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 job
I 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. Placed
Microsoft 1
Amazon 1
Oracle (Server Technology) 3
Strand Life Science 1
Citrix 1
Nagaro Software 2
Rakuten (Tokyo Posting) 1
Atrenta 1
Clickable 1
Singhania University 1
Itaas 1
Informatica 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 Preparation
In 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 Remarks
Ellis, Horowitz, Sahani Data Structures Excellent book for DS
Cormen, Rivest Algorithms
Need to study first few chapters
only .
Horowitz, Sahani Algorithms

Aho and Ullman Compilers De-facto books for Compilers
John Martin TOC

Hopcroft & Ullmana TOC

Morris Mano & Kime Digital Logic Excellent book for Digital Logic
Galvin OS Standard book for OS
Tanenbaum OS

Elmasri & Navathe DBMS Covers normalization very well
Ramakrishna Gherke DBMS Good for SQL, relational algebra
Tanenbaum Computer Architecture

Hamacher, Zaky Computer Architecture

Tanenbaum Networks

Peterson, Davie Networks

Doughas Comer Networks Good for TCP/IP and internet
Trembly & Manohar Discrete Mathematics A little heavy but good
C. L. Liu Discrete Mathematics

Narsingh 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, An extensive resource. It is a
DBMS 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 forums
IIT
Bombay
M. Tech CS 2nd Direct
offer
872 101 Official cutoff
IIT
Bombay
M. Tech CS 3rd offer 868 104 Official cutoff
IIT
Madras
M. Tech CSE with
HTTA 2nd Offer
847 155
Unofficial. From
discussion forums
IIT
Madras
M. 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 forums
IIT
Bombay
M. Tech RA 709 NA Official cutoff
IIT
Roorkee
M. Tech CS Interview NA 683
Unofficial. From
discussion forums
IIT
Guwahati
M. Tech CSE
Test/Interview
NA 910
Unofficial. From
discussion forums
IIT
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 2012
In 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 888
Second List Gen - AIR 74, GATE Score 870

(Source: Inferred from list published by the institute)

IITB R.A Written test/Interview cutoff
Gen - AIR 415

(Source: Unofficial)
IIT Kanpur

Direct Admission
Gen: 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 700
OBC: GATE CS and GATE score 700
OBC-NCL: GATE CS and GATE score 630
SC: GATE CS and GATE score 467
ST: GATE CS and GATE score 467
PD: 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.