Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology has been ranked 51st overall and 29th for BTech by NIRF 2020. It has collaborations with Trinity College, Dublin and The University of Waterloo.

NIT Jalandhar offers courses like BTech, MTech, MSc, PhD, and PGDM programs in Management and Engineering. It is ranked 52nd for BTech by NIRF 2020.

PEC University is one the pioneer engineering colleges in Punjab. It is ranked 68th for BTech by NIRF 2020. It is a deemed university approved by AICTE and affiliated to Punjab University.

Admission Details

• Students should at least have 70-75% in their 10+2 qualifying exam.
• Students opting for MBA will have to go through a Group Discussion and Personal Interview Session.
• NIT Jalandhar will conduct a JoSAA counselling session.
• Students pursuing a PhD should have a post graduation degree from a relevant board.
• TIET offers 75 scholarships for deserving students.

Entrance Exams Required - 

• TIET - JEE Main, GATE, CAT, MAT, XAT, NMAT, CMAT and GMAT.
• NIT Jalandhar - JEE Main, CAT and GATE.
• PEC University - JEE Main and GATE. 

Tabulated below gives a brief overview of both institutions:

Placements

TIET - 

• The Recruiting Companies include TCS, Infosys, Microsoft, Capgemini, JP Morgan, DeShaw, etc.

• The highest package offered to students was 43 LPA.

NIT Jalandhar 

• 130 recruiters took part in the placement program.
• The Recruiting Companies include Adobe, Microsoft, Capgemini, Vedanta, ZS Associates, Trident Group, etc.
• Students received the highest salary of 39.12 LPA.

PEC University

• A total of 619 students were eligible for the placement program.
• 143 companies visited the campus and made 449 offers.
• The university witnessed the highest salary of 42 LPA.
• The recruiting companies include Microsoft, ITC, Infosys, TATA, JP Morgan, Mu Sigma, Loreal, Arcesium, Goldman Sachs, etc.

Key Points

NIT Jalandhar

• The faculty members of NIT Jalandhar are over 200, most of them being PhD holders.
• There are 10 hostels for boys and 3 for girls.
• They have all necessary facilities like a post office, shopping centre, banks, seminar hall, gym, computer centre and library.

TIET

• Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology is known to be one of the oldest and finest educational institutes of India.
• They have 307 highly qualified faculty members.
• They provide all the necessary facilities like library, hostels and medical facilities.

PEC University

• The university has a library consisting of 1,19,830 volumes of books including science, technology, engineering, management, social sciences, IT and many more.
• They have a total of 6 hostels 4 being boys hostel and 2 girls hostels.
• PEC University provides Medical Facility, Graduate Research Project Award and has a Computer Center.

Students can choose from any of the above mentioned colleges depending on their preferences of subject or choice of course, affordability, location, appropriate facilities and much more. NIT Jalandhar and PEC University have lower course fees. If affordability is not your primary concern you can also go for TIET. TIET and NIT Jalandhar has better placement records than PEC University but they all offer more or less the same salary packages which can range from 6-18 LPA.

One of my friends studied at Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, so I will be able to share some information about their placement process, drives, etc. 

• Companies like Arcesium and Amazon might offer a 30+ package, though few students receive this offer based on their coding skills.
• Core companies like Sandisk, Texas Instruments, MediaTek, etc. may hire 4-5 candidates from CS, ECE, and EE departments combined.
• The remaining students get placed in different sectors like IT, Consulting, Banking, etc. These include BCG, JP Morgan, Amadeus, Smartcube, etc.
• TCS and Infosys are the mass recruiters, they will offer you many opportunities, though they might sometimes not be up to the mark. So try to stay ahead in the competition. 

In the below table you will get the placement record of the ECE course of Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh.

Students also get placed by mass recruiters like TCS, or Infosys. But it will be better if you get recruiters from core companies. Therefore, a package of Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, is good. Most students get placed. So, if you are thinking of joining PEC, then go ahead with it.

When it's about choosing the colleges then analyze the statistics, not the ranking. PEC is statistically better than the NITs. It has been proven over the years that the tag of NIT doesn't matter that much.

Below are some facts about PEC:

• The reputation as one of the oldest institutes in India. PEC was established in 1921.
• It has a magnificent extracurricular culture.
• The average placement package is about 10 LPA which is better than NIT Surat and is even comparable to IITs.
• The rate of extension it is undergoing in its infrastructure since 2014 and many changes have been done till now.
• Most of the students get their dream internships at MNCs where about 50% of internships are abroad.

The table shows a brief overview of the institution:

PEC has no IIT or NIT tag but has a unique PEC tag that is not comparable to anything. Both the colleges are renowned and one of the best in India. Overall PEC Chandigarh is the potential choice.

VIT is better as it has more than 200 companies coming for CSE students. If the student wants to go into a college with better placements or better exposure. 

The table shows a brief overview of the institution:

• The intake of students in VIT is not great as students above the rank of 2000 in VITEEE join some other colleges. 
• VIT has seats for merit up to only 6000 rank holders in CSE. Concluding only one thing that 80% of those 1300 VIT CSE students get through management quota. So, if the student is worthy then they will find themselves humiliated with children who come there through management quota.
• That's why even if the student gets a lower branch in PEC, take it as PEC is the legacy of notable alumni and will continue to remain. 
• Unless you have a certain inclination towards some branch then do opt for PEC the student will never regret it.

It is not possible to decide your inclination just after completing 12th as there is plenty of knowledge awaiting. When you take a branch that you probably didn’t realize in school also the placements in PEC are nice now it is on par with VIT. Overall, PEC is the potential choice.

The hostels of PEC University of Technology are decent in quality, with several factors to consider such as quality of food, wifi availability, quality of rooms, etc. 

The points below give a brief overview of the hostels at PEC University of Technology.

• The entire campus of PEC Chandigarh is provided with high-speed wifi connectivity. There are occasional crashes in connectivity, which are repaired by the institute, but with a little longer time.
• The hostels in PEC have two and three shared rooms, as there is an increasing number of students in subsequent years. The Shivalik hostel has both kinds of rooms, but the size of rooms with three-shared accommodation is larger.
• The room facilities in PEC are quite comfortable and so, it is not a problem to stay in shared rooms at the hostel. There is a newly constructed block in Shivalik which would ease the accommodation of students further.
• The girl’s hostel has three and four sharing rooms, and it is somewhat uncomfortable to stay in those rooms.
• The overall quality of rooms is decent, as expected from a property which is 50 years old.
• The quality of food served in the hostels of PEC is not that good. Students can go to the PEC market where several shops sell good quality food. There are quite a number of dhabas in sector 11 too. Students usually manage their living for the first year and then figure out their comfort in it.

This is the overall condition of the hostels in PEC, which is of average quality, but quite good being an old enough property.

Among the above institutes, PEC Chandigarh is the best choice, considering the factors of availability in streams, fee structure, etc. If you have a specific branch in mind to pursue, then you can definitely choose PEC Chandigarh. But if you are considering a non-IIIT or non-NIT tag then you can opt for DTU. 

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

Key Highlights:

• PEC Chandigarh is a government institute and so has a much lesser fee as compared to Thapar University, which is an autonomous university having a much higher fee structure.
• There are some subjects in PEC Chandigarh which are not available in other institutes like Thapar University or CEG, for example, Aeronautical Engineering.

Therefore, PEC Chandigarh is a better choice considering the factors stated above. Other than these, all the three institutes are incomparable to each other as they offer similar quality placement.