Is it worth doing Mtech at IITs

Ever since I graduated out of college in 2004 as BE Computer Science, I had this at the back of my mind that I have to do my masters, perhaps an M. Tech from IIT. I dont know how and why mtech got into my head, perhaps it was the dream of studying at IIT or that I was too scared to go to US for MS or had that kind of money. Then I joined a Software company and started my professional career. But the more I worked for them, the more I realized that this is not the kind of work a computer scientist is supposed to do. This made my eagerness to go for m tech even stronger. Finally in 2008 I appeared for GATE, secured for myself a seat at IIT Delhi, left the well paying job and joined IIT delhi. But believe me, making this decision of going for mtech while I was working for a software company was not easy at all. I had not seen anyone going for mtech in flesh and blood, so making an informed decision was very difficult. Then there is so much stigma against mtechs that convincing everyone around me (and myself) turned out to be very difficult. I realized that the only way of finding out whether its good for me or not, is to go for it. Besides I was fairly confident that however bad this mtech thing turns out to be, I will still get some job, at least as good as I had before mtech. So I thought, lets go for it.

The intention of this blog is to give you some information about aspects of doing mtech at IIT. I hope after reading this, one should be able to make a more informed decision.

Quality of Education

Most people think that quality of education in mtech is not as good as in btech. This is incorrect as the faculty (and facilities) for mtech and btech is the same. In fact even some of the courses done my btechs and mtechs are same and for some of the courses I have attended classes with the btech guys. So if the quality is good for them, its good for mtechs too. As far as my experience is concerned, this is the first time in my life that I have seen really good faculty. Faculty in my btech college was horrrible. Here in IITs I have studied from profs who have Phds from Stanford, Cornell etc. and some have experience of over 20 years in teaching or industry. Its a great experience to learn from such people, something I would have never got in any other college.

Expenditure

Mtech from IITs is cheap. Although the fees has gone up phenomenally this year, it is still cheap. I think it will cost about 35K per semester for mtech in IITs. This includes your tution fees, hostel fees, mess dues, etc. In this amount you get to live in a quality IIT environment, and get to use all the facilities like labs, sports facilities, internet etc. Plus you get a stipend of Rs. 8000 per month (i think this could increase this year). So that almost covers your fees. Compare this with doing MS in a US university or an MBA.

Work Load

Most people think mtechs dont have to study much and they can relax for 2 years. This is not entirely true though it could be partially true. Here's how: Courses in IITs can be divided into roughly two categories:1) Courses that are really very good but at the same time extremely tough. It is very difficult to get a good grade in such courses but you learn a lot. It is in these type of courses that you get the real advantage of being at IIT.2) Courses that are very easy but mostly useless. You can easily get a good grade in these courses without much effort but they will hardly do any value addition.

So if you mostly take easy courses in your mtech career, you can end up with a good CGPA without working hard at all. But then your mtech would be a waste and you will struggle to get a good placement. On the other hand, you can take the tough but good courses, you will learn a lot, but believe me, it becomes very hectic. These courses will make you work so hard that GATE studies will look like a piece of cake. But at the end, it will be worth it. Same logic applies to your choice of project. As such how tough or how easy your mtech is will depend on how much hard work you are willing to do. Unfortunately, most people take the useless easy courses, dont work hard at all during mtech and then say doing mtech in IITs was a bad idea.

Placements

This is the million dollar question, literally. People have this perception that after doing an mtech, the only thing you can do is teaching. I dont know about other branches, but this is certainly not true for mtech in computer science. In my batch itself mtech people got placed in Amazon, Adobe, Morgan Stanley, Oracle, Citrix, Cisco, Mircrosoft etc. Some of these companies hired more mtechs than btechs. Placement in IITs depend very much on your caliber than on anything else. Companies that come for campus allow a lot of people to appear for their written tests. So one gets an opportunity to appear for a lot of companies. But if you cant clear their written test or crack their interviews, there is nothing anybody else can do about it.

