Nikhil Hegde's Review on National Institute of Technology, [NIT] Surathkal

As far as landing a job is concerned, it is really not a worry. Almost everyone gets a job offer and those who don't are either students who plan for higher studies or those who threw away their books the moment they entered college.

I did my internship at Tata Elxsi, Bengaluru and a startup Greymeter Services, Gurgaon. I will not explain my work as it is confidential and will be revealed on a need-to-know basis only.

The average CTC package offered to students stands at Rs.7,50,000. Some students are offered packages as high as Rs.30,00,000 per annum and some are offered as low as Rs.3,00,000 per annum. The package size depends on the technical and communication skills of the student.

NITK Surathkal has an intense alumni network. We have an association of Almuni network that tends to questions and problems of the students regarding industrial exposure and such. Some notable alumni include K.V.Kamath (Non-Executive Chairman of ICICI Bank) and K.Ullas Karanth (Director of Wildlife Conservation Society of India Program)

Classrooms are not air-conditioned and do not expect them to be. You are paying a relatively small amount of fees for an extraordinary education. All labs and the one of the reading rooms in the library are air-conditioned. Wi-Fi hotspots are available at certain locations in the college only (Library, Labs, Health Care Centre (HCC), Computer Centre (CCC), Mega-Towers Hostel and a few more).

Transport facilities inside the college are unavailable and rightly so because there is no need for it. All locations can be easily and safely accessed by travelling on foot. Mangalore, Udupi and Manipal are closest cities and transport is very easily available in the form of buses and taxis (Ola Cabs is popular, charges about Rs.200 to Mangalore)

Working time of the college is from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M but depending on your class time-table you may have 3-8 classes, each of 50 minute duration, per day.

The college follows the Continuous Evaluation Marking System, in other words the CGPA system. Usually for a particular subject, 2 quizzes, 1 Mid-Sem and 1 End Sem exams are conducted in a semester. It is not unusual for a professor to cancel all quizzes and assign those marks to a mini-project that must be completed before the end of the semester or submitted on a date of the professor's choosing.

A student has to take up courses from different departments in his first year. For example, an Electronics student will be studying Engineering Graphics (Mechanical) in his first year. Second year on, he will take up his departmental subjects, a few core subjects and a few optional courses. At the end of the degree, a student is expected to accumulate a certain number of credits (around 160) to be eligible for a B.Tech certificate.

As far as the teaching is considered, you cannot expect all the professors to be dudes at what they do. There are some professors who are just geniuses and teach brilliantly and on the other hand there are professors who are just duds and students teach them. Electronics and Communications department boasts the best professors in the country and it's true too. Accessibility to professors outside classes depends on their nature and mood. 99% have no problem and the other 1% have bad mood so try them at a later time but 100% accessibility is granted to a student.

The institutional fees is usually fixed somewhere in between Rs.17,000 to Rs.23,000 (usually Rs.22,500). For 4th year B.Tech students it's Rs.17,500 as of July 2015.

Financial aid in the form of scholarships is offered to many students but I do not have an idea of the number. I'm aware that it is not difficult to secure such aid. The college fully supports students are financially backward.

There are infinite number of clubs in the college (NITK Racing(amazing club), Robotics Club, Kite Flying Club, Artists' Club and many more). 

Major Technical clubs include IEEE, IET, CSE, IE, ISTE and the major Cultural/Social Club is ROTORACT.

Clubs provide a path to networking and it is recommended that a student join atleast one club (does not necessarily have to be a major club).

The major sport played on campus is Cricket, Football and Basketball. The basketball team is on a national level and work and practice very hard to maintain that level. Though cricket is a major sport in India, cricket players in NITK do not enjoy as much popularity as football and basketball players. All sport equipments like cricket bat and ball and wickets, football, basketball are available in the sports complex warehouse. The ID card of the student must be submitted to the authority present in the complex prior to using the equipment.