Design: Swati Sheenum, G Shreethigha, Shaurya Rawat, Abhiram Pavithran O, Rohit Gadarla and Hardhik Pinjala.
T5E’s Exit Survey 2020 was conducted in the month of july to study student’s perspective of studying at IIT Madras. The respondents of the survey were graduating students of the year 2020. The survey witnessed a total of 300 responses. The survey explored various aspects of a student’s life like Lifestyle, Personal, Career, Academics, Extra-curricular and Opinion.
The following article delves into the exiting batch’s opinions on various aspects of insti life – everything from mess food and hostels, to insti elections and attendance policies.
Home Sweet Home?
There seems to be a stark difference between people’s disposition towards mess food and the hostels.
Although the presence alternatives like HFC, SFC, Zaitoon (yes, we’re still calling it that 🙃 ) and online food delivery options seemed to ensure that people were more indifferent than disappointed, it’s still worth noting that their opinion of the hostel rooms was more positive than that of the mess food.
Attendance Policy
It appears as though most respondents were only slightly miffed at the current attendance policy, with 75% mandatory attendance being the sweet spot. Unsurprisingly, an equal number of people also wanted no compulsory attendance, a dream which is just as ambitious as it is unlikely. And let’s not forget, 3.1% who feel 85% just isn’t quite enough.
Compulsory HS Credits
Nearly 40% of respondents were perfectly fine with the 27 compulsory credits for Humanities courses, with DoMS being the most popular alternative, and core courses being the least favoured.
Participation in Elections
Nearly two-thirds of respondents claimed to have voted responsibly, by educating themselves about the candidates’ policies and making an informed decision. One-fourth of the respondents voted arbitrarily while one-tenth preferred to abstain from voting.
DISCO Policy
With the illegality of proxies being the greatest source of dissent, the recurring theme of students wanting lower attendance standards shows up yet again. What is surprising, however, is the fact that more people were in agreement with the DISCO policy for plagiarism than for being intoxicated in insti.
Regrets (if any)
We’re happy to report that over one-third of respondents left insti with no regrets, having accomplished whatever they set out to do. Meanwhile, the regrets of the remaining two-thirds were nearly evenly split amongst extracurriculars, academic opportunities, and interpersonal skills.
The Memories!
Goodbyes are always the hardest. This year’s graduating batch has had it particularly rough, as they never even had the chance to have a proper farewell – a chance to cherish the last drink at cool biz, the last proxy, the last overpriced coffee at CCD, the last late-night cycle ride, the last night of mugging before an exam, petting a deer for the last time, getting your snacks stolen by those adorable spawns of satan, for one final time. There’s often no way to know you’re in the good ol’ days until you’ve already left them, but if there’s one thing the entire graduating batch seems to agree on, it’s that the memories you make here, will last you a lifetime.
So, this is it from the opinion aspect. We will be back with another article tomorrow so be ready for another trip down the memory lane!
Stay tuned for more analysis!