Like everyone else, I too was a little skeptical about NIT Durgapur during admissions. But as time passed by, I enjoyed my campus life and made numerous friends..

The campus will allow you to meet people from different backgrounds. You’ll even get in touch with some foreign students. Within a few weeks, you’ll make new friends. 

There are many clubs at NIT Durgapur and you can join more than one. Some of these are- Music Club, Dance Club, Literary Circle, CCA, MNTC, Spic Macay, etc. There is no favoritism during club selections. You’ll get to know of hangout spots like NIT Duck Pond or Techno.

As far as academics is concerned, there are some exceptional teachers in every branch who will light up your passion for learning.For example, SG sir in the EE department. Academics has become stricter since course and semester structure were revised a few years back.

During your final year, placements will be the most important. Do not worry, the placement record of NIT Durgapur is good. You’ll find that most students study only a week before exams. But make sure you know your subjects well. Otherwise you’ll face problems during the placement season.

NIT Durgapur will give you freedom. But you’ll soon realize the responsibilities that accompany it. Campus life, especially hostel life, is great. 

There are three modes of transport to reach NIT Hamirpur, the road link, rail link, and air link. However, one needs to reach Delhi first. 

Road Link:

• Reach the ISBT KASHMIRI Gate Bus stand and get on a bus to Hamirpur. In case no direct buses are available, get on any bus going to UNA or CHANDIGARH.
• Go for bus services like HRTC, Punjab Bus Road Corporation, and Haryana Bus instead of private ones that are expensive. 
• You can also book your tickets in advance through a bus ticket booking app.

Railway Link:

• Sadly, Hamirpur has no railway connectivity and the nearest broad gauge train head is at Una, at a distance of 72 Km from Hamirpur. 
• You can reach Una from Delhi via two trains (Himachal Express (14553)& Jan Shatabdi (12057)). It takes around 10 hours. These run between UNA HIMACHAL (UHL) and DELHI(DLI) throughout the week.
• One can go to and from Hamirpur and Una via Bus or Taxi. 

Air Link

• The nearest airport is at Dharamshala which is about 75 Kms from Hamirpur. 
• Air India and Spicejet fly between Delhi and Gaggal daily. Additionally, there are regular flights up to Chandigarh, which is about 200 KM from Hamirpur. 

Hope this solves your query!

Yes, it’s certainly true that IISc Bangalore is just getting better day by day. In fact, its current rankings have a lot to say about its fast-paced development.

• IISc Bangalore Overall ranking by NIRF is 1 out of 200 colleges in India in 2023
• IISc Bangalore Overall ranking by Outlook is 2 out of 15 colleges in India in 2022
• IISc Bangalore Overall ranking by Times Higher Education is 251 out of 1799 colleges in International in 2023
• IISc Bangalore Overall ranking by QS World University is 155 out of 1400 colleges in International in 2023

These excellent rankings are a testament to IISc gaining popularity. Being the pioneer of education it is, it’s hard to get admission here both at UG and PG levels. IISc has a thorough screening process followed by an interactive PI session.

IISc definitely deserves all the fame it receives. It was directed by none other than C V Raman, C N R Rao, Satish Dhawan, and others who were pioneers of Science in India and have produced innumerable notable alumni.

Trust me there are no issues at all for a North Indian to study at KMC Manipal. Almost 60–70 % of students are North Indians. Almost everyone you have to interact with knows Hindi. However, you might face issues with clinical postings because most patients have only a basic understanding of Hindi. You will have to learn basic Kannada for which classes are taken in college in the second year.

The food is not a big issue at all because breakfast is South Indian comprising dishes like mini dosas, idlis, vadas. Bread, butter, and jam are served daily. Students are given rajma rice, Chole Bhature, and paneer once a week each. The roti served is very good and you will get Dal and rice daily. 

Additionally, there are many that sell delicious food around the campus. There is also a mall within a 10-minute walking distance so you can visit Pizza Hut, Domino's, and CCD anytime.

Even I began programming at Manipal Institute of Technology itself. I didn’t opt for Computer Science during 11th and 12th. 

In the first few months, you’ll find a gap between those who can’t code and those who already can. The first few lectures will be quite difficult to understand. During your three hour lab sessions, you’ll struggle to complete the assigned programs on time. On the other hand, there will be students who will complete the same task much faster. You might even score less in the first few tests. 

Now after all this, you’ll feel disheartened and approach people for help. Many will misguide you towards a branch change. This is when you have to choose- either you run away or face your fears. You’ll have to work hard and learn programming.

Do plenty of reading, approach your faculty with doubts, and seek help from friends who know programming. Manipal provides a good learning environment. It’s just that you’ll have to exhibit a lot of patience and hard work. 

Pursuing my CSE from Manipal was the best decision I made. If you follow my advice, by the time you graduate, you’ll be at par with the rest of your batch. 

First of all, the quality of an institute can’t be assessed by the number of selections in GSoC and ACM ICPC from it. Indian colleges provide no special training for GSoC. The selections are completely based on the efforts and skills of students.

My friend from the Manipal Institute of Technology got selected for GSoC a few years back. He did it in his first year itself. There were others in his batch who would’ve gotten selected had they applied. 

Now the reasons for a low participation rate in GSoC may be as under-

• Low interest in FOSS . The time and coding effort required in FOSS can be put in algorithmic challenges. The latter can be made competitive unlike FOSS contribution and is more closely related to the coursework. Companies also test algorithmic knowledge first, so people are more inclined towards that.
• Lack of mentors . For open-source development, a good mentor is needed. 

As for ACM-ICPC, the teams from Manipal do make it to the on-site. However, the selection rate is low because of poor strategy and poor planning. The teams are unbalanced as well. 

Manipal has a good programming culture. There are weekly Code Meets where students meet up and discuss random algorithms and problem-solving techniques, past questions from competitions like ACM-ICPC, and general questions from SPOJ. Clubs like IE CSE, IEEE Manipal, and ISTE host coding competitions throughout the year. Manipal hosts dedicated tech fests for coding and computers.

Even though Manipal doesn’t perform too well in GSoC and ICPC, the students are making constant efforts to improve in that direction. Also, this is an irrelevant criterion for judging the quality of education in an institution.