But there is a catch. There is no separate placement for mtechs and btechs. This means an mtech has to compete with btech for placements. But if you have done your mtech seriously you can still compete with them. A lot of mtech guys do get better placements than btechs.

Other prospects

Apart from placements, an mtech from IIT also stands a chance for getting into a reputed university abroad for Phd. You would need a high CGPA and a good recommendation from a prof. at IIT. Also, some guys who do good work in their project, get their work published in reputed scientific journals. So you get an opportunity to do some real contribution. Besides the option of teaching is always open. With so many engineering colleges mushrooming everywhere in the country, you always have an option to opt for teaching.

Conclusion

I would conclude by saying that mtech is good only if you are genuinely interested in Computer Science and research and willing to work really hard for next two years. Otherwise you are better off going for a job.

My experience with M. Tech after jobI got the opportunity to go for M. Tech only after 4 years of my job. So when I stepped into IIT Delhi, I was

stepping into an academic institute after a gap of 4 years. Like most people, I had questions like will I be able to

study after such a huge gap, will my experience help me with placements, will I get placed at all!

In this post I will share my experiences during mtech with such issues.

Academics

Everyone (including me) thought that studying after a gap of 4 years would be really difficult. I had been away

from academics for such a long time. Plus I was enjoying a well paying job in Pune. But surprisingly I found no

difficulty in dedicating my complete time for study. In fact I think I was at an advantage over people who had

directly come to M. Tech after their engineering. They seemed slightly fed up with studies. After all, they didn't

have any gap in studies from the last 10 to 15 years. Me on the other hand, I was enjoying the classes, the

assignments, the exams. The 4 year gap felt like a 4 year vacation I took from academics and so I felt I was

more enthusiastic and full of energy than others. I hope this is the case with everyone going for mtech after a

gap. 

Besides, if you have done a lot of C/C++ programming in your professional career, it might help you with the

large number of programming assignments we get at IITs.

Placements

The fact that placements are not a problem for mtech CS at IITs, I have discussed in my older post here. But if

you have a few years of experience, you would be thinking, will they consider my previous experience for

placements? Will I get any advantage over others who have come directly after engineering? Will I be given a

higher salary/designation than others? Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news first.

You won't get any practical advantage because of your experience (at least at IIT Delhi, don't know the details of

all IITs but I am guessing the placement system would be same). That is, you have to qualify for the CGPA cutoff

and you have to appear for the written test with everyone. There is no separate criteria or written test for people

with experience. 

The good news is, once you are through the written test, your experience might help you a lot during the

interviews. There is very tough competition at IITs for placements and people are not shy about displaying

anything worthwhile they have done. So having a few years of experience definitely gives you an edge. Of

course, it still doesn't guarantee anything, but it is a great help. 

I have not heard of companies giving a different profile or a higher designation to people with experience. This is

somewhat offset by the fact that your experience might help you get placed into a better company. 

There is one thing that I would like to add though. I used to be under tremendous pressure for getting good a

placement because I had left a well paying job to go for mtech. Imagine, leaving a good job, going for mtech and

then ending up in a job of lower value than the one you left. One feels like he is competing with himself. Perhaps

this pressure is unavoidable for someone coming after experience. 

Conclusion

In general I faced no difficulties with studies or anything else because of the 4 years gap. If at all, this gap

worked in my favor. I can't say this should be the case with everyone, but it was definitely the case with me. 

Mtech Computer Science Admissions in IITs

So you really worked hard for GATE and appeared for the exam. Now the exam is over and

you think you did well. Now starts the second phase of Mtech admissions, the post-GATE

phase.Frankly, application procedure after GATE is no less hectic than the GATE preparation

itself. You have to skim through lengthy prospectus of IITs, find relevant courses, get

documents attested, get the DDs, and finally post the applications.You also have to do some

more preparations as some of these institutes require you to appear for an additional written

test or interview or both. In this article I discuss certain frequently asked questions by people

applying to IITs after GATE. 

Which IIT to apply to?

