Ramachandiran Vm's Review on SASTRA University, Thanjavur

    The major company which recruits from SASTRA is Tata Consultancy Services. The average salary is around INR 6 lakhs p.a. IT companies recruit more in number compared to mechanical or electrical based companies and hence, students with Computer Science background have more chances of getting placed. For the batch of 2018, Amazon offered the highest salary of INR 27 lakhs p.a, followed by PayPal, which offered INR 21 lakhs p.a, and these companies recruit around 3 students each year. SASTRA has a profound network of alumni who are the CEOs of various organisations, and others who work with several MNCs.

    There are 12 hostels at SASTRA which provide basic amenities. The hostel fee ranges from 6,000 to 20,000 INR per year, which depends on the type of room selected. Single-sharing, double-sharing and four-sharing rooms are available. The mess fee is around 3,500 INR per month. Hostel mess strictly follows a vegetarian menu. PGs are also available near to the college campus, which costs around 1,500 INR per month. Most of the students prefer college hostels to PGs as the former provides better facilities. Each department has its own block, which is called a School, Eg. School of Computing, School of Mechanical Engineering etc. Each school has its own library and there is a Central Library where facilities like Media room, Online access and more are available. Wi-Fi is available for free round the clock which works at a decent speed.

    Admissions at SASTRA University are based on merit. 12th grade Board marks and JEE MAIN score are considered and an aggregate score is calculated based on which the counselling happens. Admissions are based on four quotas, namely, All India Quota, TamilNadu Quota, Trichy Quota and Tanjore Quota. The cut off for each course depends on the category in which the student falls in.

    The candidate can apply for the counselling after both the Board exam and JEE mains results are published. The application form can be obtained at SASTRA University, in person or it can be downloaded from SASTRA website. The date for counselling is published online. Then the students can attend the counselling and can select the course in which they are interested in.

    Regular classes are from 8:45 am to 5:15 pm. Cycle tests happen every month and these are considered for the end semester exams. Nature of assignments depends on staffs, some of them give written assignments while some assign seminars. Most of the teaching staffs have a doctorate and are well experienced in their respective domains. Lab sessions provide students with a platform to bring out their maximum potential in their areas of interest.

    The course fee for the batch of 2018 is INR 3.6 Lakhs which has increased to 4.2 Lakhs for the 2022 batch. Scholarship is available to meritorious students who score a CGPA of more than 8 and have a good conduct. The Government of Tamil Nadu provides scholarships for students from backward classes. On an average, nearly 200 students avail scholarships every year. Since the course fee is less when compared to other universities, loans are not necessary and even if required, loans can be easily availed from banks like City Union Bank, Punjab National Bank, etc.

    Various clubs like NSS, English club, Telugu Lits, Tamil lits, Maths club, Computer Society of India, etc are functional, and students are free to enrol themselves in these clubs. Daksh, Kuruksastra, and Colosseum are the tech, cultural and sports fest respectively. Students are able to communicate with students from various cultural and educational background which helps in shaping them into a better person. Such clubs and associations help in fostering unity among the students. Students from other states can manage with English and a few Tamil words, as most of the people in and around SASTRA understand English.