M.Tech in IIT or MS in US???

I came across this question when I was in B.Tech third year, from then I usually asked for my opinion on this. This is really a good question and every engineering student who thinks of either a great job or good carrier asks at least once to himself.

After graduating from IIT when I look back to this question, I can immediately conclude that the question itself was wrong. The reason is that the IITs are India’s top Engineering schools with a strong Alumni base in all technology companies in world, are compared to any university in US.

The right question should be “M.Tech in IITs or MS in top 50 Engineering Schools of US?” or “M.Tech in India or MS in US?” These questions are correct and not comparing apple with oranges.

Let me answer the second question first. M.Tech in India or MS in US? The answer to this question according to my understanding is US is a good option. As even a university with rank around 300 will have a one or two good faculties members who studied at top universities during certain level of their educational qualifications. At least they carry that culture with them and can be helpful for the students to think differently and confidently. Job opportunities in US are more, as the competition is less than when compared to India.

If I have an admission letter from top NITs or IITs and some university in US with ranking around 200, I will go for M.Tech in India. As NITs and IITs have all top companies of the world in every domain for campus recruitment with a 200% placement figures. No university in the world has this kind of placement statistics. This will also open doors for me higher education in top 50 universities in US with a scholarship which otherwise is quite difficult.

Let me come to the first question. “M.Tech in IITs or MS in top 50 Engineering Schools of US?” The answer is quite simple and straight, MS in US top 50 universities (with a scholarship) is a better choice. To reach there either you should be a fresh IITian, Some top 20 institutes in India, or already have a job experience in on of the top multinational companies like Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo…etc.

Getting into either IITs or Top 50 universities (with a scholarship) need lots of hard work and luck. With hard work and consistent try to get admission into these heavens of education one at certain point of time can be there. But I rarely saw someone with luck alone reached there. For M.Tech in IITs you have to prepare for GATE, take time to study for it. Need gather best GATE martial, solve previous questions papers and try not to be less than 99 % (percentile). On the other hand to go to top universities in US, you need to prepare hard for GRE and make sure that you won’t get less than 1400, write a good statement of purpose and run around to arrange good recommendations. After everything wait for admission committee decision, once you get an admission letter run around the US embassy to get visa. This all process make you understand that easy things don’t pay you much in life, so take a stand and work hard and pray for good luck.

To summarize this I would prefer to go to any Top engineering school in the world that gives me a freedom to make decision about career without any compulsions. Only IITs, Top NITs and Top Schools in any other developed country can give this opportunity. By Career decision I mean the decision to switch between Industry and academia easily.

Importantly, wherever I wrote Top US universities I also wrote with scholarship that covers your living and fees there. Otherwise, it will be really difficult to manage everything and study. Also, only top students will get scholarships and that is really an honor to start with.

I wish you a great luck with whatever you choose for your future.