Indian Statistical Institute - [ISI], New Delhi

While choosing between Kolkata or the Delhi campus students should apply to any one of them and not in both of them. Some commonly known facts regarding this are: -

• Both ISI Kolkata and ISI Delhi are very good for pursuing Masters in Economics.
• Both of the institutes have excellent faculty in their fields.
• Placements for both the institutes are really good, especially for PhDs.
• The interview list for ISI Delhi has been found to be bigger than that of ISI Kolkata

People believe that it is easier to get into ISI Kolkata when compared to ISI Delhi because of the location and fewer competitors for the institute which is absolutely wrong. Both the institutes have the same cutoff and entrance exam. The criteria for the selection of students is also the same in both the institutes therefore it is equally hard for the students to get into both.

According to a report published it has been observed that students find it easier to get into ISI Kolkata when compared to ISI Delhi. The cutoff criteria change every year and for last year it was: -

• For ISI Delhi the cutoff was said to be near 400 out of 600 according to the stats released in the official page.
• For ISI Kolkata the cutoff was said to be near 310 out of 600 from the same source.

Overall ISI Delhi is the better option here but ISI Kolkata is the safer one.

One of my friends graduated from ISI, Delhi Campus. So I might be able to give you some information about it.

• For the Kolkata and Delhi campuses, I don’t believe there are separate MSQE exams. 
• When filling out the application, you must choose between Kolkata and Delhi.
• If nothing has changed since 2009, which I assume it has, you will only have to take one exam and select your campus on the application form.

However, in Delhi and Kolkata, interviews are performed at the relevant locations. That is, students who are chosen in a Delhi interview are admitted to ISI Delhi, and vice versa.