The answer would depend on your rank and your interest. But mostly it would depend on your

rank. This is what I feel are the options available to you based on your rank in

GATE(applicable for GE category, Computer Science only):  

1) Rank 250 to 350: May get a call from IITK for written test. Mtech CS in IITG and IITR are

also possible. Other possibilities are JCA at IITD, EET at IITD, MS in IITM and RA at IITB. For

people with a btech CS background, I would suggest JCA at IITD after IITK.  

2) Rank 200 to 250: All of the above plus may get a call from IITD for interview and IITKGP

for counselling.

3) Rank 100 to 200: Should get a call from most IITs (except IITB) for written test/interview.

Your selection will depend on your performance in interview, but there is still a lot of

weightage on your GATE rank. 

4) Rank 60s to 100: All IITs, chance of IITB mtech CS. 

5) Rank 1 to 50: All IITs, IISc. People in this rank usually prefer IITB/IISc or direct admission

in IITK. VDTT at iit delhi is also an option if you are interested in embedded/VLSI.

Note that this is based on previous years data. Since IITs are adding new courses and new

seats to existing courses, the rank cutoff for some of these options could actually go down on

a year-on-year basis. It is advisable that you apply to one or two categories higher than your

rank. You never you, you might get a call. 

Get the cutoffs for year 2011 CS here

Which IIT is better?

There is no universal answer to this question. For computer science, IITK is considered the

one with the best Computer Science department. But IITK have a more research oriented

mtech course as compared to other IITs. As such mtechs in IITK do less course work and

more thesis work. This may be good for you if you are totally into research. IITK is followed by

IITD, IITKGP and IITB. IITD and IITB have an edge over all other IITs when it comes to

campus placements. IITM is not bad either. IITG and IITR are usually less preferred. Which

IIT is better for you may also depend on your research interest. For eg. IIT Delhi is known for

its Computer Vision and Graphics. IIT Delhi is also good for Networks as well as Semantics

and Verification but not so good for Database related stuff. You can get some idea by looking

as the list of professors currently in a particular IIT and their area of research. This should

give you some idea. 

Specializations?

There are very few specializations in IITs for mtech in computer science. Most IITs just have

Mtech in Computer Science/IT etc. After you get admission to mtech, you can then choose

your courses and project based on your interest. The only specialized course i know is VDTT

at IIT Delhi. It specializes in embedded and VLSI designing. But the cutoffs are usually very

high for this course. 

What about inter-disciplinary courses?

People seem to have a thing against inter-disp courses. Most of them are not that bad and

some like JCA at IIT Delhi are actually good. For some reason they don't get that much

attention. Before you judge any course, I would suggest you contact someone from that

course or from the same IIT and ask their feedback. 

What about MS courses?

One common mistake made by most GATE aspirants is to apply for MS when they are could

not get a seat in mtech. MS at IITs should not be considered a substitute for mtech. MS is

research oriented. MS people do very few courses and mostly work on their thesis or project.

Because courses at IITs are a great learning experience, MS guys mostly miss out on this

opportunity. Technically MS could finish in 2 years time but mostly because of its research

focus takes much more than that, typically 3 years. MS has usually the same placements as

mtechs, but because it takes longer to finish, MS guys have to wait longer for the job. From a

pure academic point of view, MS(R) is actually better as you can spend a lot of time on a

research problem and if you get a proper guide you could really do some good work. But if

you are in a hurry of getting a job, you should probably go for mtech.

Advantage of MS is that most IITs allow you to convert it to Phd if you have a good enough

CGPA. So frankly, there is no point in doing MS if you are not willing to convert it to a Phd or

do a Phd after you finish MS. 

Preparation for Written test/interview.

All IITs have their own ways of conduction written tests and interview. Infact withing the same

IIT, different departments also may have different procedures. When you apply to a certain

course, find out the people already doing that course and find out about the admission

procedure. They are the best guide. 

Mostly for CS it would involve data structure/algorithms, programming in C, OS/Architecture

or networks. Some courses/IITs may focus on some specific subjects depending on the

problems the professors are working on. For eg. IITK written test/interview was mostly

centered around Maths/probability/discrete mathematics etc. Note that the above information

is subject to change every year as IITs add more courses and revise course structure for

existing courses. I would suggest reading the PG admission brochure carefully for selecting a

suitable course. PS: Please let me know your views/ideas/comments. This would help a lot in improving the blog. Thanks. 

