V N R Vignan Jyothi Engineering College

If you've lived in Hyderabad for any significant amount of time, you'll associate the name Vignan Jyothi with all things educational - from EAMCET coaching centers to management institutes. But for all its focus on academics, VNR Vignan Jyothi has a far from stifling approach to providing an education.

Founded by the Vignana Jyothi Society, the college does well on the academic front, thanks to especially motivated faculty for the first year. Infrastructure-wise too, VNR more than meets requirements, and plans are on for a digital library. The industrial training sessions are serious affairs with students taking up project work in companies. Industrial tours, however, are more like excursions and generally good fun.

The college is spacious, and a little garden outside the canteen is where you'll find the best cross-section of people on campus. Although the alumni association is yet to take off, the interaction among students is good, and this really comes through at the frequent college events.

Every couple of years, VNR conducts a college fest of great proportions. Sintillashunz is three days of fun, including fashion shows and concerts. Technical fests like ISTE's Vector and IEEE's Convergence are also quite popular. Students associations like the ISOI (Instrument Society of India), ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) have an active presence on campus.

Apart from all of that, VNR tops at basketball, football and cricket in inter-college events, and clubs like Awaaz (for musicians) and the Stentorian (for orators) produce some interesting shows at the enormous auditorium. Every year, students represent VNR at top college fests like IIT Madras' Sarang, IIIT's Felicity and OU's Allgorhythms.

While the pressure to perform academically is nothing to sneeze at, VNR does make sure its students go out there and have a good time. They seem to understand that at the end of your time at college you'll want more than just a certificate to take back with you.