Well, as they say,
everything has its pros n cons. Well, lets jump straight into the awaited part.
And mind you, they are just minor inconveniences and not “Bad” bad :)
The Bad Part:
The most important
thing I find lacking here is the link between the Professor and the student.
The professor arrives, teaches and goes. Maybe you talk and discuss on certain
topics in class but that’s how far the relationship goes. He will know your
face but not your name. And in some cases, not even your face. It does feel
really odd and uncomfortable because from where I come from, we have a bond
that in most cases exceeds outside the college too. Here it is too professional
in nature. When I pointed this out to my friend, he said it is mainly because
lecturing is not the only job of professors here in technical universities.
They are involved in various projects sometimes national or even international.
They constantly keep in touch with people from the industry and keep updating
themselves. This makes lecturing only part time for them thus making things the
way they are.
Moving on, the next
thing that I feel can be put on the negative side is the software dependence.
Having done most calculations and solutions by hand, it really feels like a new
world where even for normal reports you end up using softwares. It turns worse
when you don’t know those softwares. Here the level of problems and complexity
is totally on a different level and this demands the need and use of these
softwares. It is in fact good to be exposed to industry level complex cases and
use various techniques to solve them and be more familiar with it.
Lastly, scheduling
appointments. If you need to meet or talk to a professor, you need to mail him
and schedule an appointment. While this basically is a good call, it does seem
silly to schedule appointments for small queries that you might have. So you either
mail him/her your doubts and he gets back to you or you can clear it during the
breaks in the next lecture. Of course there are Professors who tell you to drop
in anytime and if the door is open, it means you can come in and discuss your
doubts.
Surprisingly, I guess
this was all I had .. As I mentioned in the beginning, just minor
inconveniences :)
Now for the tips :)
For the first part, if
there is any professor whose subject interests you and you would like to work
with him/her, go meet him/her. Make sure you meet them enough times either to
get your concepts cleared or to share your ideas, so that they remember your
name. This is level one. You have managed to make a place for your name. Next
is all up to you. You can maybe put forward a proposal or tell them what you
wish to do and ask for guidance and they will be willing to help you :)
Another major tip is, don’t
waste time typing mails. Their time is more valuable than yours. So jump
straight into the question or doubt. And no they wont judge you based on your
mail. They get hundred’s of mail and they probably will spend only a few
seconds to read and reply to your mail.
Thirdly, for people
like me who aren’t much familiar with softwares, do contact the last batch
students who are currently studying and ask them what softwares they work with
so that you can familiarize with that software and be comfortable using them.
Rest, I am sure you
will figure it out :) Good luck and have a good Spring :)
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