Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology - [Thapar University], Patiala

 Thapar University was established in 1956. When it was a young institution, it ranked among the top 20 universities/colleges in India, and its students achieved great heights. Even today, many students from this University do immensely well and bring honor to it. 

This institution has a long-standing reputation and its alumni work in top MNCs as well as are part of the Indian Civil Services. Some of the top companies where its alumni are presently working include- Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Adobe, Twitter, Cisco, Uber, VMWare etc.

Even though Thapar University is still a brand name, newly opened institutions like DAIICT, BITS Goa, BITS Hyd, etc. are outperforming it significantly. The university has seen a significant decline in its glorious days in the past. This is because since 2008, due to its owner’s financial constraints, the crowd quality has declined and things have become more money-driven. There are few hikes every year. Unlike before, there are around 1300-1500 students on campus in the present times.

Thus, Thapar University has fallen down from its days of glory and significant steps need to be taken to revive its lost glory.

Thapar University has a brand name, however, the ground reality for this university is not very pleasant and it is swiftly losing the qualities that defined it in its glorious past. The rankings of students enrolled in the university are going down each year. The administration is taking serious measures against the same, however, because of these measures the other students are suffering. One example is the strict entry and exit timings. 

Academically, your experience in this institution will differ according to your branch. The CSE branch has a cooperative faculty and lenient attendance criteria. This is not the case for other branches. In other branches, some faculty members may hold personal grudges against you while some may fail you for missing the required attendance mark (75%) by as small as 0.1%. The mess is below average and the classrooms are not very impressive.  The administration is very slow. 

However, there are positive points about Thapar University as well. The alumni from Thapar are placed in some of the best companies in India and abroad. It has some of the best synthetic courts in any engineering college in India. There are many teachers at Thapar University who serve as a source of inspiration to their students. Sports facilities for all the major sports are great. Placements at Thapar University are great and the labs are well updated. Even though Thapar is facing a drug problem, its teachers and administration are very active in trying to solve this issue.

Thus, even though Thapar University has outlived its glorious days, it has some positive points too. It is completely your choice whether or not you wish to take admission into it.

I am an alumnus of Thapar University. Back when I was a student, Dr. V.P. Aggarwal was one of the best teachers at Thapar.

Back in 2014, sir used to teach us KOM (Kinematics of Machines - UME 302). I would usually arrive late for all my lectures, and sit for them with almost no interest. But one of sir’s classes truly inspired me and changed my perspective on life. 

Our ESTs were nearing, and so those days very few students attended classes. Sir was teaching us a topic and at the end, he asked us for our doubts. All of us were sitting in a disinterested manner, almost as if forced to attend the lectures. This was when sir told us that he had come back to the university at 4 in the morning, straight from Jabalpur. 

He had come back specifically for our class. When we asked him why he took so much pain for a single class, he replied that it was duty to teach his students. He said he would have felt restless with the thought that maybe some student had a query that day which couldn’t be solved because of his absence.

He told us that for him duty was above everything else. He wanted all his students to work hard and stay motivated. That day changed my perspective on life, and made me realize the importance of hardwork.

This is why, for me, sir is one of the best teachers whom I studied under at Thapar University.