Academic benefits?
You eventually realise there is so much more you learn in your engineering life.
I’ll tell you about my first year experience . I was a total nerd. Second bench. All the teachers loved me. Didn’t bunk any classes unless I really needed to( I had 90%+ attendence) xD. I didn’t really do much of extra curriculars in my PU, so wanted to totally compensate for it. I auditioned for multiple clubs, got into a few, where I spent most of my evenings.
I finally ended up scoring 9.8 spga in my first semester.
Let me get to second year (I’ll be going to 3rd year in 15 days). Last but one bench. I had 70% attendence( The clubs help you clear your shortage. But you need to work there, which is actually fun). Didn’t concentrate in classes. Studied my ass off before tests and quizzes. Still managed to score well (9+).
End of the day, you realise you don’t need college to teach you anything. It is the set of people you meet and kind of atmosphere you create for yourself. I used to have fun in my classes and not pay attention at all. I was friends with all smart people, so any doubt I had, I could get it cleared instantaneously.