Engineering is an age old career choice in India and shares equal space with the profession of Doctor. It has become a ‘Golden Career Option’ so much so that India produces the largest number of Engineers.
In the modern times, there is a vast pool of engineering colleges to choose from and whether you are Mr.-Know-it-all, a complete alien to the course or somewhere in between the two; you are bound to be confused, and hence too many choices spoil your Engineering College Admission. And obviously you would want to choose the best engineering college. Right? But which one is the best for you?
The smart way to choose the best college is to plan ahead because investing four years of your life is no joke. Hence, here are 5 Tips to Choose the Best Engineering College:- 
1. Find out what’s your type?
IIT, BITS, VIT, NIT look all the same to you? Firstly, know about the kind of college you want to get into. In India, there are four types of engineering colleges – University colleges, government colleges, professional colleges, and privately managed/private colleges.
Knowing the kind of college is useful as Technical Education can slightly be heavy on our pockets. The fee structure of government engineering colleges and other private engineering colleges differs massively. On the other hand, better administration and professional environment can be found in professional and privately managed colleges.
| Type of College | Meaning | Example |
| University | The colleges under the universities, follow laws of admissions, examinations and other administration rules that are laid down by a university. | The University of Mumbai, Anna University, Jadavpur University, Delhi College of Engineering, etc. |
| Government | These engineering institutes are managed by the Central Government and the respective State Government. | All the IIT’s, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), etc. |
| Professional | These engineering colleges are either managed by government or sponsored by private trusts or organisations. | Birla Institute Of Technology (BITS), Dhirubhai Ambani IICT, Gandhi Nagar, etc. |
| Privately managed/private colleges | Colleges that are privately held by a trust or a governing body, and is affiliated with a University | Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore. |
2. What are your goals and what’s your desired career choice?
Within the various sub-disciplines of Engineering, which one would you make your career in? Very often we fail to realise the best career option for us. Hence, it is important to research more on the career options with Engineering.
Try to understand what kind of work life you would have with the selected job. You need to be very clear about whether you want to opt for a job in primary or government sector or run your own/family business.
Ask yourself whether you wish to settle in foreign lands or stay in India? It’s not an easy task but once you get down to it, you’ll try and make better decisions.
3. Perch on a branch! 
Engineering is not only about one course; there is a broad spectrum of departments within the course. Engineering mainly consists of main branches of chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and systems engineering.
Apart from this, there are various other sub-disciplines and interdisciplinary subjects that derive from these major engineering branches. If you have a career in mind with Engineering, then you are set and will have no difficulty in choosing the Branch.
If you don’t have a set career, no worries, choose a branch that suits your interest. Reading the curriculum of a particular branch may help you decide better.
4. Do a background check.
With the assistance of first three tips, doing a background check on a college will be easy. There are end numbers of top B.Tech colleges in India to choose from and information on each one of them is just a click of a button away! Focus on the following factors when choosing a college:
- Faculty
- Availability of the desired branch
- Curriculum
- Fees
- Location
- Placements
- Facilities
- Previous results.
5. Don’t hesitate to look beyond IITs
When Engineering comes to mind, the most obvious choice of colleges is IIT’s. It is hardly a surprise that getting into IIT’s is not easy at all. But don’t let your hopes of becoming an engineer come crashing down if you don’t get into IIT or for that matter any other big-shot Engineering colleges.
Do not restrict your search for the best college to IIT’s only when there are some other good colleges too. Colleges like PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, Mumbai, Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), Pune, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur, etc.
To conclude, only you can choose the best engineering college for yourself and with these five tips on your fingertips, doing the same will be easy. Know the type, choose a career, decide a branch, check the college and don’t be stuck on IIT: and you will make the best choice. All the very best future engineer!
[…] insist on practical knowledge? Is the university’s curriculum focused on practical experience? Find an engineering college which has an affirmative answer to these […]
Thank you Zakia 🙂
Hey Manpreet,
Thanks for sharing such a great piece of info. I have one query, my friend wants to be a software engineer, what should she take, BSc in CS or BTech CSE? Which one would be better for her? Please suggest.
Yes, I fully agree with your advice before taking admission in engineering. Faculty, Availability of the desired branch,Curriculum,Fees,location,Placements,Facilities or many others.
🙂
Hey Manpreet Kaur !!
Its great to read your blog..i really appreciate it.Since ages, engineering and doctoral courses are considered to be golden professions for successful life. India is the largest Engineers’ producing country and as per the data, today India is the second largest in higher education network in the world. With changing technology, education system also has been changed from Gurukul to new modern technology based teaching system. Learning and knowledge are correlated terms, which go side by side and have imperative value and learning right knowledge from the best educational institute plays a vital role in one’s life.
Keep posting such article…
thanks for the post..
have a great day !!!
Hello Jennifer,
Thank you for such a brilliant comment. It’s true that Indian education system is improving day by day. It has a lot of flaws but improvement is happening.
Sounds good. I love to read your blog and I get some new thing from it. I confuse to choose for engineering college because want to admit in best college and I don;t want to take any risk for my future.
Good one Manpreet because for every college related search your article and blog in top search .. and I really liked your article thanks for sharing with us.
Well made article Manpreet Thank you so much for sharing this information!
I am glad you liked it, Gargi 🙂
Hello,
This is great and more inspiring blog you shared. It is most important that which college you are selecting for study because you are going to spend next four years of your life studying in some any college ……thanks to give this info and very useful 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this. My kid will soon have to choose what engineering school he should go to. He’s doing his own research as well, which I’m really proud of. Anyways, will take note of this and share it with him. Great tips indeed. Thank you!
Hello Krystal
I am glad that you found this helpful. Good luck 🙂
If you study in a good college, all branches have “scope”. There are successful businesses and well-paying jobs in all disciplines, including civil engineering, and chemical engineering. And the vast majority of computer science graduates in the country do not have decent jobs (because there are so many of them!) If you study in a bad college, a good branch is not going to help you. Also, so called “good” branches with lots of “scope” tend to be over-crowded, because everyone is entering that field. And finally, nobody really knows which branch will have the most “scope” 10 years from now. (When I did my Engineering, my friends took Computer Science in VJTI because they couldn’t get into more sought after branches like E&TC and Mechanical!)
Very helpful and informative article for all the students who are interested to take admission in Engineering.
the background checking tip is very useful….and it is the worthy point…..because it shows the institution in transparent way….and it is also necessary to choose the branch according to our goals….worthy blog….waiting for your next blog
Thanks for all the information in here.
It was really difficult for me to choose a college. I had gotten a scholarship but I didn´t know if it would be hard to keep or ven if I could.
In the end I chose the private school with my scholarship. The college was in another State so I even had to move and leave my family life behind.
In the end I made it and I graduated in law. But I can´t deny that it was one of the hardest decisions of my life…
Was choosing college or even your major a hard decision for you too?