Hunting the Shark - VIT matters - Post comments to this

This post is originally written by me @:

http://rmshark.blogspot.com/2008/06/visit-to-vit.html

Hmmm.. A lot has been said and told...

I'll also give my candid observations...
I am a passout from VIT-U and these four years have been the best years till date.

VIT is an institution of extremes... You'll come to know soon ... Parts of what you have seen is true, parts not true at all .... Read on ....
History: Founded quite early, it got freedom from Anna University only about in 2001 (plz correct me if i am wrong)
So basically that was the beginning of VIT...
Took students from in and around T.N initially (as it was initially under Anna)
Then slowly, one year, it moved to AIEEE... This year (or two) , very good students came to VIT since they were AIEEE level;
left out from NITs and IIITs, they were those guys who were basically good, but the exam probably din go well or some other reason ... basically a good bunch of students
Then later VIT shifted to VITEE (and stopped AIEEE) as they had strict restrictions on many things including strength
This was objectionable to VIT as we never have funds like what IIITs or NITs have..
Most people in my batch are atleast 1 year droppers(for IIT-JEE), so the have a good understanding of what they need to be doing and dont take decisions in haste..

There are rules that are quite strict, but then it all comes in place,.. we may complain one day about it, the next day we ocmpletely forget about it... 
Life is never a cake walk..

Yea, one thing i really hated about these four years was the Extreme climate... Sometimes you get pissed off at some lecturers, sometimes with the security ... its all so 
common .... I believe its in the nature of people who complain.. I am quite sure you cant deny the fact that IIITs are no cakewalk...
Have you never ever got pissed at some lecturer?.. Have you never, ever complained against the "System"?

Know what, i had some friends in NIT-Surathkal ... Believe it or not.. they were surprised that we get water (that too geyser water) 24 hours!
They had access to water only for a few hours ! and no hot water also ...

I've met many people who are quite good at what they know... but are Zero when it comes to conveying the same thing...
VIT has many lecturers who manage to convey the message, even without knowing much english

And i hope you know about the current situation of getting lecturers ... Its not necessarily that only PHDs can teach well ! who said so?
It all depends on you... nobody is spoon-feeding you... 
The opportunities are all here.. its about realizing that and making the most about it...
yea, my friend got placed in Honda, yea the same guy mentioned above .. I know about him.. Daily bunked classes ... maintained the bare minimum attendance, was a 6 or 7 pointer throughout
And what happens finally?... he is one of the 2 guys who make it there ... awesome right!

About SCS, its just like any other college, a healthy mix of good(read some young and mostly older guys) and bad lecturers (read young lecturers)... Bad because many dont opt for teaching
SCS gave us what not... experience in various fields including co-curricular ... certification programmes from IBM, laptops for M.Tech students at low prices..... Laptops to all faculties... CISCO labs, .NET labs, 
Linux Labs, A general computing lab(Santhanam), IT labs(3),MCA lab, .... dude there are sooo many machines here...
Its upto the student to use them....

Now coming to the fact about placements...
Hey can you tell me for what reason IITs were made in ndia by J.Nehru (If i am right, he was behind all this)
The reason as you also know is "To develop India"..
Now tell me the approximate % of students who go and fuel the silicon Valley..
If i am right according to a news report, 4 of every 10 atsrtups in silicon valley are by young indians (please read IITians and IIITians and NITians)
What good is your institute if it cannot develop India, but fuel other other countries? Why should the Govt. provide you money?

At VIT, we pay the money (yea, its a huge sum, i agree), BUT, we fuel the Indian market ! an Indian company !
And this is not as a whole everyone.. This is about the majority who fuel TCS... 

Now coming to your placements (esp. Microsoft like companies where i hope many of you get into)
Microsoft does not trust Indian developers (i know this because i have started working now and have had lots of interactions with guys who have left similar companies like Amazon)
The best guys in IIIT go to microsoft and do what?... do testing/development of a product having an uncertain fate... because everything will be decided by the guys in Redmond... A guy with such good creativity is reduced to do things way below his capabilities... its true, i did a research to arrive at this... many dont speakup, because the pay is good (9.2) !

