Loyola College, Chennai

One of my friends graduated from Loyola College and here are some of the things I got to know from him. This information might answer your question. 

• Firstly, have a community certificate and good scores.
• Secondly, it depends on the kind of program you're looking for. For instance, VISCOM is the only program that has an entrance exam and personal interview.
• All other programs are on a merit basis where the cut-off varies from department to department. Only B.Com and BBA departments have strict cut-offs. 
• The rest of the departments should accept average applicants provided you have a caste certificate.
• You might think it is merit, but no. You need to be a catholic, that's the first requirement. If you are a Roman Catholic that's an added advantage.

They prefer Christians though they do admit students from other belief systems or religions that only account for around 10 to 20% of admission where they consider your scoring.

The admission procedure followed at Loyola College is quite simple, unlike many other institutes. Here is how it can be bifurcated,

1. You are supposed to apply on an online portal for the course that you want to pursue. 
2. There will be a brief mention of an online application portal which Loyola College often declares following the HSC results. 
3. Afterward, select the course and provide all the necessary details questioned by the college.
4. If you are shortlisted, you will receive a mail, SMS, or a simple call letter to the respective address given earlier in the application. 

On contrary to that, if you apply for a PG course, then you will have to follow a few additional steps to continue the admission procedure, such as an entrance exam or a brief interview session, as per what will be announced by the administration. 

I have a friend who went to Loyola College and here are some of the things that she mentioned about the institute. 

Advantages: 

• Dress Code- You can wear anything that you want, i.e. jeans, a t-shirt, etc. And you are not forced to wear formal as they are quite lenient about it.
• Reputation- The college is quite reputed. 
• Canteen- Everything is available from South Indian Cuisine to Western Fast Food. Also, because of this, it is heavily crowded at all times.
• You can enter and exit the campus any time that you want and there are no restrictions for this.
• Most of the seniors are quite friendly but it’s better not to take part in elections or get into politics.

Disadvantages: 

• Poor faculty- Most of the faculty is just average. Some of them do not even speak correct English. Sometimes, it gets annoying to sit in the class for an hour every day. After a few semesters, you might get exhausted and wouldn’t want to go to the class.
• Attendance- You are required to maintain an average of 80% attendance which becomes quite difficult when you don’t wish to attend classes because of the above-stated reasons. If you fail to maintain this attendance criterion, you will not be allowed to give one exam.
• Outreach- You will have to be a part of any society and contribute at least 90 hours and it can become tiring. The timings for this would be 10:30 am to 12 pm. You will also have to attend classes on the same day and then reach the outreach location which becomes quite hectic.
• College crowd- Most of the students are average in studies. It will be very difficult to find like-minded fellows. Most of the students are from various towns like Tamil Nadu, Salem, Tuticorin, Erode, etc. More than 50% of the students are from outside of Chennai.
• Only three departments in the college are co-ed while more than half of the colleges in North India and elsewhere are co-ed.
• College timings- The timings for shift two students is 1:30 pm to 6:30 pm and most of the students don’t like this timing.

These are a few of the things that you should know before joining Loyola College. 

When you arrive in Chennai, you will feel as if you have another hometown in South India. People here don't care what religion you practice, where you're from, or anything else. Everyone will be engaged with their work. You will find it difficult to find a friend zone once you are settled because you do not like to leave the city.

It makes no difference where you study or what you study in college, it all depends on what you learn. Loyola is one of India's most well-known and oldest colleges, so you don't need to worry so much.

Now talk about some challenges you may face here:

• Language - In starting, it will be tough to get people to grasp what you are trying to communicate. But don't worry, you'll learn Tamil in no time.
• Place to stay - Before you come to Chennai, decide where you will stay.
• Food - You may find a wide range of cuisines in Chennai, however the most of them will be hot and spicy.

The language barrier is the only thing you need to overcome. By doing that you will be able to adjust with the culture very easily.

Yes, there is a dress code at Loyola College.

The items of clothing you shouldn’t be wearing include Round neck t-shirts and Half trousers. You can wear anything except these, you can wear polo tees, and please note that this is the dress code for boys.

Women on the other hand aren’t allowed to wear leggings. This applies only to Arts and Science streams. In engineering, you are supposed to wear formals.

Avoid wearing clothing that contains graphic content and unparliamentary language. Decent attire is always appropriate.

A few years back, ragging was quite prevalent in Loyola. It was not harsh and usually ended after one or two months of college. The students are sometimes asked to duck walk across the campus roads or buy beers for their seniors.

In 1994, when the college had opened, ragging went above board. There was a massive crackdown and a lot of students who were involved got suspended for at most two weeks. Since then, there has not been much ragging at Loyola. Security has been leveled up and nothing of this sort has taken place since then. The hostel arena still has a little bit of ragging but nothing is that serious, worst comes to worst, you’ll just have to run errands for your seniors.

The campus also has an ani-ragging committee, where you can complain if you face any sort of ragging. 

The answer to this question depends on what you want to do. I have a few friends from Loyola College, Chennai, and here is what they have to say about the institute.

• Loyola has really good professors and a vast library with huge collections of books.
• It also has a digital library and conducts national-level symposiums. The placement office is amazing and a lot of different companies from diversified fields come to the campus. In the last placement drive, the highest CTC offered was 5 LPA. 
• Loyola has a policy of 80% attendance. It also has a compulsory club of 60 hours during the first year and there are a lot of options to choose from – NCC, NSS, FOP, Loyola dream team, AICUF, Rotaract, Radio, LPA, Debate Club, etc.

Even after all of this, certain students have arrear and do not like to study. They just want to enjoy themselves and do not enroll in any club, do not use the library at all. 

Overall, the college is good but it is up to you to make the most of your time there.