A brief review about BITS Pilani

Practice School - II is an incredible program of BITS - which is not very well unknown to others. Through the program, you get a 6 month internship in a good firm without an interview process, which is very likely to give you a PPO and hence secure a job. On the flip side, the research opportunities for under grads is poor.

Course Curriculum is moderately well designed for single degree students. But it’s really hectic for dual degree students. The exam structure consists of the standard mid-semester and the end semester examinations with continuous evaluative components in almost all the courses.

The placements and the job opportunities for CS, EEE & Mech are really good, but the same can’t be said for the other core branches. For CS, the internship opportunities are extremely high with a large number of companies visiting campus providing stipends from 2 lakhs per month to 50k per month.

There are 2 major fests which are organised every year - Oasis the cultural fest and Apogee the technology fest. Apart from that, there are various cultural associations who organise their ‘nites’ and ‘grubs’ - in which they host a dinner providing other students with a taste of their state’s cuisine.

Expensive - It’s 1.8 L of tuition fees per semester for the incoming batches. And 10-15% hike every couple of years at least is likely. But it’s easy to avail scholarships if you don’t shy away from studying and avail MCN, which makes it affordable even if your family income is less.

80% Merit Scholarship and Merit-Cum-Need are the 2 scholarships offered by the college. If your parents annual income is below 10 LPA, then you can avail MCN. Based on your CGPA, you avail a certain % of waiver on tuition fees. The top bracket is 80% waiver which is not very difficult to attain. Loan facilities are available through banks, but not directly offered by the institute.

There are sports facilities for every major sports. Oasis, the cultural fest which is one of the few all night fests in India makes up for the most enjoyable few days of BITSian life. The quality of labs vary as per department. Some are good, some are mediocre.

The hostel infrastructure is pretty good. Every hostel has QTs - open space, badminton court, table tennis table, and a snack vending machine. There’s no cooling system in the hostel to survive through the harsh summers - which is something not present in most Indian colleges either.

The major plus point of joining BITS is the incredible alumni strength. Batches from 1960 to recent alumni all are connected via a Facebook Group. Even the seniors on campus are really helpful, and go out of their way to provide academic help and counselling whenever you need it.

You have to clear BITSAT - an entrance examination conducted by the institute to get admission in your preferred course. For post grad, you also have the option to get admitted through GATE. If you are a board topper of a state, you get direct admission. You can also get admitted through SAT.

The quality of faculty differs with different departments. For CS, EEE the faculty is okayish to good for teaching. But when it comes to research opportunities, most faculties aren’t involved in top tier research work - hence, limiting us to get exposure to research.