JCA - Computer Applications at IIT Delhi

Certain courses in IITs are usually over looked by MTech aspirants because either they don't know about them

at all or they are not sure if the course is good for them. 

One such course is Computer Applications (JCA) at IIT Delhi which I feel doesn't get the attention it deserves. In

this post I will talk about the Pros and Cons of this course.

Note: Please take the views expressed in this post with a grain of salt. These are my views and you may or may not agree with them. 

Introduction

Computer Applications, or JCA as it is commonly known, is an inter-disciplinary M.Tech program jointly run by

the following three departments at IIT Delhi: 1. Mathematics 2.Computer Science 3. Electrical Engineering

The parent department of this course is Mathematics. JCA being an inter-disciplinary course, students from a lot

of backgrounds are eligible for it. Non-computer science students are offered some basic courses in the first and

second semester, where as students with computer science background are offered more advanced courses.

Apart from this, the students can choose various electives that are offered by the participating departments.

You can view the course content in detail here 

Cutoffs

Note that the cutoffs this year could be significantly different from the previous year.

Get the cutoffs for year 2011 CS here

JCA vs MCS

This is a very frequently asked question. Although this is a subjective question and answer will depend on a lot

of factors, I would say that if you belong to B. Tech Computer Science background, JCA is almost similar to MCS

for you. You will have to do some Mathematics Dept. courses and labs, but apart from them you can take any

course from the CS dept. You can also do your major project under a CS dept. prof. Also almost all companies

that open for MCS are also open for JCA. 

JCA vs EET

Again, answer to this is subjective, but in my view, for B. Tech CS students, JCA is better than EET. The reason

is JCA is an inter-disp course while EET is run by Electrical Dept. As such, EET is more oriented towards

Electrical and Electronics. EET is better than JCA if you are a B. Tech Electrical/Electronics. Again this only MY OPINION. 

Placements

The million dollar question. The following table lists the number of MTech Computer Applications students

placed in various companies in the placement 

period 2009-10. 

Company No. PlacedMicrosoft 1Amazon 1Oracle (Server Technology) 3Strand Life Science 1Citrix 1Nagaro Software 2Rakuten (Tokyo Posting) 1Atrenta 1Clickable 1Singhania University 1Itaas 1Informatica 1

On the other hand

The biggest drawback of this course is that its parent department is Mathematics. This is not the best dept. in IIT

Delhi. If you are a CS background student, you have the luxury of avoiding this dept. by taking all your courses

from CS. Still you will have to do a few courses there and you may not like it that much. Apart from this CS

students shouldn't be affected and your parent dept. wont be a concern during your placements etc. 

People with non-CS background have usually a hard time in this course. The structure is not very friendly

towards non-CS students and they have to put a lot of extra efforts to cope up with the requirements. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would say that JCA is a good course if you belong from B. Tech CS background. Personally I

found that people with non-CS background find it difficult to manage in this course. Again this depends from

person to person but this is a general observation.

GATE CS PreparationIn this post I will discuss some ideas related to GATE preparation. These may or may not work for everyone but

this is how I went about preparing for GATE myself. 

When to Start

As of writing this post, its September. Ideally you should have started the preparation by now. If you haven't, its

still not very late. Assuming that you have a fair understanding of Computer Science concepts, even starting

now, you could manage to finish the syllabus and test preparations on time. I myself started it from end of Sept.

Do keep in mind that GATE has a fairly huge syllabus, so its going to be a big task to finish all that. 

