Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College B.Sc Review By Jatin Kalra

The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College is a college affiliated to the prestigious Delhi University. The college was set up in 1990 in Karampura in Delhi but recently the college shifted to a much grander campus in Dwarka Sector-3. Although the area of the campus is a mere 7-8 acres, the infrastructure in that small area is best-in-class. The college is a NAAC accredited ‘B’ grade college with a CGPA of 2.63. The college has secured either 8th or 9th position from 2012 in Delhi for Science Stream Colleges in the Nielson Best Colleges Survey which suggests that college has performed quite consistently over the years. In the 2018 NIRF ranking as well, the college performed quite well with an overall rank of 13. The well-known thing about the college is its state of the art infrastructure. It is deemed as the college with the best infrastructure in the entire Delhi University which is quite an achievement in itself. It might be the only college in the University with a fully air-conditioned campus and dedicated parking for all the vehicles. With all such advancements, the college also remains eco-friendly with solar panels being included in the campus, and rainwater harvesting is practiced in various parts of the college.

The admission in the college is done on merit basis on a completely transparent method. As and when DU introduces its cut-off lists, the admissions in the college commence for all its courses. The students can apply to the Website of Delhi University and then complete their admission procedure by reaching the college and completing the process. Going by personal experience, the admission procedure was quite smooth and there was no hassle such as delays in the documentation or anything. The fees submission was online and was done easily. On a complete view, admission was quite easy in the college. The management of the college is of high quality. Every student I talked to, during the early stages, said that the faculty and staff are quite good. The teaching quality of the teachers is up to expectations and that’s what I experienced when I studied in college.

The academics of the college are nice, to be honest, not the best but not the worst as well. It’s above-average according to me. The college does offer a wide variety of courses from departments such as Computer Science, Management Studies, Commerce, Economics, Biology, Chemistry, Electronics, Physics, Botany, Mathematics and English. I studied in the Computer Science department. Studies are based on both practical as well as theoretical. The labs in every department are very good with all equipment being provided. As of personal experience, the labs of the Computer Science department have top-end computers with high-end configurations that were quite intuitive to work on. The Labs are quite huge that are fully air-conditioned as well.

The teachers do provide regular assignments, and marks are based on their submission times. The exams were conducted in two parts- first the mid-semester exams which are held after the mid-sem break and secondly the end semester exams which had separate practical. Some of the teachers were very interactive and fun-loving but some of them just focused on studies. One thing that just stands out is that the fees of the courses are not that much. Being a government-funded college, the fees are less compared to other colleges. Overall, the academics of the college are a mixed-bag with some positive sides and some a bit negative sides.

The faculty and staff of the college have been very good. There are many Guest faculties as well apart from the permanent teachers. Going by my experience, the teachers were up to the mark. They are well equipped with the knowledge they have to convey. Proper labs are provided for practical hands-on. There are lab assistants for helping during the lab classes. Some of the teachers are interactive and follow a nice pattern of teaching.

The principal of the college is Mr. Hemchand Jain and it has to be said, he is quite a strict person and is always binding to the rules. Although there have been some good moves under his leadership, the college students have quite often been disappointed with him. The faculties are nice in their behavior and don’t behave rudely. Doubt-clearing is done as and when required but a lot of emphases are put on attendance and assignments which is both positive and negative in its ways. Overall, the faculties are good but there’s a scope of improvement.

The placements of the college Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College are good with some companies approaching the college for recruiting students. Although the packages are sky-worthy, they are average level. This is mostly because most students do opt for further studies after completion of graduation.

Students prefer going for Masters rather than working for low salaries. As of the information I got from my seniors, the placements are not so good but not so bad as well. The students which want to opt for a job do prefer to apply off-campus. That being said, placements are a bit okay!

The college has different hostels for boys and girls. The allotment of hostels is also done based on merit and further availability of hostel in upcoming semesters depends upon your performance and attendance. Each college has 45 twin-sharing rooms. The mess of the hostel is okay. Some hostel friends of mine said that the food there was good for most of the times with a menu being set.

Hostels have their wi-fi connectivity and the speeds are enough for regular browsing and works. Recreation activities are made available to the students but their availability high depends. Table tennis and badminton courts are of much significance. The hostel has an ATM attached for money purposes and an AMUL parlour for some extra delicious food items and it has very good food that I and my friends enjoyed many times.

Infrastructure is one of the strongest features of the college. The college is a multi-storey 7 floored building with parking for all the vehicles. Although the area of the college is quite less as compared to other colleges, the limited area is used to the best extent. The campus is completely air-conditioned with lifts for students and faculties. There are solar panels installed on the roof of the college for the generation of electricity and at present are producing 130kWH per day. Water recycling plant, RO plant and water harvesting practices are also available. The classrooms are great. With high-quality projectors and comfortable benches, the experience is awesome. With charging ports all around the room, adds up to the small benefits.

Labs have equipment of high-quality and are maintained quite well. The Library of the college is one to savor for the college. Immense collection of more than 45,000 documents is one of the biggest achievements. The college has a huge auditorium with a seating capacity of more than 400 people which is fully equipped with modern sound systems and microphones and speakers. Students’ favorite zone, the cafeteria is also good with the food being tasty and surprisingly less oily. Importantly, the campus is fully equipped with Wi-Fi, although the availability of networks is highly fluctuating. All in all, infrastructure is one of the biggest plus points of the college.

There is absolutely no shortage of societies and activities in the college although the working of them is quite subjective. The Debating society- Voice has some of the best orators who have won many prizes in competitions. The singing society- Rhapsody is one of the best societies of the college with its leaders winning prizes at prestigious moments such as the Mood Indigo fest of IIT Bombay. Kalamkaar, the literary society continuously marks its presence with regular competitions.

There are many clubs such as the Eco club and Photography club, Polaroid. They do organise regular visits for their sessions. There’s a Women Development Cell as well. All other necessary clubs and societies are present in the college and there’s no such lacking point but it all depends on their working which is highly subjective and depends from time to time. Although, one noteworthy thing is that the college’s fest is not up to the mark. The fests of college are not what you would be proud of but that being said, being in Delhi University, you can always reach other colleges for their fests and enjoy there.