Cochin University of Science and Technology B.Tech Review By Yethi Nair

CUSAT has around 12-13 engineering branches, and that’s the biggest differentiator. Most students did CSE as the rest all branches had limited students, but the CSE branch alone had around 800 students. I learned at CUSAT to never consider the second-year students as your seniors as they will hardly help you. Thus, whenever in doubt, take help from forth yearites as they will help you with any damn topic and tell you whether it’s important. The university is extensive as it has around 20 courses, and each department has their own buildings. The university also has hostel facilities which were by and large average. Academic wise, CUSAT is best as people may complain about some of its facilities. I would still say that CUSAT was and is still one of the best in Kerala.

The course structure is revised every few years. This exercise makes sure that the university and the students stay updated with all the latest that’s happening in the world of tech. Ed-tech and fintech business have become massive, and we were taught them both. CSE was not just about coding or learning Java, as the MCA students are confined to that. We were taught compliers, languages, data structures and algorithms, and, most importantly, computer networking. The engineering here was solving the problems, and CUSAT has even given us projects to identify the small issues we can address as a student. As the semesters kept soaring, the difficulty level of the course also went high. Passing percentage kept dropping, and from 1st to final year, only half the class could survive.

Faculties were superb as they always were ready to help us out with anything at any time. One doesn’t have to shout loud to get their attention as they were always ready to come for our help. Their teaching was fast, so it was difficult to play a catch-up game with them because the vast portion left them with no choice. I just want a small request from all the faculty of our batch which still exist, please give students some breathing space in the class because running ahead of the time always doesn’t help students cause. I couldn’t say it then; I hope my message will reach them now.

Placement wise CUSAT is one of the best in Kerala. Half the students could make it to be in the eligibility zone of placements. Of those who were eligible, 80% of them have been placed in top IT companies like Oracle, Adobe, TCS, and Infosys. Some students even got paid up to 8-10 lakhs of package. Average was quite low because TCS hired most students at a petty salary of 20-25k per month. Like me, some who missed it had no option but to find an off-campus job or apply for higher studies. In most cases, the students who received a lower paycheck applied for higher studies.

There are five boys and five girls' hostel at the main campus. I had my stay at Siberia boys' hostel for the first three years and then relocated to Sanathana boys' hostel in the final year. Sanathana hostel is the biggest of them all as it has the biggest rooms and also single rooms are there in this hostel. Overall, around 600-700 students stayed at the boys hostel, including five hostels. The hostels were cleaned every alternate day, and the best part was the fees as fees were quite less and facilities in terms of that fees were quite high. The mess charges were extra but still quite easy on the pocket.

CUSAT engineering college is in the main campus, which is close to the national highway and close to the main city of Cochin. Not many universities will have a world-class infrastructure that CUSAT has. School of Engineering department of the university was the biggest as it had maximum students. The common facilities of the university included a central library, canteen, seminar hall, and the beautiful sports complex. The hostel was inside the campus and there was a provision store inside the campus. So, all our essentials, we could easily get from there. Everything was so well maintained that I don’t have any regrets about joining this university for B. Tech.

A student life comprises of many things during college years. Till my sophomore year, I was a part of many societies and participated in all college events. Come the third year, though, everything was forgotten as the pressure of studies was getting over my brain. Before entering the fourth year, all the backlogs have to be cleared, or we will have to sit out for one year. So, for the first two years, I had a great time at the campus, and for the next two years, it was classes, library, and hostel.