Where to study from

This is perhaps the most frequently asked question related to GATE. Where to study from, that is what to refer

and what not to refer. In my experience, the best resource to study for GATE is your own textbooks that you

used during your engineering. But no subject will have a single book that is sufficient for that subject. That is why

I would suggest that you refer atleast two books for every subject. I know this is a going to take more time, but it

helps. I had a primary book for every subject, but I referred other books for some specific topics that I didn't find

properly covered in the primary book. So for example my primary book for OS was Galvin. But I didn't

understand synchronization that well from this book. So I referred internet or other sources for this topic. The

bottom line is: Do not depend on just one source, study from as many sources as possible. This is a list of some

of the books I referred:

Book Subject RemarksEllis, Horowitz, Sahani Data Structures Excellent book for DS

Cormen, Rivest Algorithms Need to study first few chapters only .

Horowitz, Sahani AlgorithmsAho and Ullman Compilers De-facto books for CompilersJohn Martin TOCHopcroft & Ullmana TOCMorris Mano & Kime Digital Logic Excellent book for Digital LogicGalvin OS Standard book for OSTanenbaum OSElmasri & Navathe DBMS Covers normalization very wellRamakrishna Gherke DBMS Good for SQL, relational algebraTanenbaum Computer ArchitectureHamacher, Zaky Computer ArchitectureTanenbaum NetworksPeterson, Davie NetworksDoughas Comer Networks Good for TCP/IP and internetTrembly & Manohar Discrete Mathematics A little heavy but goodC. L. Liu Discrete MathematicsNarsingh Deo Graph Theory A complete reference for Graph

theory

Kernigham & Ritchie C Excellent book for C. (Preferred over Let us C)

Note: The list is not exhaustive. If there are other books that you have found useful, you can suggest them in the

comments.

 

Online Resources 

Link Subject Remarks

Kentucky Notes TOC

Excellent resource for TOC. Covers Automata, Computability, Languages, Unsolvability. Must read.

Kentucky Notes on Algorithms Algorithms

Crack the Interview Data Structures, Algorithms, DBMS

An extensive resource. It is a compilation of campus interview questions. Go through it if you have time.

Previous Year GATE Papers

This is probably the most important thing that helped me get a decent score in GATE. Once you are done with a

complete study of the GATE syllabus, you should solve at least one previous year GATE paper completely. By

solving I don't mean solving it like an exam, but solving each and every question open book without any time

limit. You can refer any book, internet, ask your friends or do whatever you can. Just solve each and every

question in that particular question paper. It can take weeks for you to find out all the answers. Remember just

knowing the answer to every question is not sufficient, you should also know how the answer was derived. This

process will clear your concepts like anything.You will feel the difference in your confidence and your

preparedness for GATE after finishing this exercise.

Coaching

Since personally I never joined any coaching for GATE, I cannot suggest anything in this regard. But even if you

do not plan to join a GATE coaching institute full time, at least try joining a test series on GATE. A lot of coaching

institutes have only test series packages. These test series give you good practice of GATE exam. I joined one

such test series towards the end of the year. Apart from this, I have not taken any other coaching. 

Conclusion

Studying for GATE is not like studying for CAT. GATE is not about practice but about knowledge. Studying for

GATE is almost like doing a research project. You have to refer as many books as possible and study as much

as you can. Remember if you think that there is too much to study in GATE, just wait till you get admission into

an IIT. Compared to the workload in IITs, GATE will look like piece of cake to you. PS: If you know of a good

book or resource for GATE, please share via comments. Thanks. 

Cutoffs 2011

Finally the most sought after information in GATE world is here. The Holy Grail of all GATE related searches -

Cutoffs for M. Tech CS in IITs (General Category)

Methodology

Unfortunately getting cutoffs for all courses in all IITs is not as simple as it sounds. This is because not all

institutes announce their cutoffs. Some of them only display a list of shortlisted candidates on their website while

some only send emails to the selected candidates. As such getting cutoffs for these institutes is not easy and

one has to follow discussion forums or get in touch with candidates to know the cutoffs.

Disclaimer

THE CUTOFFS IN THIS POST ARE FOR THE YEAR 2011. THE CUTOFFS FOR FOLLOWING YEARS

COULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THESE. ALSO, NOT ALL OF THEM WERE DECLARED

DIRECTLY BY THE INSTITUTE AND MAY BE INCORRECT. THIS DATA IS FOR YOUR REFERENCE ONLY.

