
What Students Say
Likes
- The campus is known for it's gorgeous gothic style old-victorian infrastructure, which is the primary attraction for this college, as it is one of the oldest Autonomous Jesuit institutes in Mumbai.
- The students that you will meet here, come from good backgrounds, as the admission system is highly merit based and does not discriminate based on class or caste. There are some percentages of quotas, but still the college is quite inclusive to all.
- The teaching faculty is also very excellent in my experience, the department of Sociology and Psychology is the best in this college. The coursework one has to do in Xavier's is quite rigorous and demanding but also rewarding at the same time.
Dislikes
- One thing I despise is the attendance system. It is a very strict 75% mandatory attendance, and failure to comply can cause you to get debarred from exams. While it does make students more regular with their attendance, it can often become taxing.
- The canteen food, although delicious, has had several health code violations in the past from the sighting of a rat in the canteen kitchen, to a cockroach being found in a sandwich. And the management still refuses to take any measures to prevent it.
- There are a lot of entitled and privileged students from South Bombay, who bring with them an unsavoury attitude, which makes them the most popular but also the most hated on campus. Also in my course which is Sociology there are not a lot of boys.
Course Curriculum Overview
The curriculum is very well balanced in terms of relevance to current world topics. In the case of sociology I don't think it prepares you for real world jobs as the Sociology curriculum is very theory based and it doesn't teach a lot of real world applications, but it does thoroughly prepare you for further academic pursues such as purse using your masters in a different country. They teach you to write complex thesis and dissertations which are necessary skills to know. The teaching methods could be improved and a lot of teachers could work on the feedback that they received from the Student feedback forms, as several of the teachers are not good at engaging the students during lectures and often make them fall asleep. The frequency and timing of exams is pretty balanced, the difficulty is also just right but the marking system could be a bit more lenient.
Internships Opportunities
There is a placement cell at Xavier's that you have to pay a fee of 1200 to join. In this cell, you find constant internships and job application portals from various reputed companies such as Morgan Stanley, DE Shaw, Accenture, Ernest and Young, Deloitte, etc., to apply for with great salary packages and stipends if you get selected and placed. Although getting placed through the vacancies here has proved to be difficult for humanities courses as most of the openings are for Economics, Statistics and Commerce students. And there are several rules to be followed when using the placement cell to obtain placements, such as the paperwork regarding the academic credit that is acquired through these internships and once selected the candidates are discouraged from declining the offers, as it results in them getting blacklisted by the companies.
Fees and Financial Aid
For my course which was Bachelor of Arts in Sociology the fees was 7000 per year with no additional fees as such. But courses such as BMM and BMS had higher fees, depending on the facilities and amenities provided to them. There are scholarships available as well as financial aid for students from impoverished backgrounds.
Campus Life
The fests that are most popular at St. Xavier's College are Malhar the flagship fest of the college in August, Janfest - the Indian Music Group fest in January, Ithaka - the English Department fest in February, Zephyrus - the BMS Department fest in November, Vividha - Ancient Indian Culture Department fest in February, etc. The library at St. Xavier's College is very famous for it's vast collection of books from across decades and it's wide level of accessibility for students, as well as the infrastructure is quite beautiful and several tv shows and movies scenes have been shot there. Almost every classroom has a projector screen to facilitate audio visual learning. The classes for BA and BSc do not have air conditioning but classes for BScIT, BMM and BMS have air conditioning, which is added to their yearly fees. There are specific rooms made for audio visual lectures such as the MMR, SCAVI and HERAS Mezzanine. There is giant football and basketball court right in the middle of the quadrangle as well as a volleyball and badminton court near the college foyer. There is a gym with a lot of equipment for the students to use as well as ample space for students to practice various sports and team games. Student run groups include the Extra Curricular Committee ECC, All India Catholic Union Federation AICUF, Social Service League SSL, Student Inclusion Cell SIC, Student Council, Student Support Group SSG, Marathi Vangmay Mandal MVM, etc. I was part of two of these groups and they helped me grow as an individual, it gives students a lot of exposure to develop interpersonal skills and confidence as well as makes them feel like they belong somewhere, fostering a sense of solidarity among the students.
Admission
In my opinion, the admission process for St. Xavier's College was pretty smooth and the portal worked well when I applied. This was the only college I had applied for, after a while I was thinking of applying to Ramnarain Ruia College and Jai Hind College but then I got accepted in Xavier's so there was no need to apply to the other colleges. The parameters on which they select students was purely based on merit, with a few exceptions for minority quotas. Xavier's has a a larger minority quota for Christian students, as it is a Jesuit institution. The cutoffs range at around 95% for Arts and around 90% for Science.
Faculty
The faculty members are a bit less as compared to the number of students in a particular course. For example the history department only has two professors and the Hindi department only has one professor. This might lead to increased strain and workload on these faculty members. The course structure for BA includes six semesters with two CIA (Continuous Internal Assessment) exams per semester and one end semester exam per semester. Depending on the course the marking schemes and the difficulty of the exams differ. Mostly everyone passes but a few students do end up with KTs. But as far as I know the course curriculum is very relevant. The best department in my opinion is the Sociology department, but I may be biased because I am from that department. But the teachers are very sweet, enthusiastic and approachable people who excel at their jobs. Second best department would be the Psychology department faculty. They are also very kind-hearted and fun to work with. A department that I dislike would be the Economics and Statistics department, the faculty there is known to be very cold and detached from their students. As for the rest of the departments they are pretty okay. The BSc departments also don't have a great reputation at Xavier's.
Interview Experience
I did
Night Life
The locality surrounding St. Xavier's could be considered the safest, as there is a Court of Law nearby, a hospital, a railway station as well as several restaurants in the vicinity. Favourite hangout spots could be the Sandwich place at Xavier's West gate, which holds a lot of sentimental value for students, as well as the sugarcane juice stall right in front of college, the restaurant Kyaani and co, the bars Kitkat and Gokul near marine lines, etc. Xavier's only has a boys hostel as far as I know which is on campus, although there are a lot of PGs and hostels nearby Xavier's for outstationed students though they might not be very affordable due to the prime location that is South Bombay. As I previously mentioned the college does have a cafeteria and gyn facilities, the food is great and they have a bakery, juice and salad counter and chai corner as well, aside from a few health concern cases. There's also Jehangir Art Gallery, Colaba Causeway, Crawford market and FashionStreetnearby
Other Applied Colleges
Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College | Bachelor of Arts [BA] (Psychology)
I didn't opt for this college as I got admission in Xavier's first and that college is more reputed than Ramnarain Ruia
Sophia College for Women | Bachelor of Arts [BA]
I preferred Xavier's due to travelling convenience and opportunity for more exposure
Comments