National Institute of Technology - [NITC], Calicut

I have a friend who recently graduated with M.Tech in VLSI Design from NIT Calicut. According to him, the placements are great. According to recent placement highlights, the average CTC offered at the institute is 11 LPA.

In order to secure decent placements, all you need is the following. 

• Knowledge of EDA tools of Mentor or Cadence or Synopsys.
• Be skilled in RTL, Verilog coding.
• Know basics of verification and design parameters for speed vs power vs area.

You also should have sound knowledge of Place and Route; extract parameters to compare or adjust design parameters with layout changes. The demand in this field is high. Work hard and you will succeed.

The JEE Mains cutoff for NIT Calicut depends on which branch you are opting for. 

The JEE Mains cutoff off for candidates in the OBC category for NIT Calicut is highlighted in the following table. 

Hope this gives you an idea about the cutoff required at NIT Calicut. 

The definition of a Tier 1 college may vary from person to person as it majorly depends on an individual’s opinion. Yet going by the general characteristics defined for a Tier 1 college, it can be successfully concluded that NIT Calicut is a Tier 1 college. 

Various reasons can be stated for the same –

1. If we consider the NIRF as a major deciding factor then it can be seen that the college has seen a huge rise from 2018, and now it has shifted to the 23rd position.
2. The courses, faculties including the facilities provided by the college are at par as to what you can expect from a top tier college.
3. We can conclude that in the placement scenario, the college has seen a steady rise in the median and the highest package over the last couple of years. The median salary for last year stood around 8 lakhs per annum.

Hence, we can conclude that it is a tier -1 college and is far better than many IITs and NITs. As per the NIRF ranking, It stands at the 28th position all over India leaving behind IITs, NITs, and other colleges in the Engineering stream. Among the NITs, it stands at the top 5th position.

The college stands at 3 all over India, where only 2 IITs, i.e. IIT Roorkee and IIT Kharagpur are better than it while among the rest of the colleges and the NITs, it is at the first position in Architecture. All of these facts further strengthen the argument that NIT Calicut is a tier -1 college in India.

The definition of a Tier 1 college may vary from person to person as it majorly depends on an individual’s opinion. Yet going by the general characteristics defined for a Tier 1 college, it can be successfully concluded that NIT Calicut is a Tier 1 college. 

Various reasons can be stated for the same –

1. If we consider the NIRF as a major deciding factor then it can be seen that the college has seen a huge rise from 2018, and now it has shifted to the 23rd position.
2. The courses, faculties including the facilities provided by the college are at par as to what you can expect from a top tier college.
3. We can conclude that in the placement scenario, the college has seen a steady rise in the median and the highest package over the last couple of years. The median salary for last year stood around 8 lakhs per annum.

Hence, we can conclude that it is a tier -1 college and is far better than many IITs and NITs. As per the NIRF ranking, It stands at the 28th position all over India leaving behind IITs, NITs, and other colleges in the Engineering stream. Among the NITs, it stands at the top 5th position.

The college stands at 3 all over India, where only 2 IITs, i.e. IIT Roorkee and IIT Kharagpur are better than it while among the rest of the colleges and the NITs, it is at the first position in Architecture. All of these facts further strengthen the argument that NIT Calicut is a tier -1 college in India.

It is good overall, but nothing beats the computer science department at any of the old IITs. Still, if you are not getting any of the main branches in IITs, you should go for it.

Alternatively, if you are really passionate about CS and you are not getting it in any IIT (which, I believe, is pretty obvious from your question), you should consider taking an NIT.

• NIT Calicut is regarded as one of the best NITs, with a strong CS department.
• You will have no problems with placements because they are quite good over there.
• You can speak with any alumni or a current student over there, they are extremely cooperative.

Some important information regarding CSE at NIT Calicut are :

Many of my friends studied at NIT Calicut. According to them it is really good. If you do not get into IITs then NIT Calicut is the best option available for you.

Kerala is well-connected by road, rail, and air. NIT Calicut campus is located approximately 22 km from Calicut City (Kozhikode City) on the Calicut to Kunnamangalam to Mukkam Road.

Traveling By train:

• Reach Calicut station and from there go to Palayam bus stand which is approximately 0.8 km away from the railway station.
• From the Palayam bus stand, there you will get private buses every five to ten minutes to Mukkam via Kunnamangalam and NIT Calicut.
• Ensure that you are getting a bus that goes via NIT. It will take 40 to 45 minutes to reach.

Traveling By Bus:

• If you are going by bus to Calicut, go to the Mofussil Bus stand (Puthiya Bus Stand), at Mavoor road. 
• You can ask the nearby shopkeepers and go to the west side of the bus stand.
• Get a bus that goes to Mukkam through NIT. These buses usually start from the Palayam Bus stand.

Alternatively, you also can take an Auto rickshaw from the west side, reach Palayam stand, and get a bus to NIT. Auto rickshaw price usually will be Rs. 350 to Rs. 400 from Calicut to NIT.

If you are a general category student, you will need an AIR of around 1000 in order to get admission in B.Arch at NIT Calicut. This means you will need to have a rank of around 300 in JEE Mains Paper 2. 

Here is the cutoff for B.Arch at NIT Calicut in recent years. 

My sister appeared for JEE Mains paper-2 in 2013 and scored 228, his rank was somewhat around 5000. She got NIT-B in the 3rd round of counseling itself.

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.