Also refer Cutoffs 2012  

 Cutoffs (General Cat.)

Institute Course Cutoff Score

Cutoff Rank Cutoff Source

IISc ME CSE Direct Admission 936 41 Unofficial. From

discussion forums

IIT Kanpur

M. Tech CSE Direct Admission 900 69

Unofficial. Institute displays list of

shortlisted candidates on website

IIT Delhi M. Tech EET Direct Admission 900 69 Official cutoff

IIT Bombay

M. Tech CS 1st Direct offer 889 76 Official cutoff

IIT Madras

M. Tech CSE with HTTA 1st Offer 879 93 Unofficial. From

discussion forumsIIT

BombayM. Tech CS 2nd Direct

offer 872 101 Official cutoff

IIT M. Tech CS 3rd offer 868 104 Official cutoff

BombayIIT

MadrasM. Tech CSE with HTTA 2nd Offer 847 155 Unofficial. From

discussion forumsIIT

MadrasM. Tech CSE with HTTA 3rd Offer 839 175 Unofficial. From

discussion forums

IIT Delhi M. Tech CSE Interview 760 428 Official cutoff

IIT Delhi MS (R) Interview 760 428 Official cutoff

IIT Kgp M. Tech CSE Interview 760 428 Unofficial. From

discussion forums

IIT Delhi M. Tech JCA Interview 750 480 Official cutoff

IIT Delhi M. Tech EET Interview 753 482 Official cutoff

IIT Kanpur

M. Tech CSE Test/Interview 753 482 Unofficial. From

discussion forumsIIT

Bombay M. Tech RA 709 NA Official cutoff

IIT Roorkee M. Tech CS Interview NA 683 Unofficial. From

discussion forumsIIT

GuwahatiM. Tech CSE Test/Interview NA 910 Unofficial. From

discussion forumsIIT

Madras MS Interview NA 1196 Unofficial. From discussion forums

NOTE: I DO NOT HAVE CUTOFFS FOR ANY OTHER INSTITUTE OTHER THAN THE ONES MENTIONED

ABOVE. COMMENTS ASKING FOR ANY OTHER INSTITUTE'S CUTOFF WILL BE DELETED.

Interpretation

Although all IITs declare cutoffs in terms of score, I think the cutoff in terms of Rank is a better metric. This is

because the seats at each IIT remain constant every year. Hence the rank wise cutoff for each IIT is almost

constant year on year. In comparison, cutoff in terms of score, marks or percentile is dependent on the relative

toughness of GATE exam that year, number of students appearing etc.

Job vs Mtech

This is easily the biggest dilemma for people thinking of doing M Tech from IITs. I am frequently bombarded with

questions which go: "I am a B. Tech CS graduate who has an offer of n Lakhs per annum from XYZ company,

should I go it or should I go for M. Tech". However frequently this question might be asked, unfortunately it has

no simple answer. The answer to it is extremely subjective and too personal for me to even make any

suggestion. However in this post, I will discuss things that can help one make a decision one way or the other.

Most of the points would perhaps be a repetition of what I have said in my previous posts, but anyways, I will

reiterate them here.

Note: Please take the views expressed in this post with a grain of salt. These are my views and you may or may not agree with them. 

M. Tech is not that bad

As I have tried to explain in my previous posts, M. Tech from IIT doesn't mean that you will end up doing

teaching in some college. Placements for M. Tech CS can be very good, it all depends on how much you take it

seriously. So if you are worried that doing mtech will mean you will have to sacrifice on your career, that is not

correct. Refer the placements section of my post on Computer Application, IIT Delhi

M. Tech is very demanding

Dont forget that M. Tech is not easy, at least if you plan to do it well. You have to put in a lot of hard work and

you have to study a lot. Make sure you are prepared for such a commitment for a period of two years. If not,

perhaps its better you take a break from academics and go for a job for a few years and then come back again

with a fresh mind set.

