Metallurgy at NIT Surathkal is a very good branch as there is a rising requirement of materials science and engineering and their number of students taking admission in this branch is comparatively less than other branches like Civil, Mechanical or Electrical so you can expect less competition in this field.

The course is really good and it gives a strong base to the students for their higher studies which is quite important in this field. The department is now called Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and it focuses more on materials engineering. The professors here are very good at their job and are enthusiastic about teaching. They teach very well and create an interest among the students. 

The facilities are not that great but are good enough as an engineering college. There is one SEM and XRD, metallurgy lab, materials testing lab, and a good heat treatment lab. The placement records are quite good too and it exposes you to various companies so you can secure a job in both core and non-core companies.

I would suggest you go for metallurgy if you plan to do a job right after completing your degree. Metallurgy has more job opportunities to offer. With Metallurgy, you can easily learn coding and go for tech companies. NIT Trichy has a great coding culture, so picking up coding skills will not be difficult. 

If you plan to prepare for civil services or any other government job, I would suggest you go for civil engineering.

When compared to metallurgy, there are fewer job opportunities in the civil department.

If you plan on doing an MBA after having done your engineering, you can opt for either of them because then it does not matter anyway.

As far as the placement reports say, placement for mechanical engineering in NIT Raipur varies in between 70%-80%. Although the placements are not as high as IT/CSE branch when compared with mechanical engineering. But yes, there is a most essential perk of job security in the mechanical engineering branch which most of today’s software companies and startups lack.

Now moving from core to non-core campus visitors in the fields of Software & Analytics for all the branches, the package offered is usually very low around 3.5–5 LPA.

• The automobile companies like Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Tata Motors, and Fiatwhich visit NIT Raipur for campus placements all give packages more or less between 5.5–6 LPA.
• Vedanta Resources do provide a better package than automobiles but their package includes a large amount of variable pay which depends on individual as well as company performance.
• So in the long run they are paid more or less the same as automobile placed people get.
• PSUs like Coal India Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) which visit NIT Raipur are among those few ones who actually increase the average by providing a very good pay scale of 10–12 LPA.

Some companies like BPCL AND HPCL have strict rules of allowing only topper of some branches to appear for the placements. Whereas Coal India does not have vacancies for mechanical every year.

Though, the job openings for Mechanical Engineers are always there. This is a reason why Mechanical is called an evergreen branch. Moreover, placements everywhere on the country’s economic situation.

Don't go for placement packages, it may disappoint you. Just keep a good CPI and be conceptually strong, you will surely end up in good companies like Tata and Maruti.

According to one of my friends, who is an alumnus of Thapar University, the integrated program involving BE and MBA is mostly preferred by the students nowadays over many other branches like civil, chemical, mechanical, and many others. At the same time, computer science or electronics plus MBA is a good option to take your career ahead as you may be well aware of the popularity of the computer science branch at Thapar University. Also, there is a benefit of not giving competitive exams such as CAT or GMAT.

The students who remain in the turmoil of giving entrance exams and don't want to write the national level exams or are afraid of not getting LM Thapar according to the marks scored in entrance exams, mostly prefer this course.

Since the course is newly introduced by the university, it will take time to settle and as soon as the stream settles down, automatically the cut-off will go high.

As for why this course has low priority among students, it’s just a mindset problem and has nothing to do with the course or university.

NITC is pretty good in terms of both curriculum and placement. But ECE in general is a vast branch where you have to study bits and pieces of electronics, Electrical engineering, Communication Engineering, and Computer Science. Initially, it might seem a bit overwhelming but once you get the hang of it, you will understand the beauty of the subject.

• First-year concepts are general for all branches. You can spend time improving your coding skills as it's very important in the current scenario.
• In the second year, you will learn about the basics of electronics and communication. Here you will come across basic concepts like solid-state devices, Network theory, logic designs, and many more. Look for internship opportunities from your second year so that you will get some good exposure. You can also work on some projects under your faculties.
• Third-year is majorly dedicated to computer networks, digital signal processing, microprocessors, and controllers. You will get a wide range of electives to choose from including AI to VLSI. Prepare for GATE at this stage if you want to pursue higher education.
• Fourth-year is all about placements, projects, and internships. 151 students from the 2019-20 batch availed of internship opportunities with an average stipend of 15K.

Overall, NIT Calicut is a good University to pursue ECE at. In the end, it comes down to your dedication and passion for the subject.