VIT Bhopal Campus Experience

In the era of technology, a degree certificate’s value is decreasing the value by each day. Anyone can learn anything from anywhere. This has had a huge impact on today’s society and Educational system. But there are still some things that we definitely need to experience in life. College days are a period of time in our life that we all will always remember in the days to come. Even though it might not be the dream college life of the “Three Idiots”, it still will leave a great impact on our life and how we deal with things. It is a phase when we build up new relationships, make friends, enjoy life or even fight at times. But these all go to life experiences and make us who we are.

“VIT Bhopal? Well, isn’t it a new branch of VIT? “

Was the question which hit me again and again when I decided to take admission to my college. That too as a South Indian student who hasn’t studied outside the state, even though my parents were a bit doubtful at times, it eventually worked out. Got admission to the institute with one of the most precious tags of “VIT“, as a CSE student. Now there were a lot of difficulties I had to face in the time in college.

The COVID 19

Since covid struck like lightning, our 12th was already gone, on top of that, even the whole First year was spent in Online mode of classes and exams. This was frustrating since we already lost our final year at high school, and also our freshmen year at college.

The Campus

“Lush green campus” is what they advertise for the VIT Bhopal campus. But, to be honest, this is not completely true. When I first came to college offline in the Second year with my parents, it was in June and rain didn’t start falling yet, they were extremely dissatisfied with the environment. We could barely see any Trees on the way to the hostel. And the campus was very distant from Bhopal (even though it is called VIT Bhopal). I don’t know if I am from a place filled with trees and plants, I felt like I came to a desert (although I haven’t visited one). And we had to walk almost 1.8 Km from Academic Block(AB) to the Boys’ Hostel. We have to walk to AB from the hostel in the morning, come back to the hostel for lunch, again go back afternoon, and come back in the evening. There are a number of Buses, but it rarely moves for the students inside the campus. This was really tiring, especially in the sun. But when it started to rain, the campus finally showed its beauty. Fields filled with green. The sky in the evening is a real sight to watch. Again after one more online semester at home, when we came back for the Third year, the place was again a dessert. But a new shed was built all the way nearly upto the Boys’ Hostel (Block 1) which was a great relief. There are nice spots here and there which give of a really nice vibe.

Academics

Academically, our college is one of the finest. The FFCS system allows us to select the faculties of our choice with specific time slots given by the university. This faculty selection is done by slots. Students are divided into different slots based on the Attendance percentage and the previous semester’s GPA. This means, if you are in the top slots, you can choose your faculty and the specific timing as per your choice and availability. So, you can even select where you only have classes from morning 8:30 to afternoon according to the credits for the semester. Attendance is assessed and a mark is given for each subject for the same. A minimum of 75% attendance is mandatory for appearing in the Term End Examinations. The Total grade is calculated in Relative Grading within the specific class. The total score takes into account 30% of the MidTerm and TermEnd marks each, and 40% of Internals. Sometimes academics becomes really hectic due to all of the Assignments, Tutorials, Presentations, Projects, Research papers, quizzes, viva, and so on… Even when I am writing this article, I have a bunch of Assignments to do and a Lab exam on the way.

Extra-curriculars

There are different communities and Clubs which regularly conduct events. Well, not all events might be to your taste. But there are really exciting events every now and then. Aditya is the annual event of VIT Bhopal which is celebrated the most. There will be competitions, talks, celebrations, and other events. The college encourages participation in Hackathons and such, and will even give you OD(On Duty) for attending the same(not in every case). Sports is at its rock bottom in the college. Even though intra-college competitions are organized, the college has yet to take us for tournaments outside the college. They have not taken us for All India Inter Univeristy tournaments even once (at least not after my joining in the college). There are no proper grounds for Football, no tracks for athletics, no separate indoor courts for Basketball, Badminton, and Volleyball(the court usage timings are split among the three and there is no gallery where the audience can sit).

Placements

This is the most powerful side of the college and the most audience-favorite. I would say the college, only after about 5 years of its starting has received attention all over India mainly due to the placements. The highest package of 59LPA within 5 years! The placements are centralized and it takes place under the centralized placement cell of VIT Vellore, Chennai, Bhopal, and Amaravati(AP) campuses. So the competition is also very high. But there is no lack of opportunities regarding the same. If you work hard, you can crack even greater packages.

So overall, I would suggest that the college is a dream-come-true maker if you are solely focused on Placements and Academics(it has it’s pros and cons). But in aspects of Sports, it needs much improvement. Above all, make sure to enjoy your college days to their fullest.