While IITs have a reputation of their own, companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Adobe prefer IIITs over most NITs for software roles due to their specialised training, says rediffGURU Mayank Chandel.
- You can post your career-related questions to rediffGURU Mayank Chandel HERE.
Why are the Indian Institutes of Technology so popular?
What is the difference between IITs, IIITs and NITs?
Which IIT is best for studying engineering?
According to rediffGURU Mayank Chandel, founder of CareerStreets, 'The IIITs are dedicated to IT and CS fields, while NITs offer a broad range of engineering disciplines.
'Companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Adobe prefer IIITs over most NITs for software roles due to their specialised training.
'IIIT-Hyderabad, for example, has one of the highest average packages for CSE among engineering colleges in India, even competing with IITs,' he says.
rediffGURU Mayank Chandel has over 20 years of experience coaching and training class 10 and 12 students for various exams like the IIT-JEE and NEET-UG. He also guides students about career options in engineering, medicine and the vocational sciences.
- You can post your career-related questions to rediffGURU Mayank Chandel HERE.
Anonymous: What is the difference between IITs and NITs?
Do you think IIITs are better than IITs?
Can you please explain and elaborate?
Thank you in advance.
Hello, I would like to mention specifically that the IITs have no comparison. The IIT-JEE is considered as one of the toughest exams across the globe and hence IITs are the best.
Now coming to comparing NIT vs IIIT, in my view I have considered following points:
The IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology) are often considered better than the NITs (National Institutes of Technology) for computer science and allied courses (like IT, AI, data science, etc) due to several factors.
1. Core focus on computer science and IT
The IIITs are dedicated to IT (information technology) and CS (computer science) fields while NITs offer a broad range of engineering disciplines.
Due to this focus, the IIITs often have better faculty, research opportunities and industry collaborations in CS-related fields.
Many IIITs are industry-driven, ensuring that their curriculum is updated with modern technologies like AI, ML, blockchain and cloud computing.
2. Stronger industry connections and placements
The IIITs, especially top ones like IIIT Hyderabad, IIIT Bangalore and IIIT Delhi, have excellent industry relations.
Companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Adobe prefer IIITs over most NITs for software roles due to their specialised training.
IIIT-Hyderabad, for example, has one of the highest average packages for CSE among engineering colleges in India, even competing with IITs.
3. Better coding culture and research in CS fields
The IIITs have a very strong coding culture, with students excelling in competitive programming (Google Code Jam, ACM ICPC) and hackathons.
They also focus heavily on research and innovation in CS, contributing to AI, ML and data science research worldwide.
IIIT-Hyderabad, in particular, has research centres (CVIT, ML lab, blockchain lab, etc) that rival global universities.
4. Flexible and modern curriculum
The IIITs usually have a more flexible curriculum, allowing students to take electives in trending areas like AI, cybersecurity and data science.
Some IIITs have no strict branch system, allowing students to focus on multiple CS fields.
In contrast, NITs follow a more traditional curriculum, which may not be as updated for CS innovations.
5. Higher coding and competitive programming rankings
Students from the IIITs often dominate Google Summer of Code (GSoC), ACM ICPC and CodeForces rankings.
IIIT-Hyderabad, IIIT-Allahabad and IIIT-Delhi are known for their strong competitive coding culture, often outperforming NITs.
When NITs might be a better option
While IIITs are excellent for CS, there are some cases where an NIT might be preferable. For example, if you are considering a non-CS branch, NITs are better because IIITs mainly focus on CS and related fields.
Top NITs like NIT-Trichy, NIT-Surathkal and NIT-Warangal have excellent placements in CSE, sometimes better than newer IIITs.
Besides, NITs have a stronger alumni network which can help in diverse career opportunities.
NITs offer better campus life and infrastructure as IIITs often have smaller campuses.
For CSE and allied courses, the top IIITs like IIIT-Hyderabad, IIIT-Delhi, and IIIT-Bangalore are usually a better choice than most NITs due to their strong coding culture, placements, research and industry collaborations.
However, for overall campus life, government funding and non-CS branches, top NITs might be preferable.
- You can post your career-related questions to rediffGURU Mayank Chandel HERE.
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