I have friends studying production engineering at PEC Chandigarh and they have come across that it is somewhat similar to mechanical engineering. You can expect a lot of mechanics and physics, however, some subjects differ as you get into the core.

Coming to the question, it totally depends on your pool of interest whether you are into mechanics and production or metallurgy. Here are two major factors you might consider before choosing any of them

• Production Engineering can get you jobs and packages similar to mechanical engineering. Also, it is a versatile branch where you can learn about manufacturing, operation, maintenance, etc.
• If you are planning to get into research work after completion of engineering, then you must choose Metallurgy. It has broader research scopes than production engineering.

At the end of the day, follow your passion and know where you can invest these 4 years of your life. Nevertheless, if getting a job is your goal then go for production engineering. On the other hand, metallurgy engineering can open doors for good research work if you are interested in doing so.

You have a chance of getting into PEC with AIR 70000 on the board and Chandigarh quota, but branch preference can be an issue. Production and Metallurgy are the branches you are qualified for. You can wait until the spot round as this rank might put you in this branch.

2020 Cut-offs :

If you are from the general category, then it might be a problem. But if you have some other quota also, then it will improve your chances. You can get admission as far as just admission is concerned.

The chances are very bleak and almost non-existent. 

Nowadays, PEC is going through a space crunch, since the number of seats has been increased by a large amount in recent years. Authorities give top priority to students from outside the Chandigarh quota. 

New hostels are being considered and Shivalik Hostel was recently expanded into a new block, the lack of rooms to house all of the students comfortably is still a sore point. The number of seats has increased but hostel capacity remained the same. 

Hence, by chance, if Hostels do not get filled up completely, you can definitely get a hostel at PEC. So, unless a new batch of students shows a great reduction in hostlers, you should not expect to get accommodations in the hostel.

Surely, Metallurgy at PEC over Mechanical in UIET. There are various important reasons behind this: Placements in PEC are better, companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. visit campus for placements.

Though metallurgy has fewer placements than other branches in PEC, once you are in PEC and if you are focused enough, you can go for an upgrade after 1st semester on the basis of CGPA. To aim for it, keep the following things in mind -

• At most, only the top 10% of the class can be upgraded.
• The branch you want to be upgraded to will only be available if it has vacant seats.

PEC is far superior to UIET in terms of cultural and other extracurricular activities. If you don't have any branch priorities, I'd recommend metallurgy in PEC.

Yes the LAN facilities are available but using DC++ is prohibited in the whole campus. Let us discuss them in detail, which might give you a clear idea.

• LAN facilities: They are available in computer centers and other labs. LAN ports are also available in hostel common rooms but are not available in personal hostel rooms or in libraries.
• WiFi service: The entire academic block including the classrooms has high-speed wifi connectivity. You need a login ID and password to access the internet on campus which will be unique for each and every student and can be connected to a maximum of one device. Almost all the hostel rooms have amazing wifi signal strength except for a few. There are some instances where signal strength might be low but will be back in a few hours to a day. 

Few tips with the internet connection on campus:

• Use VPN if required.
• Consume as much of the internet as you want as there is no limit to usage.
• If you have friends in the placement committee, getting their wifi password comes in handy as they have no limit for the number of devices to get connected to wifi. 
• Install 'Connectify' on your laptop.

To sum up, the PEC campus has WiFi and LAN facilities but using DC++ is blocked. Signal strength is pretty decent.

The fee payment procedure for NRI students admitted through Direct Admission for Students Abroad (DASA) is simple but a little different than their Indian counterparts. This is because whatever may be your currency, USD or Pound or anything, you have to pay your fee in INR currency. 

The whole procedure is given below in points for a better understanding –

• The first task is to get a currency conversion certificate from your bank for the day of payment of the fee. If you have your bank account in the State Bank of India (SBI), then you can easily get it from the nearest PEC Market branch. For other banks, get it from the nearest branch to you.
• You need to visit SBI collect link given by the institute in the online fee payment tab of their website. Fill in all your necessary details like college name, your college ID, name, etc. 
• Do not forget to select the NRI student option and the year of your admission before entering your details in the SBI collect portal.
• Fill in the amount of fee to be paid by you as per the conversion certificate and pay using your preferred bank where you have your account (it is not necessary to have your account in SBI only).
• After completion, download the acknowledgment receipt with the details of your payment. During college registration, submit your receipt along with the conversion certificate, and the process is completed finally.

There are no other charges to be paid and the process is fairly straightforward as well. You can definitely approach the college administration for any difficulty arising during the process.

The choice must be done purely based on your interest. If you are not that interested in coding and if you take a lot of time to understand the core language, there is no point in opting CS even if it's in high demand. Once you enjoy what you are learning you will succeed in your job position. Otherwise, there is no point in being hung up in a course which you don't enjoy and for four years or even for the rest of your life. 

Quick stats 2021:

If you don't have a specific preference and you are okay with either CS or civil, then clearly assess college reputation, placement stats, and other opportunities in the respective fields which are briefed out below. 

• Both PEC Chandigarh and UIET offer 24/7 high-speed internet facilities at both academic blocks and hostels. Academic blocks are fully air-conditioned. 
• Labs are fully equipped with hi-tech equipment. Libraries are up-to-date with new books of international standards. 
• Food at hostels is pretty good and you can even opt for off-campus housing facilities. Both of these universities give priority to sports. 
• Both of them organize certain tech fests out of which 'PECfest' of PEC and 'Avishkar' of UIET are quite popular.

As a branch CSE is on top when compared to Civil. But when you compare PEC and UIET, PEC has an upper hand. Set your priorities straight and opt for the best college for you.

My brother had the option of VIT for CSE on merit still he chose PEC metallurgy. There are various reasons as to why he took that decision:

• VIT is more expensive. Even if he had gone on merit, it would have cost him much more than PEC.
• Placements in core companies in ECE are negligible. You can sit for IT companies, but they pay less to ECE undergraduates than CSE counterparts.
• If you are a north Indian, culturally VIT might be different and might take time to adjust.
• Metallurgy is an undervalued branch in India; many of my seniors are pursuing MS from Germany, the United States, and France, and some have gone to IIMs and FMS with strong credentials.
• One of our seniors received a PPO of 15 lakhs, which is more than many students from elite branches.
• You can choose to upgrade, but you'll quickly realize that it's not that simple because the grading criteria favors those who are less deserving (no offense).
• Whether you accept it or not, those who claim that placement in metallurgy is poor (as it is in all branches except CS/IT) are correct. Placements in the core are hard to come by.
• Only 4000 people in GATE are from metallurgy, whereas there are 1.8 lakh from CSE and 2.1 lakh from Mechanical, implying that the probability of you getting a PSU is greater than that of a mechanical engineer.

I personally believe VIT is overrated because a friend who did not even pass mains received 2000 AIR in VITEEE. In the CBSE 2016 boards, he scored 78 percent, which was below average.