Set you priorities

What is your principal aim for going for M. Tech? If it is just that you want a higher salary, then I think there is

something wrong. You should NOT be going for mtech. I am not saying you will not get a good salary after M.

Tech, but that is not the correct way to approach it. Your primary aim should be research or interest in

academics or working for a core CS company like Google/Amazon/MS/Adobe etc. If you are only concerned

about salary, then you can get that by working hard for two years in an IT company or going for an MBA (which,

lets face it, has a lot of demand in IT sector).

Remember, IITs are a research institute, and you are joining a research institute at masters level, so it wont

make much sense if you are not interested in research.

Mtech vs 2 years work-ex

A lot of people ask me whether its worth sacrificing two years of work experience for doing mtech. If you think

about it, 2 Yrs of work-ex is a "cost" you are paying for doing mtech. It is the cost you pay for getting opportunity

to appear for placements at IITs, for getting opportunities to study under some of the best professors in the

country and for getting better opportunities for Phd later on. Also you get an additional degree which you dont

get after doing job for two years. What you need to decide is whether you are getting enough in return for the

"cost" that you are paying. If you have done reasonably well in mtech, you shouldn't be at least lagging behind

people who went for job for two years, and if you have done really well, you could be way ahead.

Are you in a position to take risks

If you have a job in hand, and you plan to go for M. Tech, all said and done, you are taking a risk. You are risking

your two years of job security for better prospects in future. What you need to decide is whether you are in a

position to take such a risk. Your financial obligations and commitments to yourself and to your family come into

picture here. 

Take your time

Who says you have to decide whether you want to do M. Tech or not as soon as you step out of engineering

college. If you have a job offer and are not sure if higher studies is good for you, take your time. Take the job.

Work for a year or two. See if you are satisfied with the job. After a couple of years service, you would be in a

better position to decide between job and mtech. People say that once you get into a job, its hard to quite and go

for higher studies. I dont agree completely. If you are really made for research, you will one day definitely get

bored with the monotonous work given by IT companies.

Hope the discussion helps. The whole point of writing this blog is to help people make an informed decision

about going for M. Tech.

For more information about M. Tech, refer my post Is it worth doing M. Tech at IIT 

M. Tech vs. MBA

This is the easily the most often asked question by most B. E. students who are thinking of doing higher studies.

People spend a lot of time and energy trying to make this choice. Frankly, the answer to this question is really

simple and a no brainer if you know what you want to do in your life. And yet surprisingly, most people can't

figure this out. In this post, I discuss what one needs to consider to make this choice

As always, the views and opinions in the post are my own, and you may or may not agree with me. Take my opinions with a pinch of salt.

The Choice

The choice between M. Tech and MBA is really really simple. If you are interested in Management and want to

become a Business Analyst, Financial Analyst, H.R or something similar, go for MBA. If you are interested in

core Computer Science, like being a techie, are interested in research, want to be a hard core engineer, go for

M. Tech. The domain of M. Tech and MBA are so different that the comparison between M. Tech and MBA is

almost like a comparison between Engineering and Medical field. They are completely different and it is totally a

matter of personal choice. Which is better for you only you can tell based on where your interests are. You can't

ask people whether I should go for Engineering or whether I should become a Doctor. Asking someone whether

I should do M. Tech or MBA is equally stupid.

But there are times when even technically inclined people don't think of going for M. Tech. The following section

discusses this.

The Real Dilemma

A lot of people I know who are really interested in being a techy, still find themselves confused whether they

should go for M. Tech (even at IIT) or not. The common questions lingering in these people's minds are: 

M. Tech is not good for career

Quality of education at IITs is good for B. Tech but not good for M. Tech

I will only get Teaching jobs after M. Tech

I cannot earn good salary after M. Tech, only MBA can guarantee a good salary. Average package after doing

M. Tech would be much lower than after 2 years of job.

My senior told me don't go for M. Tech, go for MBA, otherwise you will ruin your life.

Everyone around me is preparing for MBA but nobody is taking M. Tech seriously.

I don't know anybody who has done M. Tech but I know people who have done MBA and are doing well.

