National Institutes of Technology are colleges of national repute. They give platforms to launch the career of the brightest minds in the country. With 31 NITs, there is lots of muddle around one question which students passing out Engineering before 2008 had hardly put a thought on, “Old NITs with any branch or new ones with top branch?” With the entire career at stake and the level of growing competition, making the right decision is important.
Additionally, seats remaining vacant in NITs at the end of counselling in 2016 is definitely a jolt to NIT status. New NITs — despite their premium ‘NIT’ tag — are losing favour both among top students and recruiters, as troubles such as poor infrastructure, paucity of faculty and lack of role models persist. Location is also playing a role. In north-east, NITs are not able to fill up their seats.
With colleges like NIT Tiruchirappalli, VNIT Nagpur and NIT Rourkela beating IIT Bhubaneswar, Mandi and Jodhpur in National Institutional Ranking Framework, this confusion “Old NITs with any branch OR new NITs with top branch?” just cements its position in the minds of the Engineering aspirants. Some of the testing grounds are:-
Placements
This is a strong point in favor of old NITs. The number of companies they attract are huge. The scope here is as good as the IITs. Only minor difference that is the salary offered. The big and strong alumni base makes placements easy just like older NITs. Apart from technical jobs, jobs in analytics, service sectors like banking are also quite big. New NITs need time to be an established brand.
Campus Life
New NITs don’t even have their own campus yet or are not fully developed like the older ones. Either they are running from someone else’s building or are arranging different activities at different places. Lots of things are missed out on a lot of things that way. Poor performances of New NITs in Inter-NIT sports tournament every year shows how infrastructure matters. Library, computer centers, Gymkhana, eateries, good hospital and transport system add a different dimension to hostel life!
Branch Choice
Our love and interest in a branch is driven by our knowledge about the branch. Most students choose what their family feels is right. So a thorough research of branch is must. Better read blogs, chat with ex-students and read the placement stats. If you really love a branch don’t hesitate to choose it. But a ground check of the instruments and the work force should be made. Industry experts can also be consulted.
Alumni
Older the institutes, stronger are the alumni base because this is not something that comes overnight. Alumni funding and help also is better in older NITs than in newer ones. It pretty much seems that the top NITs are way better than the new NITs as of now.
Research
NITs have been envisioned to provide quality B.Tech education to the students and they do just that. They offer very little in terms of Research or Industry Collaborations, though things are changing. The older ones have better labs, trained personnel and plan of work.
So taking up any branch in old NITs is a better option than the newer ones. You can get to mix with better ranked students. Entrepreneurship ideas can well take a kick start with the smart fellows. Also, there is a probability of branch change for first year students, subject to institute rules. So, joining old established institutes is a better option. And, most importantly, if you don’t have the hunger and quest for knowledge, if innovation does not drive you, if technology does not thrill, irrespective of where you join, results will always be a mediocre one.
Read about some information about NITs here.
