Yes, there are international exchange programs at NITIE. Being a student of NITIE Mumbai myself, I can say that presently, the institute is partnered with three foreign institutions: The University of Alabama, USA, The University of Pittsburgh, USA and Ecole Centrale de Lille, France

NITIE offers 4 Postgraduate Exchange Programs:

Immersion Program

• Students participate in this program at the Host University.
• A 2-3 weeks of intensive interaction takes place.
• These include:
  • Classroom based academic interaction with the faculty.
  • Industrial visits are conducted to the nearby firms.
  • Cultural exchange with the local community.

Guest Student Program

• Selected 2nd year students will attend one semester in the host university
• A method of credit transfer between NITIE and the host university will take place.

One Plus One Program

• It includes a 1st year foundation program at NITIE.
• In the end, a certificate will be issued then you will be taken by the host university in the 2nd year.

Dual Degree Program

• Students spend 2 years at NITIE and 1 year at the host university.
• After completion of 3rd year, he/she will be awarded with 2 degrees. Diploma from NITIE and a specialized degree from the host university.

NITIE Mumbai is working towards getting more partners shortly. To understand it better, you can go through the official website.

There are two main things to consider when you are preparing for GD.

First is your basic knowledge. NITIE's GD subjects are usually related to current events given in a broad sense, such as freedom of speech. It will help you getting brownie points. Make sure to keep up with current affairs. Read newspapers and be quite forthcoming about the news. Stay informed about government policies by reading about them.

Secondly, your self-assurance and body language. Be confident in your statements, don't be nervous, and don't stare at the panel. Participate in mock GDs, read newspapers aloud, and try to converse in English with friends to strengthen your skills.

Make sure you have complete control of your CV for PI. The interview is nothing more than a conversation between you and the interviewer that is driven by you. It usually focuses on what you've accomplished in your life, whether it's school, graduation, or professional experience. 

Prepare some fundamental human resources questions and be transparent about your thought process. In the interview, be straightforward and don't mix words. Be confident and assertive.

If you believe it will give you an advantage over someone with work experience in the core industry, IT sector, or any other sector, then yes but it will not be easy.

Your work experience will be beneficial to you because marketing profiles have historically been offered to a smaller number of students at NITIE.

Typically, three scenarios exist which are as follows:

• Students complete a marketing internship before obtaining a PPO.
• Students compete in marketing-related competitions to be considered for a placement interview.
• During placements, freshers frequently choose marketing positions.

A professor at NITIE while evaluating you would like to know your learnings and contributions that you were able to make during your work experience. It may give you an advantage if you want to pursue a career in Sales and Marketing only after graduating from NITIE. Everyone with work experience is evaluated using the same criteria.

Work experience is nowhere mentioned, but most companies choose candidates who have good experience in required fields.

One of my friends cracked it last year. So I might be able to give you some information about it.

• NITIE has successfully attracted the best talents and has always been in a student's top choices.
• During the admissions process, NITIE questions candidates on a variety of parameters.
• In my friend's case, he was asked a slew of questions about his engineering knowledge, summer internships, extracurricular activities, and hobbies, as well as the standard ones about why he wanted to attend NITIE.
• Like in any other B-School, there is a stipend for every achievement of a candidate. The winner achieves a set score level.
• I would say that excelling in one field is unlikely to get you through; knowledge of all fields is required to pass the test.
• In order to pass the exams, you should be good in analytical and problem-solving skills, which typically come from good mathematics skills. 
• Communication skills are also an added advantage.

For your current studies, if you are using high-quality reading materials from top publishers, that should be sufficient. Aim high and you will succeed. Just keep working hard.

A friend of mine worked with a PSU for some time and then appeared for the GATE exam and joined NITIE PGDIE. Leaving the PSU and choosing something else is a personal decision. It depends on your perspective.

In your case, joining after 7 years seems like a long-term plan. You can end up not joining any course after 7 years. So, make sure why you want to join a course after seven years, is it for the degree or salary hike. 

If you are going for it for the degree then it can be done by joining any institute. There’s no need to join NITIE specifically. If you are doing it for the salary hike then too, you can join any institute. There is no differentiation based on which institute you are from, in PSUs. All the students having a Master’s degree are treated equally. Then there are options for joining private institutions such as NITIE which is a good option too.

My brother is a student of NITIE and during his time at the institute, I got to know about the admission procedure there. NITIE does not differentiate between different branches of engineering. Even an instrumentation engineer has the same opportunity for getting admission as others.

However, multiple factors can affect your selection other than your engineering branch. There are different weights allocated for SSC marks, HSC marks, graduation, GATE/ CAT score, and GD-PI score, respectively. The sum of all these scores is used to evaluate candidates for the final selection.

Overall, NITIE encourages and maintains student diversity on its campus.

According to my friends studying at NITIE Mumbai, there are many important points regarding academics and summer placements:

• Many companies come for placements and summer internships. 
• Your marks or skills are determined by the company.
• There are several companies that fix a cutoff criterion to take part in their placement process. The candidates above the cut-off need not worry about the marks.
• Some companies have strict HR policies in which academics are given more preference. The more your grades are the better chance you have of making it through. 
• Academics and personality are given more leverage.
• Some companies don’t have any HR policies at all. They just give a guideline regarding the placement process to be kept short. 
• They also use a cutoff method (2 points) at least.

The candidates having low grades or academic performance can try for their placement with the Student Placement Committee. This helps to push your CV through the cutoff.