Some of the prominent alumni of Thiagarajar College of engineering are as follows.

• A.Sivathanu Pillai- He is a Padma Bhusan recipient, a friend of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, former vice president of the International project management association, and co-author of several books as well. He is also known as the Father of BRAHMOS.
• Meerah Rajavel- She is the Senior Director, IT Solution Delivery & Cloud Services, McAfee / Intel Security. She has been enlisted as Women of Influence in 2014 by Silicon Valley business journal.
• Srinivasan Thiagarajan- He is assistant Vice President at Cognizant Technology Solutions.
• Mariappan.M- He is currently heading the position of president in Marketing for Tyco Sanmar Limited & Xomox Sanmar Limited.
• Sashi Rajamani- He is the Head of Grants Committee at Social Venture Partners, India
• Gnanapriya. C- He is the head architect at Infosys.
• Prabha Ramaraj- He is the Leader - Commercialization & New Product Launches at 3M.
• Karthick Subbaraj- He is a renownedKollywood director.
• Nagendran Sundararajan- He is an Executive Vice President at MeritTrac - Manipal Education Group.

Apart from the above-mentioned ones, there are many other well-known alumni of Thiagarajar College of Engineering.

One of my friends at Thiagarajar College said that it is so much better than Velammal. He also mentioned that your branch will also play a big role while choosing a college.

The following perks of Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TCE) will certainly pull you towards it.

• It is ranked 29th, next to IITs and NITs, and has the best infrastructure and curriculum.
• Research and Development facilities are good. The institute takes responsibility for the funding and execution of students' projects.
• There are more than 200 faculties well experienced and supportive.
• The alumni network of TCE is extremely strong. Every top university in the World like MIT, UBC has at least 1 TCE alumni there.
• They have their own entrepreneurship development cell to bring out the true managerial strength within you.
• College culture and ambiance are incomparable to any other colleges in Tamilnadu.

The placement is also good. Take a look at the following table to know the details:

There are no dreams of you that Thiagarajar cannot support. The institute is not always focused on studies. If you get a seat at Thiagarajar College Of Engineering go for it without any second thought.

One of my close friends attends Thisgarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, and here is her insight into the Mechanical Engineering branch.

• Despite the college being government-aided, the faculty is stellar with really good experience. All of them either have a Ph.D. or are pursuing one.
• The department has also collaborated with TVS and the courses are now being restructured as per industry requirements. TVS starts monitoring students in the first year so that by the 4th year, they are ready to work there.
• The labs are also fully well equipped with instruments like UTM, injection molding machines, and CNCs.
• The alumni network is also quite strong. There are frequent get-togethers and meetings held at the department.
• The teachers are also well renowned nationally in their fields of work. You will also receive support for higher education from the college for pursuing MS, ME, Ph.D., MBA, etc.
• Despite the geographical drawbacks, the college has many top companies visiting for placements. But, due to the lack of mechanical industries around the college, securing an internship or work experience may prove to be difficult for you.
• The courses offered might be a little restricted. Due to this, it might prove a little hard for you to secure a specialization in a specific field.
• There are also only 120 students per batch of mechanical engineering admitted to the college. Because of this, it is quite tough to find like-minded people who share your interests and would like to work with you.

Thus, despite being a good college, every place has its pros and cons. In the end, it boils down to your interests and if the course curriculum fits your requirements.

Hostel life in Thiagarajar College of Engineering was a very liberating experience for my cousin who is an alumnus of this institute.

• He became a more mature and confident individual in the hostel. His time management improved.
• Apart from this valuable learning experience, there is wifi connectivity all over the premises of the campus.
• The laboratory facilities are good and there is little to no restriction in the college.
• The only rule is to have a minimum attendance of 75%.
• Most of the teaching staff are alumni of IIT-M and NIT in Tamil Nadu.
• Since the institute is away from the city, the atmosphere of the place is peaceful.

You can surf the internet and attend online lectures in the computer centre in the institute. The institute has become an SOP or Single Point of Contract with all the IITs which will help you in achieving online certificates which can be instrumental in getting placements. Placements are above 90% in the institute.

• Every Wednesday is a day kept aside for extra-curricular activities.
• Students participating in the NSS and NCC compete for awards like the Anna University Awards every year.
• There is a stadium for practicing sports and a gym for the students.
• There are also clubs in the college like the yoga club, fine arts club, visual club, short film club, and so on.
• There are clubs related to academics as well like the ACM, energy club, robotics club, IEEE club, IE club, etc.

There are some rules in the hostels like the students must return by 9:30 PM. On weekends, students are allowed to roam around Madurai.

Thiagarajar College of Engineering is a Government college under Anna University. Velammal Engineering College is a private college under the same university. If you have a good rank to join, then you should not have second thoughts about your desired college and opt for a Government/ Government – aided college.

Here’s a brief overview of Thiagarajar College of Engineering and Velammal Engineering College.

There are several reasons why pursuing your graduation from a government college is beneficial.

• Lower fee- Government colleges under Anna University costs less as compared to Private Colleges. This makes it difficult to pay the loans once you land a job which is again a bit difficult given how bad placement opportunities are at a Private University.
• Freedom- Unlike Private Colleges which force-feed Engineering into you, Government Colleges promote Self Learning which also gives a bit of freedom to the students. All of your interests like Sports, Extra-Curricular, Co-Curricular, etc will be nurtured in a Government College.
• Alumni- The Govt. colleges under Anna are around 60 years old and have a large alumni base. You can easily find a TCE alumina around you. The Private colleges have limited or no Alumni base as they have been recently established.
• Placement- Placements at these Govt. institutes great. Many reputed MNCs like Google/Microsoft/Amazon visit the campus regularly. The placement average for Govt. colleges is also higher than private ones. 

So, it is definitely better to choose a Govt. funded or Govt. aided institute than a private institute under Anna University.