Why to Choose Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal |Courses-Fees-Overview-Ranking

Jadavpur University, established in 24^th December, 1955, is a state educational institute. It is located in Raja Subodh Chandra Mallick Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata-700032, West Bengal. The history of J.U. sketches the history of India’s Freedom Movement. Its motto is- “To Know Is To Grow”. Great personalities like Nandalal Bose, Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore, Sir Gurudas Banerjee and many others were initially behind the growth of this University and their guidance made this University one of the top Universities in India. The National Institutional Ranking Framework has ranked it 17 among engineering institutes in India in 2020, 12 overall and 5^th among universities. Also, internationally, it holds good position. So, definitely J.U. is a unique educational institution.

“In order to be irreplaceable one should vary.” – Coco Chanel.

To be a unique institution, it needs to be different from others. Not only being popular makes a university unique. Being a residence of Jadavpur and J.U. being my alma mater, I better know that Jadavpur University is different and unique in all respect. The aim of a university is to promote education above all barriers-caste, religion, gender, economic, etc. and to encourage students in all other activities that crave out their talents apart from education. The following criteria depict how all these in combination makes Jadavpur University what it is today and differentiates from the rest.

Quality Students: The students of Jadavpur University uphold its glory and make it a unique institute. It selects the best students from all schools and colleges and becomes their best guide with the result that the students end up in a successful career like every year, from our Geology department, about 70% of the students crack IIT JAM.

Low Fees: Jadavpur University is the only university that charges cheapest possible fees per annum. The entire four years engineering courses fees is only about 11k and that of BSc. courses for three years is only about 7k. Even our BSc. Geology semerter-1 exam fees was only rupees 64. This is shocking enough compared to other colleges or universities. Even the hostel accommodation fees and library fine is shockingly less. The library fine is only 50 paise per day after the date of submission is expired. So, it is undoubtedly the cheapest University and gives opportunity to all the students of various financial backgrounds and assures that money is no restriction and education is open to all. 

Amazing Faculty: J.U provides such extraordinary faculty members that its students does not need to run after private tutors like we never heard any student of our department having private tutions. Actually they provide more than what is needed. Professors utilize their one hour class and impart knowledge in a unique way through presentations and smart classes. We have professors like Dr. Prof. Nibir Mondal and Pulak Sengupta and we run short of words when we talk of their qualification. One would love to do their classes. Our professors believe more in learning than running after numbers and they are the key to our success. They are much humble, easily approachable for doubts and even friendly. Student to professor ratio of J.U. is far better compared to other universities of the state. 

Research Opportunities: J.U. provides a unique opportunity for research. Its rank is in the top ten Indian Universities in terms of research. It has collaboration with many high quality institutes through research and academic development programmes-Trieste, Italy, University of Liverpool, British Council of Manchester University, DRDO and many more. 

Seminars: Jadavpur University organizes seminars and lectures by eminent scientists and professors in all its departments to enhance the level of education and students from all years are allowed to join.

Placements: There has been a rapid growth in placement over the years. The institution features a good placement record with the very best salary package of INR 42 LPA. The University holds 80% of the entire placement record. The very best companies recruit like Goldman Sachs, MS, Ernst and Young, Amazon etc. 

Freedom: It is the only university that provides freedom to the fullest to all its students both in education and other activities. There is no fixed attendance percentage to be maintained. It does not mean that J.U. discourages its students from coming to the University rather it believes that students must have their own urge to come without any force and the result is that the students pass out with flying colours. It gives freedom to the voice of its students. The students also have the freedom to decide the patter of classes and exam schedule considering the difficulty of respective subjects. The most unique part of J.U.’s freedom is-there is no requirement of any I.D. card to enter into J.U. campus. It means that it is open for anyone belonging to any institution for any kind of need. These are rather shocking! However, it is true and is not seen in any other institutes.

Culture: The students of J.U. are nurtured in a completely different kind of culture compared to any other University. All the departments of J.U. follow their own system and culture but still they are united as ‘Jadavpurians’-a unity in diversity in true sense. Apart from freedom, it provides the opportunity to the students to develop themselves in various fields like drama, music, dance, photography apart from usual study courses. Fests are also organized by the students every year to have refreshment from the usual humdrum and they give a chance to all the students of all streams to collaborate. We even celebrate any such occasion like- Rabindra Jayanti or World Environment Day, and this arouses interests in the mind of students towards that occasion. Although, some people are under the impression that the culture of J.U. indulges students in all sort of bad activities but as a student of this University, I can proudly say that J.U. has a unique culture that shapes a student in such a way that they never face any problem in future and moreover we have a very good senior-junior relationship, completely different from other universities. We have such lovely seniors that we can approach them any time for any kind of help and regarding the rumors that go around like politics so, let me clear it out, there is no force for anything. Union is a part of every university and so for J.U. it’s completely one’s own decision to join it or not and rather the union of J.U. sort out disputes in various cases. Everyone is free to do anything, no one can force or stop them and so, there is no ragging in Jadavpur University.                    

Other Amenities : Jadavpur University has one main library called ‘central library’ (CL) which is overflowed with lakhs of books, journals, and individual libraries called ‘departmental libraries’ (DL) for respective departments. We hardly buy books for our library books are just enough to guide us. In addition, there is digital library to provide smart learning.

J. U. has seven auditoriums like K.P. Basu Memorial Hall, Gandhi Bhavan, etc. and other internal halls of respective departments like we have S. Deb Memorial Hall of Geology department and they aid in conducting seminars, meetings and other cultural activities like fests.

J.U. upholds its beauty through its green campus, grounds and trees. One would get engrossed in its natural beauty and it gives relaxation from the rest of the concrete world. Its playground provides an opportunity to the students to practice co-curricular activities like football, cricket, badminton, etc. and even we conduct inter-department matches to encourage students.

Jadavpur University has six to seven canteens which provide a variety of quality food in low price and this helps students especially living in PG who are unable to enjoy home-made food.

Money is a great factor in education these days. Higher studies claims high packages in most universities but J.U. is an exception. Apart from low fees, it aids students from poor backgrounds through scholarships so that money becomes no bar to reach the heights of success.

So, clearly all these are uniqueness of Jadavpur University and so, students from all corners of our state irrespective of caste, religion, gender and financial backgrounds become a part of this university. Students are always eager to be a part of this university. This is the reason why every year students from both cities and interiors of West Bengal join us and the magic of J.U. is such that we all get mixed up in such a way that there is never any kind of discrimination. Upholding its quality and glory it gives all opportunities and freedom to its students and ensures a bright future for them. That’s why we have such personalities like Hemant Kumar, Subir Raha, Rituparno Ghosh, M.N. Roy, Badal Sarkar and many more as our alumni. I believe in future Jadavpur University will bring out such shining stars and so, it will always remain unique and different in its own way.

By SOHINI BISWAS, Kolkata