The present IIST campus is located 27 kms away from the Trivandrum city center. It is a quite place in a hilly area with plenty of forest around the campus. It rains a lot there, but it feels awesome. The student life in IIST was quite chilled out (at least at my time).

1. Since it is a small college, you will know most of the people and will certainly make good friends.
2. Fortunately, it is still attracting students all across India, so there is a multicultural atmosphere in the campus.
3. The food is decent. But you would end up eating in the canteen anyway.
4. Internet is great. Without any restrictions.
5. The administration is a bit grumpy and a bit conservative, I would say. It has gone even worse in recent years.
6. There isn’t a lot of space to play sports. There is one basketball court, two volleyball courts and one inside badminton court. There are few TT tables too, good luck finding them. :) For cricket we had to go to the ground at ISRO housing near the city (25 km away).
7. 80% of the professors and lecturers are nice. But the ones that aren’t, are too evil. You will know who they are once you reach there. Stay away from them!
8. The level of teaching was above average (for Aerospace and Physical Science, not so much in Avionics). The teachers in Aerospace were really friendly and very helpful when some on us decided to come to Europe for higher studies. (Although, administration instructed them not to provide recommendations to students)
9. Avionics engineering is good because
10. In case you get placed in ISRO/DOS
    
    • You can definitely stay! I will be.
      
    • Or work till the bond period is over while updating yourself with MOOCs from your field of interest and then go for higher education. The work experience and ISRO stamp will highlight your resume.
    • You can get into any of the typical Electronics specializations such as Embedded Systems, RF & Microwave, Control Systems, DSP, Power Electronics, etc. The USA has a vista of opportunities but the EU has great scholarships but not impressive placements. Depends on your field of interest.
      
    • Or switch over to  management. ISRO tag counts even then.
      CAT, GMAT,...
      The space science savvy can try International Space University (ISU), France.
11. https://www.iist.ac.in/
12. Visit this