Number One central university in India? Check.
Coolest campus in India? Check.
Widest range of courses to choose from? Check.
You, if a DU-ite, must be feeling proud on being a part of a university that boasts of such amazing features. Right?
But, is that all what you expect from a rank one university? Certainly not!
With the new session about to begin and some of the best minds of the country all set to enter the Delhi University, I feel it is important for every aspirant to take this reality-tour of DU. Here is my account of the usually ‘unreported’ side of the University that no magazine or career counselling guru will ever tell you.
(I feel like I am killing the surprise for you but trust me, getting this surprise after having made your decision will be a bitter experience)
1. Infrastructure in DU? Hardly available.
When it comes to infrastructure, sitting in an average college of DU makes you feel like sitting in a dilapidated government school building. On a funny yet disappointing note, there will be times when your class presentations will be cancelled for reasons as lame as a dysfunctional projector.
And if you are a Science student, your pain is sure to get amplified when you’ll find your laboratories to be short of experimental apparatus.
2. Thinking of a placement in DU? Arr. I’d rather think of a safe side.
No matter how reputed this University looks from the periphery, internally it is not equipped to ensure you a placement after graduation.
‘An SRCC student bagged a placement package of 12 lacs’, said a news headline.
If you are thinking of such news headlines, let me tell me you that such headlines in DU are rare (too rare in fact).
On the ground level, the placement figures of past years clearly convey a simple message: ‘Delhi University and corporate world do not share a cosy relationship at all’.
3. Did I say DU is cool? Well, not cool enough to allow you to bunk your classes.
No matter how fun-filled the life of a DU-ite appears, the fear of short attendance haunts every student.
Here you end up with two options:
Either you fall in love with your subject, or with the walls of your classroom. Why? Because these are probably the only means that can make you stick to your classroom.
4. ‘DU mein hai, intelligent toh hoga’.
This commonly used one-liner for DU falls flat on its face once you enter the college and see the reality with naked eyes.
DU admits the students on the age-old criteria of percentage in Board examinations. And I don’t even feel the need to mention the state of CBSE and State Boards in our country today.
90% marks and intelligent? Ah! Establishing a relationship between grades and intelligence is a difficult job these days.
5. Expecting a fun-filled life in a DU hostel?
In case you are expecting this, just shed this thought, because DU has no hostels to offer you.
Yes, there are a few colleges (mostly girls’ colleges) that offer hostel facility with a ‘limited’ occupancy but I seriously doubt if you can get your hands on any of those hostels.
What to do now? Don’t worry outstation aspirants! Overtly expensive PGs with the their tails riding on each other are eagerly waiting for you in Vijay Nagar and Satya Niketan.
6. Exposure and Competition:
Shhh! These two things DO NOT fall in the category of ‘things that you should not expect from DU’.
In fact, the above mentioned are two of those things that make up for every little flaw that has been highlighted in this article.
Politics, debating, writing, drama, acting, singing, dancing, photography and what not! No matter what talent you’ve got, this University, with its societies and competitions, provides you the best environment to groom it.
Wait. Let me ask you a secret question now. Are you good at eating ‘gol-gappas’?
Read: Five Things to Expect from Delhi University
Well, if you are, you may easily find a college festival with ‘gol-gappa’ eating as a competitive event. Now that sounds like a real platform for such talent. Isn’t it?
One may easily point out a lot of flaws in DU but once you enter here, you will fall in love with its flaws. From infrastructure to education and from placements to attendance, you will have everything sorted in your ‘own’ fashion.
If you still find Delhi University at your first priority after reading this, we wish you good luck for your life ahead in the most happening campus of the country.
