Best Computer Science Colleges in India

• iisc, iitb, iitd, iitk, iitm, iitkgp, iitg
• iith, iitr
• nit trichy, warangal, suratkhal
• iiith, iiitd, iiitb
• bits pilani, bits hyd
• coep pune, UOH
• Tifr, cmi, isi

list to be updated soon with more colleges

IISC M.Tech Research Admissions

This is a great option if you prefer a research oriented program.Also it provides similar placement opportunities as MTech.

Cutoffs:

Admission process:

Interview process consists of a written test, followed by an oral interview for candidates shortlisted in the written test.There will be ten short answer questions testing basic fundamentals, syllabus will be of gate cse.Based on your performance in the written test, you may be shortlisted to appear for an oral interview to
be conducted in the same session.

There are 3 broad areas Theory, systems and Intelligent systems. You have to choose one of these areas and then choose 2 background subjects in that area. This will be the area in which you will be working if selected. Choose the subjects in which you are most comfortable.

Preparation:

For written test just revise what you studied for gate.

For interview preparation, a list of suggested books is mentioned at the IISC website which i am including here.

I strongly recommend to atleast go through the books for the subjects that you are choosing for interview.

Back in 2016 when i gave the interview, I had chosen Intelligent systems as the area with discrete maths and probability as background subjects. shortly after the test I was called for interview.There were two faculties in the room. first i was interviewed on probability distributions by one of them and later on discrete mathematics by the other one. Focus was on checking understanding of fundamental concepts of that area. They also asked to prove few results on board.

Program structure:

You are required to do 3 to 4 courses as part of Research Training Programme in first semester .In second semesteryou can take any advanced course if required and also start with literature survey.next two semesters you will be working on the specific problem you have taken for research.There is also option to convert to phd in 3rd or 4th semester.

Programs to Apply at IITS/IISC If not getting direct admissions (upto approx. rank 520)

I had a score of 733 and rank 506 in CSE ,many candidates at this rank think of giving gate exam again but i would like to point out that there are so many opportunities available and just because you are short of few marks, you should not give up and you should try your best.

You can apply to following courses:

1.Mtech at IIT Kanpur:2016 cutoff for round 2 was 732 score .After that you need to clear written test and programming test.

2.Mtech Research (CSA) at IISC Bangalore: Cutoff was about 650 rank in 2016.After that there is a written test and interview.

3.MTech Research at IIT Bombay :2016 Cutoff was approx 650 rank. There will be written test, programming test and later interviews, interviews will be technology /project specific eg linux/java depending upon requirements each year.

4.MS at IIT Kanpur :For summers cutoff was 750 gate score whereas for winter admissions it was much lesser (one of my friend at rank 1000 got call ), there will be written test,programming test and interview.

5. MS at IIT Madras: There criteria in 2016 was 70%in B. Tech and decent gate score. People under 1200 rank have fair chances. There will be a written test and interview. for More details regarding ms at IITM can be found here: IIT Madras MS Interview Experience

6.MTech(TA) and Mtech(RA -3yrs) at IIT Hyderabad: Candidates were called for interview for the fourth round for Mtech TA.cutoff for general category was 721 score (https://cse.iith.ac.in/?q=node/392).Note that first 3 round offers were based on gate score alone and cutoff was higher.

Initial criteria of shortlisting for Mtech RA interviews was (>80 % in Btech or 9 cgpa and score>=540 as can be seen https://cse.iith.ac.in/?q=node/378) but later on some other candidates were also called for which i don’t have exact info but (at gate score 733 and Btech % 78) i received interview call for the same.

In short, you have plenty of opportunities, just make sure you are prepared to grab them since at this rank direct admission at IIT’s is rare.

Just to let you know that clearing these exams is not that difficult, I appeared for iitk mtech, iisc csa mtech research , iitb ra and iitm ms selection process out of which i received final admission offers from iitk, iisc and iitm.

IIT madras MS written & interview experience 2016

IIT Madras is one of the old iits and it attracts many high gate rankers in CSE. Talking about masters program in CSE, it has two programs Mtech and MS,  former is a fixed 2 yrs program where you do more number of courses whereas latter is a  research oriented program where focus is on working in a particular area.some facts about MS in CSE

1.Duration of MS program is not fixed and it generally takes 2.5-3 yrs to complete.It largely depends on you and your guide.At iitm average duration is around 3 yrs.

2.Placement opportunities are equal for Mtech and MS.

3.Its better if you have some idea about the field in which you want to do the research however its not a pre -requisite as you will be spending some time doing the background subjects.

4.MS is like a mini phd so if you want to get a taste of research, MS is for you.You may be able to get recommendations from professors for phd in good foreign universities since you would already have done some research during ur MS.

5.publishing a research paper is highly recommended. 

IITM calls for MS applications 2 times Once in the month of march and other in October.Its better to visit and check official CSE website for admission notification during these months(http://www.cse.iitm.ac.in/).

The procedure for admission varies from year to year but generally it will be one or more rounds of test followed by interview.

The Details of the programme can be found in thispdf:  https://research.iitm.ac.in/brochure/msphd_brochure_jan-2017.pdf

Ms winter session (2016),  forms are out : check https://research.iitm.ac.in/

 

My own Experience:

There were two rounds

written consisted of objective type questions covering all major subjects of gate syllabus

namely algo,ds,co,c,dbms.there were about 30 questions.

after an hour or so A list containing names of applicants selected for second round was put in CSE department.I was selected.

Next I waited few hours for my interview,my turn came late in evening

I entered the interview room ,there were about 8 professors , first they asked about me and my work and why i am interested in this program. 

 Later i had to choose subjects from a list of available subjects eg Algo and ds, co, os etc.

I choosed algo and ds.I was supposed to explain answers on the whiteboard using marker.

first question they asked was Given only a pointer to a node to be deleted in a singly linked list, how do you delete it? Which i answered. Then they ask what if its last node .They were not completely satisfied by my answer. Then I was asked to create a structure for a link list node. Later they asked about binary trees. I was asked to prove E=V-1 for trees and why in general it must hold true. 

Interview lasted about 20 to 30 minutes.Sometimes they will try to put you in some pressure and i think its to check how well you handle those situations.so you should try your level best at that time instead of giving up and directly saying i don’t know.

I will be adding more details soon..