One of my friends was in a similar dilemma a few years back. There are several outlooks to consider when deciding which among both of these should be your choice. The points listed below will give you a fair idea to think about it,

• The NIT tag matters not just inside the boundaries of the nation, yet outside of it. That means, choosing NIT over PEC will give various international recruiters a solid reason for hiring you. 
• Other than that, the recruiters hiring in PEC Chandigarh are nearly the same as that of NIT Kurukshetra.
• PEC did come close to becoming an IIT but there is no such possibility anymore. 
• NITs have a more focused academic environment. 
• If you want to pursue any coaching for either UPSC or GATE, then you can opt for PEC.
• My sister was a student of NIT Kurukshetra herself and according to her the studies, curriculum, exposure are better at NIT than most of the newly established IITs.

NIT Kurukshetra does have a slight edge over PEC.

One of my friends lives in the PEC Chandigarh hostel, so I can give you basic information every hostler there may know. 

1. Locals: If you are local, then you have to wait a bit to get a hostel. Approximately it takes 2 weeks of time to allot rooms to locals. You also have to submit a written application to DSA with attached address proof. 
2. Room: Every first-year student has to share his room with another fresher. After the first year, students are eligible to stay in a single room.
3. Mess: The food quality of the hostel mess is not worth the fees you pay for it. On special days or occasions, special meals are served to the students, which is of good quality as compared to normal days.
4. Electricity and Water: Hostel has a good supply of electricity and water. So, students don’t have to worry about it.
5. Hostel Timings: There is no restriction of timing in the hostel. You can go out of the hostel and can come back at any time. 
6. Laundry: Every student gets laundry service at the hostel. But laundry allowance is not included in hostel fees, so students have to pay separately for it. Also, avoid giving expensive clothes in the laundry, as it might get ruined. 
7. Wifi: The campus has Wifi connectivity around the campus. It faces some network problems, but its speed is good.
8. Cleanness: Hostels are not clean and tidy, neither the washrooms and toilets. Except, the newly constructed building, Shivalik C Block, which is clean. It is better that you keep your room clean, though. 
9. Ragging: There is no ragging at the hostel campus. You will have an introductory session with seniors both in college and a hostel. The introduction is done with a few fun activities so that freshers easily get to mingle with seniors. 

Therefore, hostel life at Punjab Engineering College is overall good. Apart from this, freshers also get hostel parties besides college fresher’s parties. So, the overall experience of PEC is good.

Yes, you can get a hostel at PEC University if you live in Chandigarh. But Punjab Engineering College has its own procedure to allot hostels to students. 

• As per University procedure, firstly University will allot hostel rooms to students living outside Chandigarh. 
• The remaining seats after the allotment will later be given to waiting list students including locals and students with Chandigarh Quota. 
• PEC has huge hostel promises and enough rooms for students. You do not need to worry about not getting the seats. One of my cousins who is a local is also staying in the PEC hostel. 
• You might have to wait a bit to get a hostel. Approximately it takes 2 weeks of time to allot rooms to locals. 
• You also have to submit a written application to DSA with attached address proof.

Therefore, yes Chandigarh locals get hostels. As PEC hostels are big enough to accommodate all students.

PEC Chandigarh is a better option for Computer Science and Engineering, considering the factors of placement, curriculum, and the overall development of the students in the institute. 

The table below gives a brief level of comparison among the two institutes.

Key Highlights:

• The curriculum followed by PEC Chandigarh is very much similar to that of IITs. It is updated as per the requirements of the industry. This is a great advantage over the other as NIT Jalandhar follows the same syllabus followed by other NITs across India.
• PEC Chandigarh provides proper facilities in the institute for the overall development of the student during the course. 
• Through the engagement of technical societies in PEC, students in CSE get exposure to an in-depth study of subjects relevant to Computer Science and Engineering.

Considering all the above factors, it can be concluded that PEC Chandigarh is, without doubt, a better choice for a B.Tech degree in Computer Science and Engineering.

PEC Chandigarh offers various student activities for the overall development of the students. These activities include sports, hobbies, technical interests, etc. The institute encourages you to actively take part in these so that you can explore new things. 

These student bodies not only help you find your hidden talent it also works as a catalyst for your personality development. 

A few of the different technical societies of the institute are as follows.

• Aerospace Technical Society (ATS)
• Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• Institute of Electronics & Electrical Engineers (IEEE)
• Indian Institute of Metals (IIM)
• The Institution of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineers (IETE)
• Astronomy & Space Physics Society (ASPS)
• Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)
• Robotics Society 
• Solar Energy Society of India (SESI)

The technical societies of the institute focus on providing you the practical and theoretical knowledge. It also gives you a chance to implement what you learn in your classroom.

This totally depends on your choices and interests. As the college administration is unknown towards your logical mind in doing computer programming all day or managing a manufacturing unit.

If you choose Mechanical Engineering as a branch, it is far better than Computers, where the second one is more subjective than the first one. For this reason, you can easily become an expert in computer programming, and it is not so easy to become a mechanical engineering expert.

But if you are interested in mechanical, or want to appear in IES after completing the BTech degree, then studying mechanical from MNNIT will be the best decision for you.

Besides, if you want to take Computer Science to be settled in top MNCs, studying CSE in PEC will be the best decision for you, rather than studying it in NIT K.