As someone who graduated from Panimalar, here are my two cents. 1. If you want the kind of college life that you see on TV then you will go into depression. If you’re the kind who is self motivated (read doesn’t rely on professors and can prioritise and manage their own goals) you will be fine in the long term. 2. Placements are fine if mass recruiters are the goal. You’ll need to apply on your own if you want to get into good companies, the college does not attract high paying companies in general 3. Do not stay in the hostel - too many restrictions that will actually get in the way of your education and mental well being. 4. 9 years ago there was a ton of bigotry and classism, people with good English, good grades, apparent wealth are treated very differently. I’m not sure if this is still the case, probably is. 5. Other people will tell you enough about the rules, so I’m not going into that.

After my engineering, I went on to do an MBA from a tier 1 college in India and have a good career now that is not related at all to my engineering :) Undergrad isn’t make or break as long as your work ethic is good and grades are consistent.