I will share my experience at NIT Goa after I took admission in M.Tech in VLSI at the institute. Please remember that these will be my thoughts and might differ from person to person.

College Campus –

• NIT Goa currently operates from a temporary campus located at Goa Engineering College in Farmagudi, Goa which is approximately 29 km away from the state capital at Panaji.
• Since it is a temporary campus, it has limited accommodation facilities and thus M.Tech and Ph.D. pursuing boys are not given any hostel. They have to stay on their own. 
• For food, you can use the hostel mess and college canteens which will cost you around INR 40 – 50 per day.
• For commuting, you can use the bus service provided by the college completely free of cost. Otherwise, you can definitely keep your own motorcycle or scooter since you are staying outside campus.

Academics –

• There is a separate VLSI lab for M.Tech students which is open for use 24X7. Each M.Tech student is allocated a separate PC with its user ID.
• The labs have access to all the required software you will ever need to play around with, simulate and verify your ideas. For example Cadence, MATLAB, Mentor, and Xilinx.

Placements –

• In the VLSI domain, many companies such as Intel Corporation, NXP Semiconductor, Global Foundries, and ON Semiconductor visit the campus for summer internships while companies like Sankhya Labs and C-DAC have visited the campus for final placements.
• The industry tie-ups are increasing and will increase further as more students pass from the institute. 
• The placement data for the year 2020-21 is given below for your reference. It is an overall placement record

In my experience, NIT Goa has been very good for me. I have had a very good social life. However you will also need to work hard during your years at the institute.

The top four IIITs in the country are – IIIT Hyderabad; IIIT Bangalore; IIIT Delhi; and IIIT Allahabad

If you get CS in any of the above-mentioned IIITs, just go for it The next two top IIITs are IIIT Gwalior and IIITDM Jabalpur. But there is a huge gap between these two. You may consider these two as well over NIT Goa. But then it is tricky and it should be left on your preference.

Generally, if you go to any NIT, then the topmost paying salary jobs are usually taken up by the CS guys of that college. So you will get a very good placement opportunity at NIT Goa as well if you get CS. If you are getting any other IIIT other than the top 6, then I would suggest you stick with NIT Goa.

My brother goes to NIT Calicut so I can give you some insight into their M.Tech VLSI and EDT course. Here are the glimpses of the placement record for the year 2020.

• The placement percentage for the programs MTech Microelectronics and VLSI Design has been 100%. All the 12 registered students got placed.
• The placement percentage for the program MTech Electronics Design Technology has been 71.4%. 10 out of 14 registered candidates got placed.

The average CTC offered to both of these programs is almost similar. Also, the course has a good ROI. M.Tech Microelectronics and VLSI Design is in great demand and it is turning out to be one of the best courses at NIT Calicut.

I have cousins from both NIT Goa, and Jamia Millia Islamia and as they mention, the latter is famous for its CSE course. Usually, students do not leave the opportunity to go for the CSE course of Jamia Millia Islamia.

• CSE is comparably better than most of the other branches in the educational domain. 
• CSE provides you job opportunities in accordance to what you have been exposed to, academically. 
• On the other hand, ECE is undeniably a good choice of stream. 
• For securing a good job position, you will have to pursue majoring in one of many programming languages or web development projects. 
• This translates to studying for your course and also pursuing something extra for exposure. 
• While CSE students are already part of studying these domains in general. 
• ECE students usually also go for the GATE exam. 
• However, the only upside ECE students enjoy is finding the slightest amount of vacancies in PSU, while CS students are somewhat one step lower than it. 

Apart from these few, it depends upon how hard you work. Be it ECE or CSE, you have to work hard and utilize the time and opportunities you get while studying in college.

As one of my friends studied at NIT Jalandhar, I can tell you his experiences with the college. According to him, NIT Jalandhar is far better than NIT Goa or UPTU College, especially the CSE branch. 

• The college is well established and has been earning a name for many years when compared to NIT Goa or UPTU College. 
• There is proper equipment available for the students of the CSE branch along with the other facilities. 
• Also, NIT Jalandhar has created a proper environment for all the students that can lead to their constant growth.
• NIT Jalandhar offers decent placement offers to students in various prestigious companies. 

According to the recent placement statistics following data can be tabulated:

Last but not least we can say that NIT Jalandhar along with its appealing infrastructure provides very attractive opportunities to all the students for their holistic development. So when compared to NIT Goa or UPTU College, always choose NIT Jalandhar.

It is not mentioned in your question whether the home state of Goa is applicable for you or not. Not only this, the category from which you belong is also not mentioned in the question (General/OBC/SC/ST).

However, I would try my best to provide you with a suitable answer based on official data for the past few years, the total number of seats vacant, and the various departments available at the institution.

• You can easily get enrolled in a better NIT like many of the older ones.
• You can surely try to opt for other courses at the older NITs as it would be extremely beneficial for your career.
• I would suggest that you do not lose hope after the seventh round of counselling.
• There would be a special round to fill up vacant seats at the NITs and IIITs.
• For this round, you are required to submit a fee of INR 1,000 along with the online application form on the CSAB portal.
• Fill in your desired branch and colleges once more; vacant slots can be seen at the portal.

I am quite confident you'll receive the branch you want after the special round. You can refer to the cutoff details available on various websites to estimate the chances of your getting admission to one of the courses offered by the institution.

You should focus on your JEE Main preparation. Don’t worry about the required cutoff. Try to score 99 percentile, that way you can choose any branch that you like. If you are a student from Goa origin then 98 percentile is enough to get top branches. 

Here is the 2021 cutoff for various branches. 

This should give you some ideas about the required cutoff for NIT Goa. 

IT from MNNIT Allahabad is the better choice. The following are the support points.

• MNNIT ranks among the top NITs in India. In the 2020 ranking, NIRF ranked MNNIT Allahabad at 48. 
• MNNIT Allahabad has a better placement record than NIT Goa. 

• The hostel life of the college is amazing. However, the food quality can be a big problem for you.
• The coding culture, club activities, and competitions in MNNIT make it a better choice.

Overall, MNNIT will offer better opportunities as compared to NIT Goa. 

Before diving into any conclusion, it is important that you understand the basic difference between B.Tech and B.E degrees. Following which, you have to clarify the doubts you have regarding both NIT Goa and Goa Engineering College.

• If you weigh the general brand value that arrives with the NIT tag, you will then already be more exposed to the industrial demands and explore better opportunities at NIT.
• However, there has been a genuine depreciation at Goa Engineering College. 
• You can possibly go out, looking for particular job offers after the completion of the B.E degree but you will obtain better placements by the college cell itself. 
• When talking about the faculty, there are several Ph.D graduates from most of the top institutions who have been teaching at NIT Goa. 
• The highest salary package was 16 LPA at NIT Goa. 
• On the other hand, at GEC, you might or might not secure placement. 
• Their highest package sometimes does not reach even up to 7 LPA. 

Therefore, it is suggested that you opt for NIT Goa, as it will provide you with better opportunities. They have an active placement cell, which not only helps with placements but also conducts seminars, internships and industrial visits.