Experts please enlighten me!

Question

I have AIR-223 in Gate 18 and I might get direct admission in IIT-G  and IIT-R but I just had a confusion where if people like me who are left with these choices or maybe no choice in any IIT's how seriously should they consider IIIT-H because 8/10 posts on the internet tells me IIIT-H has a better CSE curriculum and exposure than IIT-Guwahati or Roorkee. I would like the experts to guide me here who have an experience and know much more about these colleges than many of us. I have cleared PGEE but I am not sure whether I should go for their interviews or take up IIT-G instead. Any Help is very much appreciated..

Comments

I cannot comment on IIT-G or IIT-R, but surely IIIT-H has the best coding culture in the country. I went there last time for the interview, which unfortunately I couldn't clear, but I really felt positive about the environment that is needed to be a good coding person. Also the research facilities out there are at par with any top institute. So my suggestion would be to give IIIT-H a try.

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@Neelay can you also mention the institutes which are having the best research facilities mainly on AI. I have heard that IIT Kgp has been funded crores for developing the infrastructure but not sure whether it has already started the course or not.

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From what I know, IISc and IIIT hyderabad are above others in Machine Learning field. You can refer this. I guess, ML closely relates to AI.

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Thanks for the link..it says IIITH is better than IISC..it's hard to believe that..so went through other related results to get some unbiased opinion. It helped! Thanks again :D

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@Neelay can you please share your interview experience at IIIT H.

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https://gateoverflow.in/blog/4532/iiit-hyderabad-interview-experience-2017

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I am a student of IIIT-H joined last year, couldn't get into IIT. I'll try to give my honest opinion about the institute and I'm sure you'll find the same about IIT-G or IIT-R somewhere on the internet.

First of all I'd like to explain this cliche about IIITH that it has a good coding culture (It actually has) but that is something students do on their own with little or no involvement from administration or faculty. Students (mostly undergrads) regularly participate in programs like GSoc, ICPC and it has nothing to do with academics or grades. Also, it does not imply that the curriculum is coding heavy. Computer science program of every good institue will make sure students are amply skilled in programming as much as theoritical knowledge they possess, which is also the case here so absolutely no need to be overwhelmed by it.
On the contrary, IIIT-H is actually a research institute where a lot of emphasis is towards research and innovation, and students are provided with sufficient support and resources to pursue them (I am myself enrolled in MS by research program). Kohli Research Centre is something to look out for if someone is interested in Intelligent systems research. Again it does not mean that someone not interested in research will have a hard time here, its just that there are ample opportunities.

Now talking about academics, almost all professors are Phds from IITs/IISc/Foreign universities and are engaged in research in their respective fields which you can also verify from institute's official website. And they offer a wide spectrum of courses ranging from very theoritical to very coding heavy and are mostly available for help. You'll find a lot of interesting courses like Game theory, principles of prog lang, computational linguistics etc and be free to choose them as electives. You'll have to word hard in exams, assignments, projects to earn good grades because they not only reflect your understanding of subject but will also be useful during placements or further studies. Quality of teaching is a very subjective thing and it will always vary person to person, honestly i wouldn't say I enjoyed and learnt in every lecture but some of them definitely were mind blowing so I will not complain.

Placement for masters again is very decent and on par with IITs, you can check on Institute website. Hostels and mess conditions are really good and all basic necessities will be at your disposal as it is located inside city with malls and restaurants not very far and no restrictions on going out of campus.

On a personal note, you'll have a billion things to learn irrespective of the institute you join (IITs or IIITH) so do not waste too much time thinking about brand value. I think its when you choose institute for Phd that you have to decide with so much specificity and for masters I do not think it will make a big difference. Keep your goals clear , all the best.

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@Heisenberg

I appreciate your honest opinion :)