Well, I’m someone who prepared for IITJEE for the past several years and right now am considering joining BITS Pilani. Needless to say I have done considerable amount of research on the pros and cons of both these premium Indian Institutes in the past few years. I do not have the authority nor the experience to declare either of the institutes to be better, I will simply share my views on this debate.
These are some of the factors to be considered.
- Entrance Examination: Despite the contrasting Exams, one has to be smart, hardworking and dedicated to do well in these tests.
a) BITSAT: This is one of the most underrated all India examination, Always shunned against the fame of IITJEE. Although the level of question is of lower level as compared to JEE, one must take Time factor into consideration. One requires an incredibly keen understanding of the concepts and must have the aptitude to apply them very quickly. Not to mention the cut-offs that are increasing at a very steep rate.
The major setback is however is the fact that not everyone gets the same uniform question paper, it changes from one test session to another .However the difficulty level of the paper is said to be maintained uniformly.
b) IITJEE: The most popular examination in the whole of India. To earn the admission at IIT, once has to first clear the 1st level (JEE mains) followed by securing a good rank in your JEE Adv. In Contrast to BITSAT, this examination emphasis on the deep knowledge of concepts and the ability to relate and associate it to the problems. However it allocates ample time per question in comparison to BITSAT. The quality of problems are truly remarkable.
2. Student Intake:
IIT being a government college has to follow the infamous reservation system. Almost half the seats are allocated to reserved citizens (reservation of 15%, 7.5% and 27% seats is provided for candidates hailing from SC, ST and OBC communities.), this has a significant effect on the quality of students as half of them gain seats by the virtue of the family(although a fair per cent of them are deserving) they come from and not the excellence of their minds and efforts.
One of the best features of BITS is the fact that there is no reservation policy. Students are admitted solely based on their merit; This is a reason why every mind at BITS is of excellent quality
3. Brand Value:.
It’s almost a known fact that most of those who prepare wish to enter IIT, is so that he gets the ‘IIT’ tag. One gets treated like a celebrity if he is from an IIT. BITS is popularly known too, but not as prevalent as IITs.
What a lot of people do not know is that the reason the IIT tags are more famous, is the fact that there are a lot more IITs than BITS, so there are a larger number students graduating from IITs as compared to BITS. The more number of people directly corresponds to the further reach globally making it more popular, which makes common people think that IITs are better (Just like those people who buy Iphone only because they are more popular). However it’s my personal belief that a professional who is well aware of both these colleges would consider them to be of almost equal standards.
4. College Fee:
Until recently studying in an IIT would have been much cheaper, but right now with hike in IIT fee, the difference in fee of both these institute is less pronounced.
BITS being a private institute, charges more fee in comparison. The money is definitely worth spending considering the fact the general facilities are of higher standards. What a lot of people are not aware is the fact that, BITS offer a lot of scholarship depending on your CGP in each semester. So, a smart and hardworking student may find himself spending lesser amount than what he would have spent at an IIT.
5. Alumni network:
One of the primary reasons for the commendable success of students from such top universities is the alumni network of the institute. The seniors, who have passed out of universities and are at senior level at different companies, help in accelerating the growth of the juniors along the corporate ladder. As for as this aspect is concerned the most reliable way to judge is to evaluate how old the institute is , the older the institute , the more number of seniors out in the global market , the more help you get. BITS Pilani and old IITs (top 5) have been established around the same time, however the newer IITs and BITS Goa/Hyderabad lag behind in this particular aspect.