One of my friends has graduated from CUSAT and he has often shared his experiences with me. The institute has helped him in achieving great success in his life.
Based on his point of view, I can give some pointers about life in CUSAT:
You can check out the alumni of CUSAT for more details as they are very widely spread and placed in all sectors of the profession - from IT giants, Manufacturing industries, IIMs, to Government PSUs and some students have recently qualified UPSC as well. Therefore, it can be assured that CUSAT will give you a very apt environment to nurture yourselves and it is up to you on how you can grab the best.
Both the institutes are government institutes and provide best in class education when it comes to Fire and safety engineering. They offer good placement opportunities in government and private organizations with good packages. However, NFSC Nagpur might be the choice to go due to the following reasons.
CUSAT:
Let’s discuss CUSAT first.
NFSC Nagpur:
Considering all the facts above it is safe to say that NFSC Nagpur is the best option of the two. It is a central Govt. college under the Ministry of Home Affairs and has a rich alumni network in major public and private organizations.
CUSAT placement is good for the IT branch. Most of the recruiting companies perticiating in the placement drive are from IT sector. As a student of the IT branch, you will be eligible to sit for almost all the visiting IT companies provided you have the required CGPA. According to the recent placement highlights, the average CTC received by the students of IT branch is around INR 4.7 LPA.
A score of 150 marks in the CUSAT CAT exam will fetch you a rank between 6000-7000. Based on this rank, you will only get core branches like Civil, Electrical, or Mechanical in CUCEK, the second campus in spot admission only.
If you aren’t aware of spot admission, please visit the institute and get information on the same. If you aren’t able to get spot admission, you can also take admission through an NRI seat in SOE on the first campus
CUSAT offers an amazing campus life and trust me the locals of Kerala are very hospitable and humble. You will love your time here even as a North Indian. However, every coin has two sides and likewise being a North Indian at CUSAT will bring forth some challenges too. I have listed down a few
Language barrier: Malayalam is a language that is difficult to understand and even more to learn so North Indians face major language issues here. But the bright side is your Malyali peers will help you and never make you feel left out.
Cultural differences: Every aspect of CUSAT portrays Kerala's culture be it the faculty, crowd, or food. Adjusting to this culture might be a little difficult for North Indians.
Mindset difference: Despite being a metro city, the mindset is narrow and Kerala culture is highly followed. Girls are restricted from roaming around past sunset, and rarely will you see them dressed in western wear.
Home visits: While the local students can be seen visiting their homes during 2-3 days' leave, North Indians cannot go to their homes unless the semester ends. But most students prefer traveling and enjoying with friends rather than visiting their families so it’s not a big issue.
Campus politics: As a North Indian you cannot comment much on the campus politics in CUSAT due to cultural and language barriers. Hence most of the organizational and administrative roles are assigned to locals.
These are some common problems faced by North Indians in CUSAT. If you think you can overcome these, you are welcome here!
Majority of students choose an MBA to get a good job. SMS, CUSAT satisfies your job requirements quite well. If you are hardworking and serious towards getting an offer, as a student of this institution and this department, your goal will be fulfilled. The highest package at SMS, CUSAT goes to around INR 20.14 LPA while the average package touches around 9.34 LPA. Some students of SMS, CUSAT got offers from Amazon for a salary of 14 LPA some time back. I would recommend you to not only focus on salary but also seek a job which is enjoyable, and offers you growth and learning opportunities.
Admission to CUSAT is based on the rank obtained by the candidate in the Common Admission Test (CAT), which is conducted by the university. The university releases a cutoff rank for each course, which varies depending on factors such as the number of seats available, the difficulty level of the exam, and the number of candidates who appeared for the exam.
Based on past trends, a rank of 5446 may not be sufficient for admission to some of the popular courses such as Computer Science and Engineering or Electronics and Communication Engineering. However, the cutoff rank for each course can vary from year to year, and it's difficult to predict the exact cutoff rank for any given year.
If you have a rank of 5446, it would be suggested that you check the official website of CUSAT for the most up-to-date information on admission criteria and cutoffs for the course you are interested in. You can also consider other options such as participating in the counseling process and exploring alternative courses or universities.
CUSAT has released the revised fee structure 2023 on the University’s official website. The institute offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs in a variety of fields and the fee structures for every course are different. Since you haven’t mentioned the course you are looking for, I have mentioned the CUSAT Fee Structure for the major courses
For a detailed fee structure of the specific program you are looking for, visit the official website of the institute.
Firstly, you should clearly know that CUSAT ranks in the Top 100 Universities in India. In 2017, it ranked #36 and from then in 2021 it has climbed down to #62. Nevertheless, it is still a good university because of the number of published research works and a few of its excellent departments.
Since a university is judged on different parameters of academic excellence, faculty, facilities, tuition costs, etc; it'll be unjust on highlighting it solely on the basis of its rank. The courses it offers must be judged on the same parameters. So here are some highlights-
Here is a placement table as well-
Batch |
2020 |
Number of Offers Received |
300 |
Number of Students Placed |
595 |
Number of Companies Participated |
35 |
Highest Package Offered |
INR 24 LPA |
Lowest Package Offered |
INR 4.7 LPA |
Top Recruiters |
Cisco, Larsen and Toubro, TCS |
So as you see, 595 students have placed last year and the CUSAT placement officer Jacob Elias informed that more than students have been offered more than 17 LPA in 2020 and this year some have been placed with an amount of over INR 44 LPA.
It’s true that getting admission to CUSAT is easier than colleges like CET and GEC Thrissur. It has provisions for NRI seats and also conducts many spot admissions. The campus is not very disciplined and the increasing cutoffs have resulted in a huge intake recently. The quality of education has been compromised as a result. I think the reason it’s still highly ranked is that these rankings are flawed and manipulated. It’s better not to refer to these rankings while choosing a college.
Personally, I will suggest you choose colleges based on the following preference order
NIT Calicut>CET TRIVANDRUM>GEC THRISSUR>Government Engineering College Kottayam(RIT)>CUSAT>Model Engineering College
As you can see, CUSAT comes much later in the preference list so go for it only if it’s the last option.