Introduction 

After the wrapping up of the 12th grade, the college excitement begins, and with this enthusiasm comes the search for the most appropriate college! While this is quite a tedious process, students tend to enjoy it too because of the vast range of options available. 

No one will disagree with the fact that school life is among the best years of our entire existence that we cherish forever, however, the initiation of college life comes with a lot of opportunities, responsibilities, and a lot of pressure. But all this seems sweet when we have the trust and support of our friends and mentors. 

The two most compared colleges that we will be talking about today are PGDAV and Zakir Husain College. While both of them are a part of the Delhi University, PGDAV v/s Zakir Husain College is one of the most set side-by-side options.

Pannalal Girdharlal Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College AKA PGDAV college is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, established in 1957. It offers various courses relating to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and it is situated in Nehru Nagar, near Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi. 

Zakir Husain Delhi College, founded in 1696, is the oldest existing educational institution in India. Spread over an area of 43 acres, it is a constituent college of DU accredited with a NAAC ‘A’ grade. 

PGDAV v/s Zakir Husain College: Courses and Fees

There are ample courses that both the college provides, we will have a look at them one by one. First Zakir Husain College consists of the following courses: 

Course	Fees
B.com [ 2 courses ]	INR 26.94K – 29.64K (3 years)
B.A. [ 44 courses ]	INR 26.04K – 37.74K (3 years)
Certificate  [ 3 courses ]	–
B.sc [ 7 courses]	INR 23.89K – 86.67K (3 years)
M.com [ 1 course ]	INR 21.29K (2 years)
M.sc [ 5 course ]	INR 24.01K (2 years)
M.A. [ 12 courses ]	INR 20.69K – 23.89K (2 years)

The Courses and their fees offered by PGDAV college are as follows : 

Course	Fees
B.com [ 2 courses ]	INR 41.1K – 41.7K (3 years)
B.A. [ 20 courses ]	INR 41.1K (3 years)
B.sc [ 4 courses]	INR 42.3K – 1.25L (3 years)
M.com [ 1 course ]	INR 27.76K (2 years)
M.sc [ 1 course ]	INR 27.8K (2 years)
M.A. [ 2 courses ]	INR 26.16K (2 years)

Zakir Husain College is the only college in the entire DU circuit that offers B.A. (Hons.) in Arabic and Persian. The faculty for this course is the best throughout the entire Delhi University, so this is the most sought-after and best course offered by Zakir Husain College.

Zakir Husain is a better option if one wants to go for research-based studies. On the other hand, PGDAV is well known for its commerce-related courses that including B.com courses followed by humanities courses that consist of B.A. courses.

PGDAV v/s Zakir Husain College : Brand Value

One main way of understanding the brand value of a college/university is going through the numbers, yes I am indeed talking about the rankings. Brand value and rankings reassures students and their guardians regarding the trust they are imposing on a particular institute and if that’s even worth it.

Therefore the higher the rankings, more is the number of students taking admissions. The ministry of human resource releases a ranking list of the top educational institutions via National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) every year.

The ranking is used as a brand building activity, as a better rank improves the brand perception in the students’ eye. The NIRF report is prepared on the basis of several specifications such as Teaching, Learning, Professional practices, outreach and inclusivity and more.

However, unfortunately, both the colleges PGDAV and Zakir Husain College did not make it to the NIRF rankings list. However, PGDAV college has accreditation of NAAC B, but Zakir Husain has accreditation of NAAC A, and has an international recognition as well which makes it better than PGDAV in this scenario.

PGDAV v/s Zakir Husain College : Infrastructure

Both the colleges PGDAV and Zakir Husain college are off campus colleges. There are some decent infrastructure facilities that both the colleges offer. Some of them are listed below :

PGDAV College	Zakir Husain College
A library consisting of a collection of more than 95000 books, 4400 bound journals and Open Public Access Catalogue facility to its members for locating books in the library shelves with the help of a software.	One of the oldest libraries, consisting of a collection of 110000 documents, 12000 enriching books, along with two reading halls.
Cafeteria	Cafeteria
Gymnasium	Gymnasium
Sports complex	Sports complex
Hospital and medical facilities	Hospital and medical facilities
Labs	Labs
Wi-Fi campus	Wi-Fi Campus

Comparison keeping in mind infrastructure is burdensome since both the colleges offer similar amenities and neither of the one can be picked. 