I know guys in my college who have a "book" full of certificates, presented papers throughout the world... got jobs in places where the paper was presented almost immediately !
I know guys who have made it to the IIM... I know guys who have represented the college at international meets ... I know guys who started earning in 2nd year.. I know a guy so good in Linux, he actually busted out a guy from IIT with 2 years of experience (yea, he is working now ... 2008 passout )
I know lecturers who admit that thaey dunno about something (SCS) and are willing to learn it, which i think takes courage to learn from a student..
I knw guys who hacked into the network(SCS) just because thay were so good at it...
VIT also provides for TBI - Technology Biz incubator, where you can develop ideas into products..

A recent interview at NI, had 4 VITians among 10 students ahortlisted in Delhi..

At one point of time, i was surrounded by chinese students (250 of them).. Last year alone, over 70% of chinese coming to india(not travellers) landed up in VIT.. why not IIIT?.. why not IIT?
One needs to realize that its not just the super-intelligents in the society... (they bloody don need a college to prosper ... they will make it big in life irrespective of anything ...)
Its also the medium guys.. who basically need a job .. to earn for their families.. to grow ... This is where TCS comes into picture..
Earlier, i also had a strong harted for TCS, but now, NO way, its doing justice to so many people.. you really cant compare it with the other companies ike MS..
Both these companies are in different leagues ...
I really dunno the number of people who have made it to foreign universities this time ! Lot Many... and many good colleges ...

Also, VIT has got accredations from so many firms ... I am not sure of the latest one ...

Apart from all this tech talk, its good managemet that is required to make it big.. and infrastructure playing a very important role in that..
that means.. good lawns (although you cant walk on it!! :) ), olympic size swimming pool (Seriourly i have not come across a better pool in Bangalore till now ! ), 
Pool facilities (a lil' overpriced), God places to eat (FoodCourts, BR, and yea mess (not that good) )...
So many courts that promote sports, a new indoor stadium....
Sunshades for the summer, tennis courts, Stadium and Playgrounds (2 of them in contrast to the above post ...)
Riviera, our Annual fest draws so many people throught the nation... We get 2 artistes every year... one Proper Rock and one proper Indian (eg. Parikrama and Shankar Mahadeven / Euphoria)
I mean what more do you really want out of a college?
VIT also provides training camps and facilities to the 5-6 odd schools (plz correct me if i am wrong) .. Its infact taken ownership of them... Every sunday in the morning, so many kids come and have basketball lessons to smaller exercises ... which i think is a very good thing to do.. the playgrounds are utilized by the local kids in the mornings ...
And yea, there is also the Music room where budding singers can do whatever they feel like ....
And also, have to admit, the non-availability of internet to the hostels is not good.. I just hope thay do that soon !

VIT is also providing classes for CAT preperation to TIMS and IMS (not very sure about the source)

Aur yaar baat raho porn aur drugs ki, let me tell you that most NITs and Manipal are major drug-centres, as told by guys from the same college ...
See you really cant stop guys from doing what they want to do if they leave the hostel... 
Rahi baat porn ki, man, is IIIT/IIT/NIT some kind of temple where they only study and do nothing else?... In fact this is sooo widespread that its become some kind of a commanlity among colleges...


Ek baar aao Vellore and ask any Vellore villager how much the place has benefitted from VIT.. believe me, it has actually transformed the place since 2001 (Transformation does not happen overnite.. 7 years is a small quantum of time actually ... )
No longer Vellore is only known for CMC.. Now its known for 2 more things .. VIT and the Golden Temple


Yaar, wake up to the reality .... VIT is growing fast ... :)

Btw. no offence to anyone here, these is purely from my angle, of what i have felt in these four years...