It depends upon your expectations, your goals, your abilities, etc. The worth of doing Material Sciences and Metallurgy Engineering at PEC Chandigarh will depend on the following factor:

• If you gave your very best at the entrance exams but still could not score well enough to get a higher rank which would have given you an option for a better college or branch, then probably it is best to move on and choose the branch and the college. There will be opportunities here as well, no doubt about that.
• If you think you did not give your full efforts and you could do better in the next year, then definitely you should drop a year for better preparation. It is better to drop rather than lamenting in the future that you did not give your 100% and got stuck here.
• If you prefer engineering and you are passionate about the subject, then the college reputation and brand should not bother you much. It is about the learning you would get and not about other stuff like rankings, placements, etc. You would get plenty of options and opportunities here as well and after graduating too.
• If placements matter to you more than anything and you do not have any preference about the branch you would get, then definitely you should prefer a college with a better reputation, placements, etc.

PEC Chandigarh is not a bad college and has a legacy of close to 100 years now. It is also ranked 68 in the NIRF 2020 engineering college rankings. Take a decision based on what you want rather than superficial stats and other things.

Yes, if you have an SAT score, then you can get into PEC Chandigarh. But there is a small disclaimer. You should not have completed your 11th and 12th studies from any school or college based in India.

• PEC Chandigarh follows the same admission procedure as NITs, IIITs, and other Govt. Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs) and takes admission through JEE Main entrance test and JoSSA counseling. 
• NRIs are eligible to take admissions at PEC Chandigarh under the Direct Admission for Students Abroad (DASA) program run by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
• Any student applying through the DASA channel can produce his/her SAT test scores and thus is eligible for admission. 

The fees for the same are higher than regular Indian students with a per-semester fee of USD 4000. Students from SAARC nations have a fee of USD 2000. Children of Indian Workers in Gulf (CIWG) countries however are covered under a quota where students have to pay the same fee as that of regular Indian students.

The fee payment procedure for NRI students admitted through Direct Admission for Students Abroad (DASA) is simple but a little different than their Indian counterparts. This is because whatever may be your currency, USD or Pound or anything, you have to pay your fee in INR currency. 

The whole procedure is given below in points for a better understanding –

• The first task is to get a currency conversion certificate from your bank for the day of payment of the fee. If you have your bank account in the State Bank of India (SBI), then you can easily get it from the nearest PEC Market branch. For other banks, get it from the nearest branch to you.
• You need to visit SBI collect link given by the institute in the online fee payment tab of their website. Fill in all your necessary details like college name, your college ID, name, etc. 
• Do not forget to select the NRI student option and the year of your admission before entering your details in the SBI collect portal.
• Fill in the amount of fee to be paid by you as per the conversion certificate and pay using your preferred bank where you have your account (it is not necessary to have your account in SBI only).
• After completion, download the acknowledgment receipt with the details of your payment. During college registration, submit your receipt along with the conversion certificate, and the process is completed finally.

There are no other charges to be paid and the process is fairly straightforward as well. You can definitely approach the college administration for any difficulty arising during the process.

I have friends studying production engineering at PEC Chandigarh and they have come across that it is somewhat similar to mechanical engineering. You can expect a lot of mechanics and physics, however, some subjects differ as you get into the core.

Coming to the question, it totally depends on your pool of interest whether you are into mechanics and production or metallurgy. Here are two major factors you might consider before choosing any of them

• Production Engineering can get you jobs and packages similar to mechanical engineering. Also, it is a versatile branch where you can learn about manufacturing, operation, maintenance, etc.
• If you are planning to get into research work after completion of engineering, then you must choose Metallurgy. It has broader research scopes than production engineering.

At the end of the day, follow your passion and know where you can invest these 4 years of your life. Nevertheless, if getting a job is your goal then go for production engineering. On the other hand, metallurgy engineering can open doors for good research work if you are interested in doing so.

My friends have been studying in both NIT Hamirpur and PEC Chandigarh and according to their first-hand experience, PEC Chandigarh holds an edge. Here’s why:

• It lies in a prime location viz. Chandigarh. The city has better and numerous opportunities. It is an education hub in the North, hence making it easier to plan and implement your higher education goals. There are ample coaching centers as well in case you want to prepare for government exams.

• PEC has better placement and internship options as well, again it is due to the location advantage.

Overall, while both the colleges offer good education, NIT holds a big brand name. However, factors like location and opportunities come first when in such a dilemma. Also, as you are getting the same branch in both the colleges, choose PEC Chandigarh any day.

Although NIT Agarta holds a bigger brand name, it is still a growing NIT. On the other hand, PEC has an older history of about 100 years and continues to flourish. 

Here are some insights into the PEC according to my friends who completed their B.Tech from there.

• Faculty: PEC has some of the best-experienced faculties and many research scholars. On the other hand, NIT struggles to have enough experienced professors as the NIT is newly established.
• Location: Chandigarh is at advantage any day because of its easy proximity and being an education hub. It is better in terms of facilities and coaching centers too. Whereas, Agartala is at a huge disadvantage due to accessibility and opportunities.
• Quality of students: You can see a huge difference in the cutoff trend of JEE Mains rank for both the colleges. In the case of NIT Agartala, about 50% of the total seats are reserved for home-state candidates in the range of 90k to 1.5 lakh. Whereas the cutoff trend is much lower at PEC with just over 60 K for branches like metallurgy!
• Clubs: You can choose over various clubs at PEC Chandigarh. Theseclubs are well renowned and they have even gained respect in IITs during fests and events.

All in all, it is recommended to choose PEC Chandigarh any day over NIT Agartala. PEC definitely belongs to the league with NIT Surat, Allahabad, and others. However, if the NIT tag is all that you are looking for, then go for NIT Agartala.