BITS Pilani- It's Magic!!!

I had applied for BIT Mesra, Ranchi, CS through JOSSA. As BITS Pilani provides much more opportunities than it and also the peer group is competitive and better, so I decided to join BITS Pilani, CS. There is no quota for admission, all admissions are taken only through BITSAT. Cutoff for CS on that year ie. 2019 was around 383. During counseling, a general interview was taken and an overview was given about the stream.

I chose CS following the general trend of cutoff and also as I was quite interested in coding and development stuff. I scored 393 which easily allowed my entry in CS. The faculty in BITS Pilani is quite competent. The faculty : student ratio is around 40:1, thus interacting with faculties is quite easier. All the faculties are PhD in their respective fields. The teaching methods vary from professor to professor, some being better than others. The term exams are always conducted on time, moreover the other smaller tests and quizzes are also taken within a deadline. The grading system in BITS is one of the toughest in India, it's very tough to maintain a cgpa of 7.5 as the grading is relative.

During 3rd year students get a lot of opportunities for internships in various companies and also from top MNCs. The stipend ranges from 25k to even 200000 per month. The internships often lead to a pre-placement offer. The roles and projects vary from company to company and also depend upon the skill and field of expertise of the student.

The placement in BITS is at par with top IITs. From 3rd year onwards students get internship opportunities from many top MNCs like Microsoft, Oracle, Uber, JPMC to name a few. The actual placement takes place during the 4th year of a student. The highest package is around 50 lakh and average package for CS students is around 20 lakhs. Almost everyone gets placed in BITS if the student doesn't have any plans for highest studies. My plan is to just bag a decent placement.

The fees in BITS is quite high, with a hike of around 10% every year. For the single degree students enrolled in 2019 the total fees for 4 years will cost around 20 lakh. Financial assistance in the form of student loans with an interest rate of around 8.5% is provided by many banks, SBI being the most common choice of students. Banks provide student loan upto 20 lakh without any mortgage. There are two types of scholarships available in BITS. Merit Scholarship and Merit cum need (MCN) provided every semester. Merit Scholarship is provided to top 1% irrespective of their parents income. MCN is provided to students whose parents have income less than a decided value which is different for each semester and also current CGPA. For my 4th semester the upper limit for MCN is Rs 1100000 per annum. Campus provides a lot of opportunities for internships and jobs but one needs to be vigilant enough to grab such opportunities.

The campus life is very amazing in BITS. 3 fests are organized every year. They are BOSM : Sports fest in September, Oasis : Cultural fest in October which is 2nd largest cultural fest in India next to IIT Bombay's Mood-I, Apogee: Technical fest in March. Moreover clubs are quite organized in BITS. There is a club for possibly anything enjoyable. Library in BITS can get you possibly any book you are looking for.

Hostel in BITS is one the best in India. 1st and 2nd-year students share a spacious room. Cleaning services are also provided. Every student from 3rd year and above gets a single room. Meal is provided 3 times a day. Breakfast includes bread, jam, fruits, milk, tea, coffee, egg, and sometimes dosa, poha, etc. Lunch includes rice, vegetable, paneer and chicken on Sundays, sometimes drinks like rasna, lemon juice, etc are also given. Dinner is similar to lunch with an option to buy egg or paneer. Hostel rooms are alloted at random for 1st years but, 2nd year and later students are given choice to choose their hostel buildings, room mate, wing mates. Hostel costs around 40000 per semester.