Mtech Computer Science Admissions in IITs

So you really worked hard for GATE and appeared for the exam. Now the exam is over and you think you did well. Now starts the second phase of Mtech admissions, the post-GATE phase.Frankly, application procedure after GATE is no less hectic than the GATE preparation itself. You have to skim through lengthy prospectus of IITs, find relevant courses, get documents attested, get the DDs, and finally post the applications.You also have to do some more preparations as some of these institutes require you to appear for an additional written test or interview or both. In this article I discuss certain frequently asked questions by people applying to IITs after GATE.

Which IIT to apply to?

The answer would depend on your rank and your interest. But mostly it would depend on your rank. This is what I feel are the options available to you based on your rank in GATE(applicable for GE category, Computer Science only):  
1) Rank 250 to 350: May get a call from IITK for written test. Mtech CS in IITG and IITR are also possible. Other possibilities are JCA at IITD, EET at IITD, MS in IITM and RA at IITB. For people with a btech CS background, I would suggest JCA at IITD after IITK.  
2) Rank 200 to 250: All of the above plus may get a call from IITD for interview and IITKGP for counselling.
3) Rank 100 to 200: Should get a call from most IITs (except IITB) for written test/interview. Your selection will depend on your performance in interview, but there is still a lot of weightage on your GATE rank. 
4) Rank 60s to 100: All IITs, chance of IITB mtech CS.
5) Rank 1 to 50: All IITs, IISc. People in this rank usually prefer IITB/IISc or direct admission in IITK. VDTT at iit delhi is also an option if you are interested in embedded/VLSI.

Note that this is based on previous years data. Since IITs are adding new courses and new seats to existing courses, the rank cutoff for some of these options could actually go down on a year-on-year basis. It is advisable that you apply to one or two categories higher than your rank. You never you, you might get a call. 

Get the cutoffs for year 2011 CS here

Which IIT is better?

There is no universal answer to this question. For computer science, IITK is considered the one with the best Computer Science department. But IITK have a more research oriented mtech course as compared to other IITs. As such mtechs in IITK do less course work and more thesis work. This may be good for you if you are totally into research. IITK is followed by IITD, IITKGP and IITB. IITD and IITB have an edge over all other IITs when it comes to campus placements. IITM is not bad either. IITG and IITR are usually less preferred. Which IIT is better for you may also depend on your research interest. For eg. IIT Delhi is known for its Computer Vision and Graphics. IIT Delhi is also good for Networks as well as Semantics and Verification but not so good for Database related stuff. You can get some idea by looking as the list of professors currently in a particular IIT and their area of research. This should give you some idea.

Specializations?

There are very few specializations in IITs for mtech in computer science. Most IITs just have Mtech in Computer Science/IT etc. After you get admission to mtech, you can then choose your courses and project based on your interest. The only specialized course i know is VDTT at IIT Delhi. It specializes in embedded and VLSI designing. But the cutoffs are usually very high for this course.

What about inter-disciplinary courses?

People seem to have a thing against inter-disp courses. Most of them are not that bad and some like JCA at IIT Delhi are actually good. For some reason they don't get that much attention. Before you judge any course, I would suggest you contact someone from that course or from the same IIT and ask their feedback.

What about MS courses?

One common mistake made by most GATE aspirants is to apply for MS when they are could not get a seat in mtech. MS at IITs should not be considered a substitute for mtech. MS is research oriented. MS people do very few courses and mostly work on their thesis or project. Because courses at IITs are a great learning experience, MS guys mostly miss out on this opportunity. Technically MS could finish in 2 years time but mostly because of its research focus takes much more than that, typically 3 years. MS has usually the same placements as mtechs, but because it takes longer to finish, MS guys have to wait longer for the job. From a pure academic point of view, MS(R) is actually better as you can spend a lot of time on a research problem and if you get a proper guide you could really do some good work. But if you are in a hurry of getting a job, you should probably go for mtech.
Advantage of MS is that most IITs allow you to convert it to Phd if you have a good enough CGPA. So frankly, there is no point in doing MS if you are not willing to convert it to a Phd or do a Phd after you finish MS.

Preparation for Written test/interview.

All IITs have their own ways of conduction written tests and interview. Infact withing the same IIT, different departments also may have different procedures. When you apply to a certain course, find out the people already doing that course and find out about the admission procedure. They are the best guide.

Mostly for CS it would involve data structure/algorithms, programming in C, OS/Architecture or networks. Some courses/IITs may focus on some specific subjects depending on the problems the professors are working on. For eg. IITK written test/interview was mostly centered around Maths/probability/discrete mathematics etc. Note that the above information is subject to change every year as IITs add more courses and revise course structure for existing courses. I would suggest reading the PG admission brochure carefully for selecting a suitable course. PS: Please let me know your views/ideas/comments. This would help a lot in improving the blog. Thanks.