These things stop a lot of bright and technically inclined people from going for M. Tech. This is the main intention

of this blog -  to let people know that M. Tech in CS from IITs is a good career option and it will not ruin your life.

Through this blog, I try to dispel all such myths going around in B. Tech students.   Please read my post Is it

worth doing M. Tech from IITsfor more information.

Of course, this is applicable to M. Tech from IITs. I can't say about other institutes as I don't have enough data.

The Wrong Question

A lot of people also ask me which of M. Tech and M.B.A will pay higher salary, or which one has a higher

average package. This is the wrong way to approach the problem. Your decision between M. Tech and MBA

should be based on your interest and not on how much it is going to pay in the short term. As I have mentioned

in numerous places in this blog, M. Tech from IIT will give you reasonably good salary and you wont exactly

have to feel ashamed about how much you earn. If higher package is your only concern, I would suggest you

reconsider your plans to do M. Tech as it is a research oriented course, and if you are not interested in research,

you are going to find it extremely tough. This is the reason why I do not usually entertain queries related to

"average package".

 Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to say that you can go for M. Tech at IIT or MBA based on your interest. M. Tech in

CS is a good career option too. (You don't have to be the Farhan Qureshi of 3-Idiots, who has to give up his

career aspirations to follow his dreams.) Both provide ample opportunities to build a good career and the choice

should only be based on personal choice and not anything else. 

Cutoffs 2012In this post I am going to present the most valuable data to a GATE aspirant. The M. Tech cutoff for IITs.

Unfortunately, this year I do not have cutoffs for a lot of courses/IITs. I had a hard disk crash because of which I

lost a lot of data that I had collected during the admission season of 2012. Anyways, I am still presenting

whatever little data I have left with me. If you know of cutoffs for courses/institutes not covered below, please let

me know through comments/email.

Disclaimer

THE CUTOFFS IN THIS POST ARE FOR THE YEAR 2012. THE CUTOFFS FOR FOLLOWING YEARS

COULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THESE. ALSO, NOT ALL OF THEM WERE DECLARED

DIRECTLY BY THE INSTITUTE AND MAY BE INCORRECT. THIS DATA IS FOR YOUR REFERENCE ONLY. 

For previous year cutoffs, refer Cutoffs 2011.  

 Cutoffs 

 

IIT Bombay 

M. Tech CSE Direct Admission cutoffs:First List: Gen - AIR 52, GATE Score 888Second List Gen - AIR 74, GATE Score 870

(Source: Inferred from list published by the institute) 

IITB R.A Written test/Interview cutoffGen - AIR 415 

(Source: Unofficial)IIT Kanpur 

Direct AdmissionGen: AIR 67, GATE score 875. 

(Source: Inferred from list published by the institute)

Written Test/Interview cutoffs:

B.Tech. degree (or equivalent) with at least 55% aggregate or 5.5

CPI, and 

a GATE 2012 score of at least 

720 (for General category)

648 (OBC)

480 (SC/ST/PD) 

or a GATE 2011 score of at least 

750 (for General category

675 (OBC)

500 (SC/ST/PD)

(Source: Institute Website)IIT Delhi 

M.S (R), Full-Time   with Assistanship, Short listing criteria for written test/interview:Gen: GATE Score 765 and 60% or 6.75/10 in qualifying degree. OBC: GATE Score 690 and 60% or 6.75/10 in qualifying degree.SC/ST/PH: GATE Score 525 and 55% or 6.25/10 in qualifying degree.

(Source: Institute Website)

JCA Interview:Gen: GATE Score 760 

(Source: Unofficial)IIT Guwahati  

Shortlisting Criteria for written test/Interview

Gen: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 700OBC: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 700OBC-NCL: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 630SC: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 467ST: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 467PD: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 467 

(Source: Institute Website)

NOTE: I DO NOT HAVE CUTOFFS FOR ANY OTHER INSTITUTE OTHER THAN THE ONES MENTIONED

ABOVE. COMMENTS ASKING FOR ANY OTHER INSTITUTE'S CUTOFF WILL BE DELETED.