Edited by Anushka Gowalkar
Note: T5E’s Exit Survey 2022 was conducted in June to study graduating students’ perspectives of life at IIT Madras. The survey had 341 responses across the entire graduating class of 2022, nearly 60% of the survey respondents being UG students (B.Tech + DD+ MA) while the rest were PG students (MSc + MTech + MBA + Ph.D. + MS).
The survey explored various aspects of the essence of a student at insti, such as Lifestyle, Personal Life, Career, Decision Making, Academics, Extracurriculars, and Opinion.
This article focuses specifically on Academics aspects like CGPA satisfaction, studying habits, etc. :
Which Degree are you pursuing?
Do you feel academics prevented you from doing things you wanted to try out?
Regardless of their academic workload, around 43% of the B.Tech, MBA, DD, and MA students ensured they had tried everything they wanted. While 50-55% of Ph.D./MS/MSc students had tried out all the things they wanted to, the PGs felt that they could have explored more if their coursework had been a little more flexible and lighter.
Facilities for Project Work
More than 55% of the students felt adequate facilities and resources to complete their project work, while around 7% felt there weren’t enough resources available. A notable 15% of the students in the B.Tech/DD/M.Tech/MA/MBA hasn’t done any project work under a professor.
Average time spent on academics/projects
B.Tech, Dual Degree, and MA students spent an average of 2-3 hours per day studying, whereas the postgraduates and the research scholars spent around 4-7 hours per day. Another intriguing and fairly intuitive find was that those engaged in fewer study hours were less satisfied with their CGPA than those who studied for more than 5 hours a day.
1) CGPA
CGPA Distribution
Here we see a fascinating distribution compared to last year. The CGPA of most students last year lay in the range of 7-9, but this year it is in 8-10 range.
Are you satisfied with your CGPA
Around 50% of the B.Tech/DD/M.Tech/MA/MBA students and 60% of the MS/MSc/Ph.D. students were satisfied with their final CGPA, while 12% of total students were desperate for a chance to increase their CGPA.
Career path pursued and CGPA
While CGPA doesn’t decide your career, we observed a clear trend in the mean cgpa vs. career followed. Those who pursued higher studies in core and non-core sectors had an average cgpa of 8.9 and 8.34, respectively. While graduates who accepted jobs in the core and non-core sectors had an average cgpa of 8.58 and 8.40, respectively.
Convenient place for studying
The survey found that 54% of the students found it convenient to study from their rooms compared to around 20% using the library and an even lesser 14% utilizing the department facilities.
Convenient place vs. CGPA
We correlated the CGPA of students and their comfortable place to study. Students who studied in their room most of the time had an average CGPA of 8.66, while those who preferred to read in their friend’s room had an average of 8.25.
2) Branch Alignment
Which Branch will you choose if given a choice?
The survey found that 35% of the graduates would choose the CS department if given a choice. The higher average CTC and the number of job opportunities might be the reason a majority of the students would like to choose the CS branch, followed by EE and CH.
How much did Branch Change benefit you?
We found that around 6% of the respondents have opted for a branch change; out of that, around 52% feel that it helped them achieve their goals, and about 4% regret their choice.
3) IDDD
The survey revealed that around 33% of the dual degree students converted to IDDD due to various advantages they found in pursuing it. That’s a 17% increase compared to last year’s 15%.
IDDD Data Science remains the most popular choice among students due to the job opportunities and recent buzz, followed by computation engineering and quantum sciences.
IDDD Pros & Cons
While around 45% of the students felt that choosing IDDD helped them explore a subject of interest, 25% found that it aided in getting them better job opportunities. About 70% of the students found it worth spending an extra year, and a diminutive percentage regretted choosing IDDD.
4) Studying Habits & Experience
Experience in IITM vs Way of Studying
The stats show that around 25% of students study regularly from the start of the semester, 45% were focused on their interests rather than academics, and 30% studied at the last moment.
We asked the students to rate their experience in IITM on a scale of 1-5, and we correlated it with their studying patterns.
The riveting observation is that people who pursued their interests instead of academics had an average experience of 4.09/5. This, in a way, shows that following your interests in life and keeping in mind academics is equally important as people who studied everything at the last moment for exams did not have a great experience in IITM comparatively.
Conclusion
341 students from various programs at IITM have responded to this survey which can be summarized as follows:
- While most tried out everything they wanted, some felt they could have explored more opportunities.
- The same holds true when it comes to doing a project with a professor. 15 percent of students didn’t do a project.
- As expected, the average study duration per day is 2-3 hours more for the PG students and the research scholars than the UG students.
- The students who studied for more time were more satisfied with their CGPA than others.
- It is seen that the average final CGPA has increased this year, and the possible reason for this is the semesters being online.
- On average, 50 percent or more of the students were satisfied with their final CGPA, whereas 12% still wanted a better one.
- Fifty-four percent of the students preferred rooms over library or department facilities for studying.
- The preference order of the branch, if given a chance to choose, is CS > EE > CH. CS lies at the top of the list due to higher CTC and more job opportunities.
- The percentage of students converting to IDDD has increased this year from 15 to 17 percent. IDDD Data Science remains the most popular choice. IDDD has been a medium of exploration for some and better job opportunities for others.
- 25 percent of the students studied from the start of the semester, while 30 percent studied at the last moment.
To conclude, insti is filled with students of different mindsets and ambitions. Each student has a unique perspective on academics, CGPA, and projects. Some students dedicatedly study and maintain a top-notch CGPA throughout their program, while others attempt to come out of their comfort zones and try new things while maintaining a good CGPA. The habits of the students do influence their academic performance. Above all, what remains evident is that everyone is passionate about having a successful career, but the way to achieve that goal differs from person to person.
