Should I go for the ABV-IIITM Gwalior CS branch if my JEE rank is 8965, or is there any better option available at this rank?

Arriving from an IT background, my cousin has had certain suggestions regarding the spot counseling offered at ABV-IIITM Gwalior.

At this rank, NIT Kurukshetra or IIITM Gwalior would definitely be considered as the best fit, if you're planning for CS. The tips given below may help you in choosing the right option. 

Coding Culture:

IIITM Gwalior has a far better coding culture as compared to NIT Kurukshetra. This information can be confirmed from Spoj, Codechef, Topcoder and more similar platforms. The only NIT which is popularly known to have a better coding culture than this is NIT Allahabad. Other choices, which will probably fulfill your requirement are BIT Meshra, IIIT Allahabad.

Placements in IT/CS: 

• You can get a decent package of 12 LPA, for CS and IT branches in NIT, Kurukshetra. On the other side, it is 11.5 LPA for IIITM Gwalior on average. Although, the first CS batch of IIIT Gwalior will pass out in the year 2022.
• The top recruiters of the students passing from ABV IIITM are among top companies, like Amazon, Directi, Belzabar, Samsung, TCS, Paytm.

Curriculum:

• Computer Science Engineering at NIT Kurukshetra is basically hardware-oriented, giving a better grasp on complex non-conventional problems. 
• At IIITM Gwalior, CSE and IT is mainly programming oriented, thus building softwares from scratch becomes a hand in trade for the students there.

Going by the factors mentioned above, it is safe to say that IIITM Gwalior will be a better choice for CS.