CSE has always been an important and the best career to opt for at BITS Pilani. Its demand is increasing with each day and the skills required are in very high demand. Some specializations like software systems are more in demand than others so it becomes a clear advantage if you learn software systems. Studying at an institute such as BITS Pilani further adds sparkles to your future career and scope.

• Software development is one of the strong fortes of BITS Pilani and M.E. Software development is a good option here.
• They have extensive training in the fields of Software Engineering and development.
• Additional basic subjects are also taught.
• BITS Pilani is also well known among the industry and therefore the industries offer to recruit majors of the students.
• Software systems have a wide scope for the students and it also has several other opportunities in the same field.
• CSE and Software System have different course structures in the beginning but gradually CSE starts including Software system in its course by the end of 2nd year.
• M.E. in Software System mainly focuses on the development and implementation of the software package.

Some basic subjects are taught to students of both branches are the same, lots of core Computer Science stuff is not taught to SS students. However, they receive extensive training in Software Engineering and related fields. Also, when you sit for placements, the courses you've done matter a lot.

The whole counseling process completes with a total of 5 rounds of seat allocation for its various courses at various campuses. The whole process is given below, in brief.

• First you have to fill out the campus preference form online.
• After the first round of seat allocation, the selected candidates have to pay a part of the fee for seat locking without which you would not be considered for further rounds.
• Then the second and the third round of seat allocation takes place after roughly every 10 days.
• After the third round is over, you need to report to your allotted campus within 7-8 days. You would have to get your hostel allocation and all other hostel amenities as well after you visit the campus.
• In the final admission, document verification takes place and you will need to pay the full 1st-semester fee minus the seat locking fee paid earlier. On this day also you need to “freeze” your campus. If you freeze your campus, then you are eligible to get the higher preference branch only in your campus where you have taken the admission. If you do not freeze your campus you are still eligible for the other campus programs as well.

Finally, the 4th and the 5th rounds of seat allocation happens usually in the first two weeks of August and the process is completed.

In BITS Pilani, one of the biggest advantages of taking practice school 2 in the first semester is that you get a better practical experience that can help you during your interviews. Here are some other advantages and disadvantages of taking practice school 2 in the first semester.

Advantages:

• If you don’t have an in-depth understanding of your subject and want to appear for core companies, then taking practice school will be a big help.
• You can even increase your CGPA in the leap of some crucial days.
• You will have chances to secure PPO, and you won’t have to worry about placement in the second semester.

Disadvantages:

• The major disadvantage is that most of the companies come for recruiting students during the first semester only since the second semester has the financial end till March.
• Also, getting the projects in the first semester is much easier if you approach the faculty directly.

Thus we can conclude that it is a mixed bag of advantages and disadvantages of taking practice school 2 in the first semester at BITS Pilani.

The Practice School is an educational innovation-seeking in linking up industry experience with university instruction. The primary objectives include:

1. To meet the rapidly changing needs and challenges of a professional workplace.
2. It enables students to acquire learning by applying the knowledge and skills they possess, in unfamiliar, open-ended real-life situations.

These objectives are achieved by bringing the reality of the world of work into the process of education.

• PS creates the required setting for experiential and cooperative learning and education.
• They provide students with an opportunity to work on relevant assignments, under the guidance of professional experts and under the supervision of faculty Practice School 1.
• PS-1 is primarily an exposure-oriented program that is graded for five units as it is an integral part of the curriculum.
• It is offered during the summer after the students have completed two years of course work.
• Your allotted PS -1 station and date of joining will be informed by the PS Division.
• You need to report to the PS instructor and he/she will give you a basic introduction of the PS program, PS Station, and even its evaluation criteria.
• You will observe what's happening in your PS station and note the key points.
• You might be required to give a presentation & report based on your observation.
• You will have a mid-term evaluation and an end-term evaluation.

A friend of mine's PS -1 had his PS -1 station in the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. Students were divided into groups of 4 and every batch was given a handout containing dates and shops to be visited on that day.

They were asked to take note of every process on that floor for further reference. My friend got a good understanding of sleeper and EMU class trains. Our documents were verified by an ICF representative and my friend got 6 /10. Overall it was a good experience.

According to one of my friends studying at BITS Pilani, it is a good college offering appropriate placement opportunities to its students. As you are a student of BITS Pilani, your appreciation should see an exponential increase gradually. In the long run, students who pursued computer science or any other course most of the time end up getting the same packages as electronics and instrumentation.

• BITS Pilani boasts of a placement record of 100%.
• You will be provided guidance and training for the interviews by the institute’s Central Placement Cell.
• The top companies visiting the campus include Honda, PwC, Hitachi, Infosys, etc.

Last year, great packages were offered to EEE students with an average package of INR 18-22 LPA. They were placed in companies such as CISCO, Micron, Qualcomm, etc. The rest went either for the IT sector, consultancy or analytics.