IIT Campuses, Ranked
Note: I will keep updating this list as I visit more IITs and refine my methodology.
After much deliberation, here it is — the first post on my blog. Hello, world.
I’ll try to keep the volume meta nonsense low. Still, if you aren’t here to stalk me, you might as well skip this section. But it’s my first post! The opportunity to use that as a writing crutch won’t come twice. I have a secret, though: while this post may be my first post, this blog isn’t my first blog. Not nearly. I have come a long way from guerilla marketing our jokebook website on Twitter as a kid (it never occurred to me to wonder why anyone would possibly be interested in reading 2-liner jokes written by some random 10 year-olds) to now (I put this thing off for close to a year because why would anyone possibly be interested in reading 100-liner jokes written by some random STEM undergrad). Although I don’t know the answer to that, it turns out (at least) one person IS interested. So here we are, and I need a testbench post to stretch my writing legs and poke around Medium’s interface. I naturally made the lazy Buzzfeed-y choice of starting off with a list-based post, and this topic is always on my mind (for reasons which will become clear soon). Since I have no more excuses left, I might as well begin the list.
Methodology
Like KFC’s 11 Herbs and Spices, my formula (which I call Gut Feel) is a complex, beautiful and secret distillation of arcane knowledge and higher-order statistics. But for each rating, I will try to backward-engineer a justification keeping in mind three broad features:
- Aesthetics, which certainly includes architecture, but also includes
— Cleanliness/neatness
— Natural beauty
— Maintenance - Facilities, which does NOT include academic facilities. This has more to do with spaces and infrastructure available to students. Sports and academic facilities are uniformly excellent at IITs. “Available” includes available outside campus as long as the equivalent service isn’t free on-campus at other IITs.
Co-ed spaces are a plus — while this may sound like a bourgeois concern to some, it’s not good for personal development to be entirely segregated from other genders. If nothing else, in their absence, collaborative work is hindered. Basically, touch grass. - Ergonomics, which has to do with how well the campus infrastructure is laid out/planned and how useable said infrastructure is. How well-located a campus itself is also factors in (to both this and Facilities).
A score of 10 means everything’s perfect. A score of 5 means it’s nothing special — beyond this, you begin to seriously wonder if your efforts toward JEE are being adequately rewarded.
Also, note that I haven’t had the chance to live long-term on ALL these campuses. But, I know people who have. If there is any glaring pitfall, I have accounted for it. If I haven’t, feel free to send me hate comments.
#1: IIT Bombay (9/10)
The only reason I can’t give IITB an absolute 10/10 is because I haven’t visited all the IITs yet and I need to leave space above in case there really is a better campus. But, IIT Bombay ticks all the methodology boxes. Entering IIT Bombay’s campus is like getting into a car during a rainstorm. Take a few steps inside and the loud, congested hustle-bustle outside feels far more than just a few meters behind. There is a tall, dense, green canopy lining wide roads. Their newer hostels are well-built and finished, although I have heard mixed reviews of the older ones. The canteens serve good food at a great price. Their academic area overall isn’t the best-organized but they have important things arranged along an “infinite” corridor, which is not only kinda cool, but also a huge plus for ergonomics. There is a perfect balance between modern infrastructure and greenery inside the campus, and one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in the country outside it.
#2: IIT Madras (8.75/10)
I have been to IIT Madras twice: once as a child for a few days with my dad, who was visiting for work. Then in January 2023 for the Inter-IIT Cultural Meet. The first time I stayed in the guest house, which is in fact a hotel operated by Tata. The second time I stayed in the hostel Mandakini, which might as well have been a mid-tier hotel (there are even sliding doors). IIT Madras also happens to be on a wildlife sanctuary, so you can strike “natural beauty” right off your checklist. Where there are stray dogs and cats in other IITs, there are deer and langurs at IITM. There is ample (co-ed) space for students. They have a huge cafeteria complex, with great options both for private/gourmet and mess food. They have been constructing new academic buildings, which are all quite impressive. It’s in a decent area close to other institutes (usually means safer, more things to do, food options) and a really nice beach (Elliot’s) nearby. So why does IIT Madras not match IIT Bombay’s score? Other than the fact that the classroom complex(es) are a bit dated, IIT Madras is not the best-planned campus out there, as that “(es)” indicates. For instance, Mandakini is quite far from the classrooms. There are many ways there and even more to not-there. Combined with the fact that no road really runs straight, it’s very easy to get lost if you’re new. Especially right now — with their academic area overhaul, there are some routes which require you to cross over exposed drainage and construction material. But that’s temporary, and IITM campus is forever.
