As a class of 2013 student at SRM (Main campus), let me start by explaining how I am related to SRM. I did three years of my undergrad in the Telecommunications department. For my final year, I am an exchange student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. I cursed SRM every single day of the three years that I spent there. But now, when I am at MIT I have an outside vision of the whole process and not being a part of the every day grind at SRM lets me give an outside perspective of how things are. Rankings: Yes, I agree with most of you when you say SRM bought its way into getting ranked as the number 1 private university in India. It by no means is or deserves to be ranked there. But having said that, let me tell you that an Indian college education (in the engineering division) can only be classified into either a degree from the original 7 IITs or any other Indian college. So basically how the rest of the world categorizes an Indian engineer is whether he/she is an IITian or not. My point being that there is no sense in us comparing our colleges on the basis of rankings because in the real world no one gives a dime about it. Academics: I can vouch for the fact that the curriculum (as in the things that are supposed to be taught in a subject) at SRM is excellent. If the curriculum is followed to the core, the engineers that SRM produces will be as good as MITians. The problem being that no one follows the curriculum. the fault lies at both ends: the students and the faculty. Faculty: Yes they do not speak perfect English but we as students find that as an excuse to categorize them as bad lecturers. Trust me, even at MIT we have Indian professors and they speak the same South Indian ized English accent, that our SRM lecturers speak. The difference is that students do not care about the accent. They go to a class to learn as much as possible from a teacher. You may say that the teacher does not know anything and teaches crap. But there is at least the basic diference between them and us: they already graduated and did the subject that they are teaching us; so yes they know more than us and we should strive to get to know at least as much as they know if not more. Weather: Chennai is hot and humid and all of us hate it. Stop blaming the college for that. Campus accommodation: Students across the globe hate the food that is served on-campus. Yes, even at MIT. The simple fact is that no one can cook like your mom. She is a superwoman, so stop setting standards on that basis. Also, the cooking staff has to serve 10,000 people food four times a day, so they obviously can not make it luscious and fill it with love and affection. Having said that, dont you all love it when you get to stay and become friends with people from across the country. And the 6pm entry rule for the girls; I feel it is really strict but Chennai is definitely not on the list of top 100 safe cities in the world, so they want you to submit a fax that is basically a legal document that they will use against you in court if something were to happen to you and your parents file a case (I pray though that nothing happen to any one). Placement: 90% of your class will get placed; arrears or not. Appreciate that. Having said all of this, the only true reason that I hate SRM is the lack of freedom. Lack of freedom of thought: no one is allowed to think practically. Lack of freedom of movement: guards and annas stopping us for riding bikes, or walking on the campus with a girl. Lack of freedom of attendance: if you make attendance mandatory you force people to learn, give them an opportunity to wake up in the morning and decide whether they feel like learning something new that day or they feel like sleeping more. Finally, this was the best choice we had after high school so we took it. Yes, a few of you deserved an IIT but missed it by a whisker. Yes, Manipal has an amazing sports center. Yes, VIT allows you to choose your classes. But remember you came to SRM and not anywhere else. This university a part of your life whether you like it or not. Use these four years to forge unending friendships, fall in love (college romance is cute and innocent!) and find that one thing that you want to do for the rest of your life (I am sure that is not a TCS job that pays you 3 lacs a year). Undergraduate life lasts just four years. These years fly by, and soon you are a part of the real dog eat dog world. Live, love and leave a legacy. Your time starts now!
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 10:43:07 +0000
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