The answer depends upon whether you are a girl or a boy. Girls from North India are very few in number. Apparently, the number of North Indian girls is almost around 12 or 20, out of 200 girls per year. So, you will have a good bond with them. 

The South Indian students are amiable and can assist in times of need. The major upside is that the institute does not have any ragging complaints. However, the food is not up to the mark. 

The number of boys in the institute is comparably higher. However, there are complaints of ragging among the boys in NIT Calicut. 

So, it depends upon the companions you have in the institute. Having said that, NIT Calicut is an extremely good place otherwise. It has a bunch of helpful and supportive people. Other than that, it comes with amazing cultural and technical fests. You should be open to making friends, despite cultural differences. 

The process of selecting a suitable branch in a decent college after the JEE counseling process is pretty hectic and important. And the ideal way of going through all this process is realizing and following your interest. 

The criteria for selecting a college should be based on the following. 

• Choice of branch
• Choice of college
• Average placement of that branch in the college
• Infrastructure and hostel facility
• Distance of the college from your hometown

One of the best things at any NIT is that you will get to interact with the best brains in the country. All the faculties at NIT are well qualified. 

I have a few from NIT Jamshedpur so I can give you some ideas about the institute. 

Pros of NIT Jamshedpur: 

• Private rooms to almost all students from the first year itself.
• Active student clubs such as Phoenix and many others. They perform greatly at national and international levels.
• Almost zero ragging.
• Very helpful seniors
• Well qualified professors
• Excellent placement records for CSE and other branches as well. In 2021 the average and highest CTC offered was 15 and 37 LPA respectively.
• Huge mess facility. The food is unmatchable and amazing.
• Huge alumni network.

Lastly, I will advise that don’t choose an institute based on ranking, as ranking tends to change frequently. 

Like any other University, NIT Calicut has a dark side too. Let us go through the negative side of NIT Calicut. There are also certain problems faced by mostly North Indian students.

• No internet connection in hostels: None of the hostels have internet facilities which is the biggest problem in today's world. Upon this, there is a network issue too. Only BSNL works to an extent to get speed internet. Even the campus lacks good WiFi service.
• Mandatory attendance: It is compulsory to have a minimum of 80% attendance, otherwise you will not be allowed to attend the exam or your grades will be seriously affected. This can turn out best or worst for you based upon your punctuality.
• Obsolete curriculum: The curriculum seems to be outdated and not at all on par with current technologies and industrial requirements. Unnecessary concepts are stuffed in the syllabus while some interesting and important concepts based on competitive exams point of view are missing out.
• Strict curfew for girls: Girls are supposed to be back in their hostel before 7 PM. No excuses are given even when you have some genuine reasons.
• Cultural difference: If you are from North India especially, you will find it pretty hard to get adjusted to this new environment. There is a definite language barrier while interacting with locals. You will feel as if teachers are more favorable towards native students though it might not be the actual case.
• Reservation: Just like any other institutes there is a huge caste reservation system. General /OBC students pay around 50K while SC/ST students pay 50 rupees. Just an opinion that when seats are given on a merit basis, the fee must also be paid accordingly
• Food: If you are pure vegetarian or vegan, you might find it really hard to get adjusted to the food of Calicut. The campus still tries its best to provide good food. A mini canteen at the campus is made quite affordable too.

All these drawbacks are very much negligible when compared to the quality of education you receive at NITC. These problems only exist till you get adjusted to the campus.

Here are the 2020 cutoff trends for NIT Calicut.

I have a few friends from NIT Calicut and according to them, you should choose CSE, if you have the option. You will have better placement opportunities from CSE. The faculty of the department is also great. 

Few of my friends attend NIT Calicut and they were able to give me some information regarding the hostel on campus. 

• More than half of the hostel buildings appear to be old and rustic. They were built about 50 years ago but they still serve the basic required standard.
• Apart from your own room, everything else is cleaned almost every day. You will have to clean your room on your own.
• The first-year students are allocated rooms based on a 4 sharing system.
• For the second-year students who reside in hostel C, one room is allocated to three students. For those of the students who reside in Mega, the rooms are allocated on a two-sharing system.
• For third-year students residing in hostels B and C, one room is shared by three students.
• In the fourth year, usually, single rooms are allocated but due to renovation in hostel E, some of the rooms are allocated on a two-sharing basis.
• The food at the messes is sometimes good and sometimes bad. If you are willing to spend some extra money, you can make up for it.
• Internet connectivity is good. On some days the download speed goes up to 12 megabytes per second.
• From the second year onwards, there is no restriction imposed on boys regarding entry/exit time. Girls have permission to stay out till 9 pm.

NIT Calicut hostels are good in comparison to many engineering institutions in the country. You will enjoy your engineering life at the hostels there.

Yes, there is internal sliding in NIT Calicut. For the M.Tech course, students get the chance for internal sliding during or before the college spot round. For the B.Tech course, usually, the students are given a chance for internal sliding after their first year.

However, there are conditions to change your branch from one to another at NIT Calicut –

• You should have a minimum CGPA of 8.0 to remain eligible for the internal sliding process.
• A maximum of two people can come and go out in a particular branch.

Contact your program coordinator to know the details of internal sliding at NIT Calicut. I hope this answered your question.

According to some of my friends studying at NIT Calicut. It is one of the best NITs for Computer Science. 

• It has a placement record of 90%. 
• They provide great job opportunities through on-campus placements. 
• NIT Calicut is especially known for its computer science. 
• According to NIRF ranking it is one of top 5 CS offering NITs. 
• The highest placement is around 20 LPA and the average package is around 10 LPA. 
• The faculty is very good, especially the senior most professors. 
• Most of them have PhD and are renowned in their field.

In general CSE is good in NIT Calicut and is opted by many students. Many top notch companies also participate in their placement program. These include Microsoft, IBM, Cognizant, Capgemini, Oracle, Accenture and many more.