How about starting with walking down the nostalgia lane with some pictures from IIT Bombay that will leave you amazed, and then some?
An island of green in the concrete jungle of Mumbai, the IIT Bombay is nestled among hills and flanked by the Powai and Vihar lakes. A small township in itself, rich in flora and fauna, its green cover hasn’t just been maintained, but it has also risen over the years. What you get as a result is a visual treat for the eyes! Lake, forest, and mountain – IIT Bombay has it all.
Over the years, IIT Bombay or IIT Mumbai has emerged as the clear favourite of the JEE toppers – overtaking the other popular IITs such as IIT Delhi and IIT Madras. Did you that this year, just like 2015, the highest number of top 100 rankers of JEE advanced have opted for IIT Mumbai? As many as 67 candidates, who were among the top hundreds, have chosen the IIT Mumbai campus for graduation. Last year 65 students opted for IIT Mumbai.
It has been a trend since 2005 that a maximum number of students who are in the top 100 in JEE Advanced (Formerly IIT-JEE) opt for IIT Bombay. Take a quick look at the year-wise seats allotted to top 100 rankers.
There’s something mesmerizing about IIT Bombay because of which it is the most loved IIT out of the 23 IITs that exist in the country. What’s so special?
Here are the key reasons why IIT Mumbai is the favourite of JEE Advanced toppers and what has propelled the brand value of the IIT-B campus:
The Lush Green, Pollution-Free Campus
Though IIT-B is located in a posh area, it is pollution-free, thanks to the numerous trees and greenery that surrounds the area. It is built around the Powai Lake, which is a sight to see in itself. Students often go and sit by the lake and watch the moonlight to bust their stress and clear their mind after a hectic day of studying.
The campus houses high-tech amenities; basketball, squash and tennis courts; cricket, football and hockey grounds; and even two swimming pools. Close to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the campus boasts of occasional sightings of leopards, panthers, and Gharial crocodiles.
Wide Range of Courses
IIT Mumbai’s menu card has the greatest number of course options on it. The wide range of courses and their combinations are designed according to the current market demands and the potential demand in the near future. Hence, they prove to be greatly beneficial to students in terms of employment prospects.
The Institute has recently introduced strong graduate programs too. The Computer Science at IIT-B, which is the first choice for most of the JEE achievers, offers a ‘dual degree’ program option to students, which permits candidates to work for almost two and half years on a project – enough time to do some significant research.
A Gastronome’s Delight
Well, we are not really trying to undermine all the other fancy things IIT-B offers. But one cannot dare to ignore the food factor of this institute. It only justifies the fact that Mumbai is considered a street food paradise.
At most other IITs, you are stuck with either North Indian or South Indian cuisine. Cheap South Indian food at IIT Delhi and good quality inexpensive North Indian meals at IIT Madras are not so easy to find. But if you are an IIT-B student, you can eat Pani Puri at one stall and then dig into Dosa delights at the stall next to it. Plus, you have the choicest high-end restaurants and cuisines from just about anywhere in the city to explore.
Best IIT Placements
Over the past few years, IIT Mumbai has been able to attract the best pay packages from multinational corporations across the world. Last year, the five biggest salary packages were offered to IIT-B students. In 2013, as many as five IIT Bombay students received a salary offer of about Rs 30 lakh from MEC Japan – which was amongst the highest international offers made by the company.
Powai campus is also the most-visited IIT campus by MNCs and big domestic industry giants.
This year, the IIT-B girl Astha Agrawal got an offer worth Rs 2 crore from Facebook, which instantly caught the media’s attention.
Cultural & Extracurricular Activities
How about watching influential personalities like Asha Bhosle, R D Burman, Sonu Nigam and Ustad Zakir Hussain perform live on stage? That’s exactly what IIT-B has in store for its students.
IIT Bombay’s annual cultural festival called Mood Indigo is the largest of its kind in Asia. Usually held in December, this 4-day event is known for holding best cultural competitions, games and musical concerts. It is also known to draw out the best talent from across India.
Besides this, there are several other vibrant cultural, club and extracurricular activities held at IITB campus throughout the year such as Performance Arts functions, department trips, etc. Dramatics, Literary Arts, Fine Arts, and Music – all form an important part of the lives of IIT-B students.
Herd Mentality and Word-of-Mouth
Many IIT alumni (who are not from IIT Bombay) believe that one of the main reasons why IIT Bombay has become a traditional choice of the JEE toppers is the coaching class legacy. Many of the faculty members at the famous engineering coaching institutes of Kota were IIT Bombay alumni and promoted it as the best IITs. When a particular number of Top 100 JEE rank holders decided to that IIT Bombay is the best, some of the others would get influenced by them and opt for it too. This has developed into an artificial trend that favours IITB.
Students also tend to follow toppers do due to the herd mentality and opt for IIT-B where most of the toppers are studying, because they think, “Bhai apne saare toppers Bombay jaa rahe hain, toh acha hi hoga woh college dusro se.”
With a reputation as the City of Dreams, it is not surprising that the Powai campus has a very neutral demography. Student majority at most other IITs is North Indian, South Indian or East Indian – which is not the case at IITB.
To sum it up, living in a metro has its perks like better connectivity and better hostels. IIT Bombay is considered safer than IIT Delhi – for girls and boys. Besides, you have more fun options to explore and of course, pretty girls to check out (don’t forget that IITians, even JEE toppers, are college students (and humans) too ;-).
The variety of people present at IIT Bombay lead to some hilarious things in the campus. Get a sneak peek into the life at IIT Bombay here.
