent university! Gone are the days when SRM was deemed! Now it's a university all by itself! And one more thing - the gap between NITs and CEGs and SRMs, VITs (Vellore) are decreasing. Visit SRM or VIT once and you would bet your hat on these universities nine times out of ten against Annas and their colleges! WAKE UP!
p.s. You are safe here! Don't worry... BEs and B.Techs do not make much of a difference, just the naming! AND the degrees are recognized worldwide!

On a lighter note, if you had tried for IIT and AIEEE entrances and failed, don't worry - you will have company here! There are plenty of them here who have achieved the same feat! :D

SRM provides wonderful infrastructure for almost all the departments (again, VISIT the campus, the main campus!) and the rules are very lenient, decent enough to run the institution successfully! Dress code is pretty easy... Except round neck (boys) T.Shirts and half-trousers, you can wear almost anything here! Of course, pyjamas are a strict no-no! Girls are also equally fortunate! Nothing much to say! You can enjoy here!
For the WELFARE of the students, there are many canteens! One in the main campus (UNIVERSITY CANTEEN), another adjacent to it, the by-now legendary Java Green, another university canteen (IT PARK), Biotech canteen, and many more small ones just around them! You can bunk heartily - you just have to maintain a 75% sitting attendance (they take attendance every hour - so you can calculate and bunk :D)! Use your maths skills to your benefit!!!

Remember to write the SRMEEE entrance of course! All Universities these days (SRM, VIT, Amrita) conduct their own entrance exams. So be aware of the dates! You will have your counselling in this auditorium...

A wonderful campus where all activities are updated in the website! (Without the website, SRM cannot exist!) Cell phones are inevitable in this campus - you just can't do without it! I remember our class in-charge writing his cell phone number on the board on the very first day of my college. You can keep 'it' in silent mode and enjoy during class hours. (If you get caught, shame on you! Doing SMS is not an achievement in SRM, it's a habit! Get used to it!)
Don't worry about ragging! SRM is STRICT against ragging! Having said that, don't walk alone to the back gate in your first semester...! If you do that, well... don't! I don't have a video camera there! :D Just love thy neighbour...! Form a group and go together for the first few days, just in case!
Studying in a University in itself is a great thing! University is not a college. There are many departments here. You get more responsibilities to face the world. By any wild chance, if you are a sports student like me, you will later understand better what I am trying to say. You get signature and permission from many HODs in the first semester and the second (basically the whole of first year) since first year is common to all! It's fun in itself! :)

If you are padips, please adjust! Be careful in first year. RELATIVE GRADING is followed here. 50 marks internal and 50 marks for end semester examination! You have some 10 marks for surprise tests, 10 and 10 for cycle tests, 20 for model exam (before end sem). All in all, you have to perform well through out! Since it is a BIG transition from school to college, it will take some time for you to get used to this system and you can easily get careless in the first semester... The time just whistles away as the semester is short! Keep your senses open! For normal people like me, you can pass.  Don't worry! :D "Passing is easy!" Thanks torelative grading, A+ grade is not 100! :) Whoever gets first mark, that is A+!!! Pass mark will be around 35, enjoy! That also, internals + externals you have to get to that mark. Hope you understand!
There is this temple to pray during exams!

SRM always has people from all over India. If you know hindi, it's great. If you don't know, it's fun for others. Learn soon!!!
I would very well call my experience so far in SRM... "LIVING IN SRM!" It's simply wonderful!
Welcome to all! :)

HITS:
1) Many departments
2) Many canteens
3) Relative grading system
4) Computer type chairs to sleep in the classroom!
5) Well connected to city by bus and rail that helps in bunking! (Also encouraging)
6) So many free hours in first year that occur almost inevitably!

MISSES:
1) Classes will be sometimes in 7th - 12th floors. Lift available in IT park, but a big queue almost always exists! Takes time to get used to this routine. Never mind, you can always go late... or bunk!
2) Get used to walking long distances!
3) Learning hindi (for tamil boys and girls) but OPTIONAL! I don't know hindi yet! :D
4) Surprise tests (conducted sometimes without prior announcements)
5) Biology, Physics, Chemistry in first year for all departments! :D

Overall, the pluses are more! SRM rocks!
See you next time with another college round-up! Until then, happy hunting! :)
ak