MIghty Mighty MIT. Review on Manipal Institute of Technology

Hi Folks,

I joined MIT in Dec 1996. Boy, wasn't it a cultural shock???

What makes MIT so great and dear to all students of MIT? Well, the question is difficult to answer, MIT provides us an opportunity to meet the wackiest and the most talented people in India and the rest of the world. The experiences we share at MIT are unparalled with anythign else you may encounter in your life.

Admission to MIT involves appearing for a entrance exam conducted by the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) in three metros across India. I am sure they are planning on increasing the number of centres. Though the price tag is a bit steep, I think it is great to those who can afford to pay. Ofcourse MIT is no match for the IITs or for that matter even the top institutes like BITS or Rourkee when it comes to academic facilities. That having said, MIT does have an impressive range of labs that serve to the most inquisitive of students. The Central Library is one of the highlights of MIT and is one of the best I have seen among institutes in India. It is open till midnight during weekdays and stays open during weekends as well especially during exams. The faculty is mostly friendly and the new Principal M N Shetty is one of the most approachable guys I have met so far.

MIT has a wide array of hostels (called blox in campus terminology), around fourteen well designed buildings with enough space to accomodate all students. It is not just the quantity but the quality is impressive as well. Half of these have a attached bathroom and are equipped with a good internet facility. The campus is atop a hill and is well planned with a hostel library, cafeterias, ATM machines and an impressive set of sporting facilites.The food served by the hostel messes are by far among the best, it comes with a price tag though. You do have a choice among five messes both vegetarian and non veg. It is a dream to stay on campus. If you live there, be sure to check out Kamath's , Devas and Timmy's the main refuges of hungry students after midnight. Watch out for crazy bikers though on campus. MIT once had the highest bike concentration among educational institutes in the country and they are mostly wild with scant regard for the pedestrians.

MIT is more than academics alone (perhaps academics is the least spoken term on campus ;-)). It is also one of the top party schools in the country, which might be a concern for parents who send their kids here. People here just need an excuse to party. There are two major cultural festivals one in the fall and one in the spring called 'Revels' and 'November Rage'. MIT also hosts one popular rock band each year during revels and the crowd is the wildest then. One area of concern is the drug abuse on campus, not just of MIT but Manipal in general. I know a few of my friends who still peddle drugs after destroying their careers. Make sure you have your priorities clear. It is quite possible for people to get caught up in campus life and lose track of their real purpose. Technically it is also an alcohol free, drug free campus, but you know how these things go as far as campusses are concerned.

There are a lot of cultural and other clubs at MIT. The Rotaract, Leo, IEEE, and a dozen more and they are highly active. IEEE hosts an inter college annual technical fest by the name Intellect every Spring. There is also an intra college techfest every fall. So in short, you will never be left without things to do . There is always something happening. There are enough opportunities to make contacts in the industry or otherwise. A great sense of networking still prevails.

So what do I feel after graduating from Manipal. A whole deal better, I simply could not have the same experiences elsewhere. I agree that every campus has somethign special. but really you got to live in Manipal to experience the whole thing. It was bewildering to see that such a wide array of people could actually exist. Till date I haven't come across such diversity in terms of human nature. It was just an out of the world experience, a memory of four years that I would cherish for the rest of my life. The friends and contacts that you make here last a life time and MITians form a close knit network all over the globe. There is a site for MIT alumini, check out https://mobmit.com. To goto the main website, check out https://manipal.edu.

MIGHTY MIGHTY MIT

thanks

damo