
Remarks
Overall the college is very good and one of the most reputed colleges. The faculty and the infrastructure is good though canteen can be improved. Labs are well equipped but needed renovation back when I was a student. Professors are well educated though some may je partial at times which is unavoidable at any institution.
Entrance Preview
Admission was on merit basis. I was interested in content writing and mass media and hence opted for this course. And SIES was one of the good colleges overall and a good institute for the course I wanted. Since I completed my HSc also in this college, it was familiar and convenient for me.
Course Curriculum Overview
The course spans for 3 years with 6 semesters (2 each year). Each semester has different subjects. This curriculum is set by Mumbai University. The subjects are very relevant to the media field and polish our skills and knowledge for all aspects for mass media and journalism. It also includes subjects like financial management and statistics which many won't consider important to mass media but you learn it indeed is. The scoring was divided in 2 where one half was for theory ie written exams and the other for group presentations or individual projects. This also introduced us to working harmoniously in teams which prepared us for our careers and also improved our people skills, presentation skills, typing and PowerPoint skills etc.
Internships Opportunities
No internship is provided though we are encouraged to look for one during vacations to help build out portfolio for the future.
Placement Experience
No placements offered for this course. We had to look for our own once we graduated. Most salaries in the field as a fresher is low which is where our vacation internships help us to show experience and demand a better pay. Payment can be as low as 8-10k per month for freshers. I joined a digital media based company that was also into IT and Outsourcing which is why I got a good starting pay after some negotiation, at 15k per month.
College Events
We had a college fest 'Visions' which had lots of fun events like fashion show, dancing, singing, celebrity performances. Techinical events were also conducted where students interested in robotics were provided chances to develop prototypes and robots. Gaming events were held for gamers to compete in wide range of games. There are also BMM fests held in most colleges that is an intercollege fest. The host college invites other colleges to participate in competitions like film making, ad making, short film, acting etc. Though SIES did not have an in house BMM fest, the professors and college encouraged participation in other colleges' BMM fests.
Fee Structure And Facilities
Fees for aided courses is affordable at around 5000-6000 per year. Unaided, professional courses are a expensive since it includes visiting faculty newer subjects. For professional courses like BMM, the fees go up to 25000 per year, which can be paid in 2 parts at the beginning of each semester.
Fees and Financial Aid
I am not sure of this but I am guessing the college did provide concession for underprivileged students and also paid students in NCC. Other than that I am not sure if there were any scholarships provided. The mainstream courses like Bsc, BA, BCom etc were aided courses where the fees was less and partly paid by government.
Campus Life
Gender ratio was pretty good although it depended on the course too. For example, Arts stream had barely 4-5 boys while the rest were girls out of a strength of 50. However in courses like BMM, BMS, BSc etc, the ratios were more balanced. There was no blatant discrimination seen in any policies and the college overall seemed accepting of a diversities. However, since the college is a South Indian organization, it did have a quota for the south Indians for admissions. This did show in the students as around 65% of the total.students were South Indians. However the college is located in the middle of Mumbai city so it did see students from other areas like Gujaratis, Sindhis Punjabis and of course maharashtrians.
Hostel Facilities
No hostel system but we did have a canteen and a Nestle counter that serves cold coffee, frappe, iced tea and hot beverages along with maggi. Canteen also served a variety of food like Chinese, north Indian, south Indian etc and snacks like poha, bada pao, samosa etc. which was delicious, fresh and not too greasy. However, the canteen was in the basement which made it poorly lit and dim and at times the canteen seemed to.lack cleanliness. The chairs and tables were plastic ones and overall the canteen was a bit smaller compared to the crowd that comes in. The canteen was also noisy but the staff handling the counters were good and kind. This is however the state it was in 2012 so I am not sure if the premise was renovated after I graduated.
Alumni/Alumna
College seniors for my course were helpful and we often interacted with them during inter college fests and events plus to seek guidance for projects and examinations. They were approachable, knowledgeable and helpful.
Exam Structure
The projects given to us were sometimes hectic since working in teams always gives rise to conflicts and difference of opinion. Plus not everyone works in the same pace and everyone has constraints. Sometimes the project deadlines were a little tight and difficult to meet. While some professors provided some leeway, others were strict and stuck to their timelines. Exams were conducted at the end of every semester and there were unit tests before the exams to help students assess their knowledge before the main exams. One of the exams had to be given in a computer lab for Adobe flash and one project in the red room for developing images from film under the photography subject.
Admission
Admission was on merit basis. After the HSc. results were declared, I filled up the form for the course and submitted to the college. I had scored 69% in HSc Arts stream. Though I wasn't selected in the first list but I was selected in the second list under the South Indian Quota.
Faculty
We had only 2 or 3 in-house faculty and the rest were visiting faculty. Our college ensured to bring the best from the field and they had amazing insights, stories and real life examples to make learning more interesting and fun. Plus the knowledge they shared was authentic and really opened our eyes to the real media world. The in-house faculty too was approachable and knowledgeable. They were most of the times helpful and provided guidance when necessary. They also provided constructive feedback on our projects and presentation skills.
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