PGDAV v/s Zakir Husain College : Societies 

College societies play a huge part in the personality development of a student. It is a place where students can voice their opinions and they will be heard without any judgement. Participation, volunteering and indulging in these societies help students ace the game. Both the colleges have a plethora of societies, some societies of PGDAV are as follows:

• Chanakya : The intellectual Society
• Iris : The film and photography Society
• Rapbeats : The hip hop Society
• Raaga : The Indian Music Society
• Impressions : The fine arts Society
• Diversity : The dance Society
• Conundrum : The Western music Society
• Navrang : The theatre Society 

Some societies of Zakir Husain College are as follows:

• Arts & Culture Society
• Girls’ association
• Bio-Scope Film Society
• Debating Society
• Katha Club
• Gandhi Study Circle
• National Service Scheme 
• Chimera : The Photography Society

Both the colleges have their fair share of societies and judgment upon the same would be irrational. 

PGDAV v/s Zakir Husain College : Crowd

There are three major characteristics used when determining the crowd and culture of a particular college:

• Locational Diversity : Both the colleges have majority students from outside states.
• Language : There are no language challenges faced by the students in both the colleges.
• Discrimination : There is no discrimination being suffered by the students in either of the two colleges. 

Therefore both the colleges stand at an equal score in the scenario of the crowd.

PGDAV v/s Zakir Husain College: Culture

With respect to the attendance requirements, at PGDAV students have to attend two-thirds of the lectures, tutorials and practicals held every semester. However, according to students, there is not much strictness relating to attendance. On the contrary, strictness with respect to attendance prevails at Zakir Husain, every student must acquire at least 50-60% of attendance every semester otherwise they have to fill an undertaking. 

PGDAV offers more relaxation than Zakir Husain College. Hence, if you are preparing for any exams like CAT, UPSC, CA, or any other competitive exams, PGDAV will be a better option.

PGDAV v/s Zakir Husain College: Placements

The campus placements of PGDAV college are organized by the college’s placement cell. The average placement package was recorded at INR 4.67L as per the college placement brochure. Some of the top companies that come to PGDAV for placements are FIS, Amazon, Infosys, TCS, etc. ( Placement in a particular company is directly dependent on a candidate’s degree and is not generalized)

The placement cell of Zakir Husain College conducts mock interviews and various personality tests and webinars for its students. However, according to student reviews and sources, it is said that the placements are not up to the mark. The stipend is also not worth it. 

The average CTC of Zakir Husain College varies between 3L to 4L per annum depending upon the courses being chosen. One important thing students must keep in mind while choosing a college is not to get too excited by the CTC numbers, because the course they may be related to is not usually disclosed. This must be kept in mind.

Therefore with respect to placements, PGDAV is definitely a better choice, however, the fact that the majority of students don’t take job opportunities after graduation should not be ignored as well and just because of placements, one should not eliminate the possibility of getting into Zakir Husain College.

PGDAV v/s Zakir Husain College: Conclusion

After understanding the situations of both the colleges and their facilities, the following conclusions can be drawn:

• Both the colleges offer almost the same variety and number of courses.
• Zakir Husain College is the only college in the entire DU circuit that offers B.A. (hons.) in Arabic and Persian.  
• Discipline with respect to attendance is more in Zakir and importance is given to that. Therefore students must decide according to that. 
• Infrastructurally, both are at the same level, however, Zakir has a bit of an advantage, because of its historical significance and faculty. 

Therefore to conclude it may be said that students must know their REQUIREMENTS and needs from their college, they must know what’s best for them, no matter what the rankings or the amenities are. In this battle of PGDAV v/S Zakir Husain, as far as this blog is concerned, our weight meter is heavier towards ZAKIR HUSAIN college, and therefore from our end, after all the permutations and combinations we derive that conclusion. 

PGDAV v/s Zakir Husain College : FAQs

Refer to our DU college comparison guide for more such blogs.