Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras)

Foreword:
The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, is among the foremost institutes of national importance in higher technological education, basic and applied research. In 1956, the German Government offered technical assistance for establishing an institute of higher education in engineering in India, which turned out to be the story behind the birth of IIT Madras. In spite of the city being renamed Chennai, the old name still holds a special place in the hearts of staff, alumni, and current students as well. Helped hugely by its location in one of the metros, IIT-Madras is definitely one of the most prestigious institutes in the country.



Location:
The IIT Madras campus is located in a lovely campus in one of the more posh localities of Chennai, although once you enter, it seems like a more or less self sufficient mini-city anyway.



Campus and Infrastructure:
The institute is built on a lovely campus which stretches over a few hundred acres. Students have unlimited freedom to roam around anywhere and anytime inside or outside the campus. Except that boys aren’t allowed into the girls hostels, of course.

Although it’s a pretty old campus, most of the laboratories, almost all the computer labs even in the hostels, and the central library are airconditioned. Hostels aren’t, naturally, and it can get pretty hot in the summer months (which last for almost the entire year), but fortunately there’s enough greenery around to keep soaring temperatures in check.

There are 17 hostels in all, which are designed in such a way that people are given a chance to socialize and organize various functions at the popular ‘quadrangles’.



Courses Offered:
Undergraduate Courses : B.Tech
Aerospace Engineering
Applied Mechanics
Biotechnology
Chemical Engineering
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Computer Science and Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Engineering Design
Humanities and Social Sciences
Management Studies
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Ocean Engineering
Physics

Post Graduate Courses : M.Tech
Post Graduate Courses : Ph.D.


Fees:
Rs 54927 per year
View breakup of fees, hostel/mess charges & fees for SC/ST students



Faculty:
The professors here are very interactive and enthusiastic about the subjects they teach, and of course highly experienced. Most have a minimum of a PhD degree from an IIT or some other premier institute in the world.

The Dean shares an excellent rapport with the students, who are equivocal in their praise for him and say that he’s one of the best professors the institute has ever had.



Crowd:
IIT Madras, like most other engineering institutes, has a frankly awful Boy/Girl ratio, about 6/1, that too if you’re lucky. The crowd, as you’d expect at a renowned institute, is pretty multicultural, coming from many parts of the country.

On an average, classes take up about 24 hours of every week, with saturdays and sundays being holidays. Late night chats with friends, and hanging out in the CCD located inside the campus are the most common pastimes every weekend. There’s a million things to pursue, provided you find the time and provided you’re able to handle your rigorous academic schedule side by side.

At one point of time, most IITs were notorious for their ragging-activities, but with the introduction of strict Anti-Ragging laws, you hardly see anything major at IIT Madras, though something or another does pop up once in a while.



Rankings:
IIT Madras ranks 4th among all the engineering colleges in India, and this list includes all colleges – government or private.
To get in, you need to have a rank of 6000 or below in the IIT-JEE, the higher the better. The best courses close much much higher.



Placements and Internships:
The placements in every IIT are good, and since Madras is one of the top few, they’re brilliant to say the least. Internships can vary from core interns to finance interns. The average salary packages are really high – even more than what an average MBA can expect.



Festivals and Activities:
The major festivals/organisations are:
'Shaastra': Technical festival of IIT Madras and
'Saarang': Cultural festival of IIT Madras
IIT Madras also has an excellent e-cell called C-TIDES, which a host of students join.



Canteen/Mess/Other Hangouts:
80% of the boys dine at the huge 3-floored Mega mess known as 'Himalaya', while the remaining at the other dining arrangements near their respective hostels. The girls dine at the 'Vindhya' mess. While the food isn’t really out of the world, it’s more or less edible, which is more than what some colleges offer.

The Ascendas I.T park, being very near to the boys hostel, is the most common hang-out place for the students. It has a huge food court which houses restaurants like McDonalds, KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut, etc.; other than this the nearby places would be Dominos pizza, Wang's kitchen, etc.



Contact:
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
IIT Post Office,
Chennai - 600 036. India.
Fax : +91 (44) 2257 0509
Website: www.iitm.ac.in



Verdict:
Apart from housing one of the most sought after institutions in India, the self-contained campus is also a great place to be in. Located in a beautiful wooded land in Chennai, IIT Madras promises four unforgettable years.