#3: IIT Delhi 8.25/10
As someone who lives in the area, I know IIT Delhi’s campus like the back of my hand. I would say IIT Delhi is the standard to beat to be considered a top-tier campus. Compared to the other two, IITD is down on greenery (especially now, since they cut down most of the forest). It’s also down on size. Although not the most iconic or pretty, the main building is an impressive brutalist work moreso than other IITs’. It is ironically surrounded by fountains and abstract statues. The new-ish Lecture Hall Complex is spacious and modern. The research park is also nice. The old hostels are not as good as IITM’s, but certainly far better than what I’ve heard of IITB’s. The new hostel is fantastic — the toilets literally have marble floors and wooden sliding doors — but it only has the capacity to take a handful of MTechs and international students. IITD and KGP, though, have the distinction of being the only old IITs where you cannot enter rooms in a hostel that’s not meant for your sex. Unlike KGP, however, IITD allows you to visit any common room or mess you’d like. Besides, IITD also has many co-ed spaces in the general academic area, which is decently accessible since the campus is small. Everything is accessible, impressive and well-built, which are the ingredients for a great campus. But, it’s not as breathtaking as the two above it. The location is perhaps tied with Bombay’s for the best of any IIT — the neighborhood (Hauz Khas) is one of the highest-end in the country, it’s close to the airport and railway station, it’s close to a cluster of educational and government institutions, and of course there’s Delhi’s fantastic metro rail system. All this means there are great healthcare options — AIIMS itself is nearby, food options, things to do, retailers for anything you need, etc. All in all, if your campus is at least as good as IIT Delhi’s, consider it bonus fruit from your JEE efforts.
#4: IIT Roorkee (7/10)
I have been to IIT Roorkee to visit one of my mom’s cousins, who is a professor there. Indeed, as general perception goes, the main building truly is beautiful. Although Roorkee itself is in the plains and not particularly scenic, it is at the foothills of the Himalayas, so the surrounding areas are beautiful and present an opportunity for outdoor adventures. The campus is about as compact as IIT Delhi’s, but some parts are poorly maintained, with narrow and broken roads. From what I can tell, the hostels are very old and not great to live in. When I last visited, women were not only banned from male hostels, but on curfew past 11pm. Supposedly, now this is not the case. I’m assuming it isn’t for this score. Roorkee is quite far from any metro and so is not as well-equipped as D/B/M, although not as desolate as KGP. Considering the main building and academic area, and the natural beauty nearby, IIT Roorkee campus is certainly a special place deserving of a >50% score, even in the scope of great IIT campuses.
#5 IIT Kharagpur (5/10)
IITKGP is, and probably will remain, the only IIT with a score 50% or below. “But Avi!” I hear you groan. “What about the gigantic bigger-than-IITD agricultural department and vast greenery and the iconic main building”? you whine. “What about the helipad”? Well, I’ll tell you. Or maybe I won’t. There’s too much context for me to summarize here. Instead, I’ll mention 2–3 points related to each salient feature in the methodology.
- Aesthetics: The architecture, at least, is impressive— the main building is instantly recognizable, there is a gigantic triangle in Ramanujan Complex (where students often attend tests and labs), the new-ish Nalanda lecture complex is also modern and well-finished. There is some history to the campus — there is a former jailhouse on campus which once held Indian freedom fighters. It is now a fun science/engineering museum. But,
— Cleanliness/neatness is spottily enforced: at the entrance of the main building complex, on Ramanujan Complex, on the library, on some department buildings. The rest of the place is poorly maintained at best and disgusting at worst.
— Natural beauty: Although it’s not quite the lush, tall greenery of IITB/M, there are plenty of pretty trees and flowers during the spring and summer.
— Maintenance: Poor. Halls of residence constructed 10 years ago look like they’ve been standing for 50. Rain stains the paint and rusts everything. - Facilities: Awful. Very few useable spaces at all, co-ed or not. The only co-ed spaces are the library (which while admittedly impressive, runs out of air-conditioned space during exam-time) and whatever decommissioned classrooms are left open in the main building. The halls run out of water, there are power outages, and the famed fiber connection is not as advertized (being rural, the cellular service is questionable also). Everything else forgiven, there is still a bottleneck to the score: medical facilities are alarmingly poor and there’s not much outside the campus either. Being a rural area with poor weather, disease is more common to begin with.
- Ergonomics: The campus may be huge, but everything is conveniently set around a 2.2km loop of tarmac. Or, that’s what it was like until about a decade ago, when they started a flurry of new infrastructure projects. Since everything was conveniently placed around that 2.2km loop within the 2100 acre campus, there was a lot of free space to place their new buildings and compounds. They seemingly chose to place them arbitrarily. You could have to cycle almost 3km from your room to class at Nalanda (which, while looks sleek, allows rain to flood the corridors), and then another 1.5 between different classes. But, a lot of this will improve with the new hostels they are building several years behind schedule. If nothing else, this will hold: Delhi is hot, Madras is humid, Bombay is rainy, and KGP is all 3. Though admittedly the weather is quite pleasant during winter and spring.
Appendix: Where do non-IITs stand?
To get a better idea of what these scores mean, I am going to rank some of the non-IIT campuses I remember visiting.
- IISER Pune: 7.75/10
- IIIT Delhi: 7.25/10
- NIT Delhi (defunct temporary campus): 1/10
- TBA
