The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) is one of the premier institutes in India. Being an IITian is not everyone's cup of tea, since the process of admission to these institutes are one of the most competitive in the country. For enrolling in the stream of engineering, undergraduates have to qualify the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination; Mains and Advanced). Graduates for both M.Tech and PhD can enroll if they manage to qualify the GATE examination. While in basic sciences like Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, students can get an opportunity to enroll in the Masters level if they get through the JAM exam. For PhD candidates, GATE or CSIR-NET is the equivalent examination, which largely determines the type of fellowship. IITs have a unique and holistic way of academic instruction, which is mostly based on practical hands-on experience and observation rather than being bookish and strictly limited to the classrooms. The cost of tuition is relatively low, as compared to many private institutions throughout India. The laboratories of the institute are one of the best, which fills a student's mind with happiness, vigour, passion and most importantly, the urge to work. Some laboratories contain advanced machinery and equipments, like the NMR, IR, UV and EPR spectrometers (in the Chemistry department), autoclave, cryogenic freezers and so on. The Central Library has a collection of numerous books spanning the fields of science, engineering, history, geography, language & linguistics and many more. The extensive flora, fauna, and the serene natural environment of the campus has what it takes to manifest a wonderful environment typical of an academic setting. The hostels in the campus are one of the best, are well maintained, and have good facilities. In some hostels, students can avail the use of electronic equipments like washing machines and refrigerators. The institute network can also be accessed in the hostel rooms by means of a LAN cable. The mess and the canteen provide good quality and hygienic food, and the health related problems of students (apart from COVID-19) are typically unheard of. Besides all the advantages, the impact due to the already looming COVID-19 pandemic remains one of the major challenges that needs to be addressed. COVID-19 has already had an effect in everyone's daily life, and its impact is strong enough to affect the on-campus education of the future students. Supplementing the quality of offline education into online education is the biggest challenge that IITM faces now, as far as motivating the students is concerned. Any IITM aspirant can certainly get to enjoy many privileges.They can get to work in the highly sophisticated labs, get in touch with the most intellectual minds throughout India, and live in a natural environment conducive to one's academic progress, physical and mental well being. Therefore a lifetime experience of an IIT beckons if one manages to crack the required entrance and gets selected.

Campus Facilities: The students can stay at the IITM hostels, as well as outside of the campus which has numerous flats, PGs and rooms available on rent, especially in the southern locality of Taramani. The Central Library at IITM has a collection of numerous books covering areas of history, geography, language and linguistics apart from the science, engineering and technnology textbooks. There is also an e-resource section containing journals, accessed by the usage of institute credentials. Due to COVID-19, almost all the classes have been in the online mode. Based on my experience, I can say that the classrooms are well-lit and spacious, and perfect for students to develop academic motivation. The IITM hostel has an inbuilt LAN port, which can be accessed if you have a LAN cable and it has to be renewed daily. The hostels have god facilities, water is supplied by water cans, each and every room has a LAN port for internet connectivity and the rooms are good enough for accomodation. Also each room has mosquito nets fitted on the windows. The washrooms are cleaned daily. In some hostels, students can avail the use of washing machines, refrigerators and other advanced equipments. The mess and the canteen gives good quality and hygienic food, and the health related problems of students (apart from COVID-19) are typically unheard of. The labs in IITM are one of the best in India, with some of the most modern and advanced equipments like the IR, NMR, EPR and ESR spectrometers (in the Chemistry department), autoclave, cryogenic freezers and so on, and are maintained by qualified lab assistants. There is an institute hospital, which takes care of the health of the students; and the medical facilities provided there are top-notch. There are some stores in IITM from where students can afford their daily household chores. There is also a SBI ATM nearby. Interestingly, all of them are located nearby the hostel zone.

Campus Life: The Shaastra is the annual tech festival, and the Saarang is the annual cultural festival of IITM. The former runs from the 13th to the 16th of January while the latter runs from the 6th to the 9th of January. Unfortunately, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic these events have been organised only in the online mode, but without compromising their popularity. The Saarang mainly focuses on the interaction with celebrities spanning the fields of art, literature and sports to name a few. It also bears host to many rock shows, stand up comedy and pop and classical music concerts. The Shaastra organises many workshops, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, summits and conferences pertaining to the fields of science, technology and management. Further there are many student-managed social groups and clubs, like the Drama, Choreo, Comedy and Analytics clubs to name a few. There are also excellent faciities for racquet sports, cricket, football, hockey, athletics, swimming etc.

Faculty: IITM has some of the most qualified, experienced and eminent professors (in Chemistry at least; I expect things to be the same in other areas of education). The quality of teaching is one of the best in India. The professors mainly stress on a hands-on practical approach and a holistic method of learning. The course composition is ideal for a student to cope up with, and the exams are moderate to slightly difficult. The majority of the exam contents come from the class teachings, with the view that each and every student passes the examination. In total, there are around 550 faculty and 8000 students, making up for an approximately 1:15 ratio between them respectively.

Placements: The companies offering internships are Hindustan Unilever, Cognizant, Godrej, Nasscom, Uber, Videocon and many more. In the academic front, students can also intern at institutes like the IITs and IISERs. They can also intern as an educator in academies like the Byju's and Unacademy. The stipend normally ranges from 3K/month to 60K/month depending upon the job. In the projects, the students can perform the roles of a data analyst, software developer, academic instructor, research assistant and many other positions through appropriate jobs. In the future, they can utilize their ideas and learning experience in research projects as well as while working as an employee in companies. At least in the M.Sc and M. Tech courses, from the 3rd semester onwards students are eligible for registration to placements. The companies that recruit students are Pfizer for the post of senior associate scientist, HCL technologies, Genesys Telecom Labs India Pvt. Ltd. for software engineers, Evertz for graduate engineer, and Tata Consultancy Services among many others. The packages typically range from 3K/month to 1.5 L/month depending on the job and company. Around 70% to 80% of the students get placed in the top companies each and every year.

Campus/Events:

Start Up Incubator: The IITM incubation cell is the leading Deep-technological Startup Hub in India. It coordinates the amalgamation of various excellence driving innovation with the entrepreneurship opportunities, thereby leading to cutting-edge research and industrial interactions. The IITM incubation cell supports faculty, students, staff, alumni and entrepreneurs in the creation of successful deep tech startups largely for the benefit of the society. The Incubation Cell technologically supports entrepreneurs in establishing themselves before they scale up their ventures. Further support is extended towards entrepreneurs by translating innovations into commercially viable products and services. The leading companies in this regard are Ather Energy Pvt. Ltd., Uniphore Software Systems Pvt. Ltd., Cygni Energies Pvt. Ltd., Aibono, Hyperverge Inc., and many more.

Safety Measures: Anti-Ragging Cell, Anti-Drugs Cell, Anti-Riots Cell, Women Safety Cell, Other