There are a lot of things one can do on weekends.

Shopping and Enjoyment:

• You can go to Lulu mall, there are a lot of places to do some shopping, watch movies and eat at places.
• You can also go street shopping at Menka. There is a vastness in the variety of stuff at this market.
• There is also a Nepali market for shopping.

Nature and History Experience:

• You can visit Cherai and other beaches and relax by the shore.
• You can also visit Subash Park and hang out near the backwaters.
• You can also enjoy the weekend at the Marine drive, by taking boat rides and enjoying the beautiful views of Kochi.
• There are also historical places such as Fort Kochi and the Museum of Kerala History.

Trips:

• You can plan a trip to Aithirapally Falls and enjoy the scenic view and its beauty while taking the dip.
• If you want to plan any trip outside the city, you can visit Varkala, Allepey, Munnar, Vagamon, Wayanad and many more places.

The ones who do not want to go outside campus can join the Youth welfare department and attend various activities. If you are a tech lover, then you can join the Center for innovation. Binge Watching and having fun is always an option for everyone.

CUSAT is better than most of the private colleges that offer admission just for the sake of money. Most of the students join CUSAT for the sake of their affordable tuition fee. 

• There is no spoon-feeding of notes and you have to study and prepare notes of your own which comes in handy throughout your college life. 
• Faculties at CUSAT are highly qualified. Facilities are on par with any government engineering college. 
• Placement records are fairly good even for non-core and specialized branches. The reputation of CUSAT is pretty decent. 
• The institute teaches you to face and survive the real competitive world. 'Do it on your own and 'Go get it'll attitude of yours, learned here, will come very handy even if you fail to land on your dream companies on campus drive. 

Quick stats 2021:

Around 35 companies participated in the placement drive in 2020 among which Cisco, TCS, L&T, TATA steel, Vedantu were the top recruiters.

Beyond stereotypes, CUSAT is one of the best institutes in an affordable range. CUSAT prepares you to land on one of the top ten fortune companies. Grab the opportunity if you land on one.

I have a few friends at CUSAT, according to them, the Marine Engineering program offered by CUSAT is quite good. However, the number of boys in the branch is more. As girls mostly refrain from joining Marine Engineering. 

Being said that, the placement statistics for the branch are quite good. Here is a brief highlight of 2020 placement for the branch.

Compared to other BTech branches the Marine Engineering branch enjoys less freedom. The department is 1 km away from the BTech college of CUSAT and the rules are a bit strict too.

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: 

1. Memories of a lifetime- There is a culture of ragging which is still persistent at CUSAT. This eventually makes the bonding of batchmates stronger. Along with this, Kerala is a paradise in itself for tourism and it offers everyone a marvelous experience throughout. You will get a splendid experience throughout your engineering.
2. Survival Instinct - It is a very common notion in CUSAT that if a student has survived on its campus, they can survive anywhere in the world. From the very first day, you will face ragging as well as managing senior’s flat/ mess for a living. A language gap persists because of the accent and the topic of discussion. Throughout your degree of education, you will encounter teachers who will yell at you for academics as they are very strict about it.
3. Career Awareness – The academic curriculum is really tough in CUSAT. If you do not study or get distracted at the time of examination, you will get supplementary or back for sure. It has been observed that very few people pass out of college with no supplementary in their academic history. 

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.

Before enrolling yourself in any course, learn about your passion first. Research about the engineering stream and its various aspects. You can also talk to your elders to know about your interest. If you are passionate about it then only get into the engineering field.

CSE, CE, EEE, ME are considered good at CUSAT. But the placement of Safety and Fire Engineering, CSE, IT, EC is better. Other departments of CUSAT often have an off-campus placement or go for GATE.

These are some good departments at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT)

1. Civil Engineering: Total Batch Intake 90 students
2. Information Technology: Total Batch Intake 90 students
3. Computer Science and Engineering: Total Batch Intake 90 students
4. Mechanical Engineering: Total Batch Intake 90 students
5. Electrical and Electronics Engineering: Total Batch Intake 60 students
6. Electronics and Communication Engineering: Total Batch Intake 90 students 
7. Safety and Fire Engineering: Total Batch Intake 60 students

Therefore, CUSAT has several best departments and courses. And if you are thinking of joining it, then you must go for it. But do not forget to know about passion first.

My friend qualified for CUSAT in 2019 and the closing rank was 6800 for the Cochin University College of Engineering. CUSAT 2021 results would be out in the 4th week of May. You can get admission into two colleges after qualifying for CUSAT, i.e. The School of Engineering and CUSEK. 

Here is what you'd want to know in consonance with your rank-

• With your rank of 3200, you can get into the second campus of Cochin University, which is CUSEK. The college is located in Allepey, while the School of Engineering is located in Kochi.
• Even though it's the second campus, it is in no way any lesser than the School of Engineering. You might be able to get EC, IT, or CE if by some turn of fortune you get into SOE.
• If you belong to the general category, there are higher chances of getting into your desired branch. The only exclusions will be Naval Architecture and Fire and Safety, but chances are available nevertheless.

One more important point for admission is to be on the lookout for the NRI seats. Sometimes these seats stand a chance of availability because of being vacated by NRIs. To avail the opportunity, you should stay updated with the counseling sessions. For further information, you can connect with the counseling helpline, alumni, or the seniors.

Out of the two branches, Civil Engineering from CUSAT is the better choice. The following reasons will justify the choice.

• The median package offered by the branch is INR 4.5 LPA.
• The branch has a cut-off of 2313, i.e., quality people get admitted.

• The Civil Department has excellent and experienced faculty. They provide quality learning to their students.

• The campus is vast, spread across 180 acres. You can enjoy life with academics.

• There are extra-curricular and practical learning opportunities throughout the years.

• The curriculum followed by CUSAT is quite decent and well-framed. It is considered to be more rigid than other universities. But it is not very difficult to grasp if you put in hard work.

The placements of both the branches are bad. Civil Engineering packages are not excellent across India, but CUSAT is a preferred choice.Civil Engineering is decent for the students if they want to work in core companies. However, if you are choosing EEE, then you can appear for civil services examinations and a job guarantee will be there.