Which Engineering College to zero down upon for Undergraduate studies?

It is admission time now in India for students who have just completed 10+2 and have appeared for various engineering entrances. Entrance results are coming out and a confusion that is always haunting the mind is - which engineering college to join? The choice becomes especially difficult when you do not stand a chance of getting into one of the IITs or one of the top NITs. This guide is primarily meant for such students and their parents.

Not all are lucky to get through the IITs. If you have a high score in JEE Main and have already been shortlisted for JEE Advanced, you have a little less to worry. You should focus purely on your JEE Advanced entrance and try to give your best. However, if you do not get through a rank within 15000 in JEE Advanced, then you need to consider other options.

If you have got decent rank/marks in other entrances such as KIIT, MIT Manipal, SRM, VIT, or if you have done well in COMEDK and expect to get a decent rank, you will have more confusion in deciding which college to go for, as there is a greater confusion amongst the rankings of private engineering colleges.

So, how do you choose a college? To make life easy for you, after intensive research, I have listed below a few of the popularly known engineering colleges and grouped them under 4 categories viz. A to D. It will be inappropriate to rank each college with respect to the other. Hence, instead of ranking the colleges, I have grouped them under four categories, with category A being the best and category D being the worst, on a relative scale.

If you are getting admissions in two or more colleges that fall within the same category, you can safely choose either one based on other factors such as possibility of getting a branch of your choice, proximity from your city, cultural compatibility, fees, etc. Remember, ultimately, what you learn during the 4 years of engineering would depend largely upon how much of hard work you are willing to put in, and your placement scene would automatically improve. Also, you must know that once you are on the job, you can prove your mettle by your performance and thereafter where you got your B.Tech. degree from does not matter.

Here is the grouping of colleges

Please note that the names listed in each group are not in any particular order. You should assume that all colleges under each group are by and large the same.

Group A

Group B

• National Institute of Technology, Rourkela
• National Institute of Technology, Nagpur
• National Institute of Technology, Durgapur
• National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur
• National Institute of Technology Srinagar
• National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur
• Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
• Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Ranchi
• Jadavpur University
• Gurunanak Dev Engineering College
• Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh
• Indian Institute of Information Technology Allahabad
• Thapar Engineering, Patiala
• Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad
• Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, University of Mumbai, Mumbai
• Delhi Technological University, New Delhi
• Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, University of Delhi, New Delhi
• Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur
• International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad
• P.S.G. College of Technology, Anna University, Coimbatore
• Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat

Group C

• School of Engineering, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar
• Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University, Udupi
• SRM University, Chennai
• Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore
• Institute of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad
• University College of Engineering, Osmania University, Hyderabad
• R.V. College of Engineering, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Bangalore
• BMS Institute of Technology, Bangalore
• Bangalore Institute of Technology, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Bangalore
• P.E.S. Institute of Technology, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Bangalore
• National Institute of Engineering, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Mysore
• Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Bangalore
• M.S.Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore
• Sagar Insitute Of Science and Technology, Bhopal
• Birsa Institute of Technology Sindri, Vinoba Bhave University, Dhanbad
• Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
• Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur
• Maharashtra Institute of Technology, University of Pune, Pune
• Government College of Engineering, Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Amravati

Group D

• Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Gandhinagar
• DIT University, Dehradun
• Amity School of Engg & Technology Noida
• ICFAI Hyderabad
• Several other private engineering colleges

Please note that I have only listed those colleges about which I have done some research. There are many more engineering colleges that may fall in groups B, C and D. Use your best judgment by asking students studying in the college to get a first hand feedback. Also, make a visit to the college that are you are zeroing down on to get a direct idea. Do not get misguided by various rankings available on the net.

All the best!