Jadavpur University - [JU], Kolkata - Affiliated Colleges

IIEST Shibpur offers integrated MTech for engineering streams. So, first, be clear if you want to pursue MTech from an institute that does not have a record of producing post-grads like IITs or other universities abroad. 

Comparison:

In academics, there is not much difference between JU CS and BESU CS.

In fact in the present scenario, JU CS has better placement statisticsas compared to BESU CS.For this reason, sometimes BESU CS/IT graduates join IITs after the completion of their course and often end up in the same firms their fellow JU mates are working in for 2 years. 

BESU got updated to the status of IIEST quite recently. It will take some time for the institute to improve its infrastructure and academics. Being an institute of national importance, the institute is attracting good facilities and campus recruits. 

The bottom line is if you are sure that you want to pursue integrated MTech, IIEST CS is not a bad option. Be it JU or BESU, the institute does not matter that much. If you are hard-working, you will excel. 

Jadavpur University has managed to survive the recession to give its student a handsome placement package. My friend is currently studying there and their placement happens all around the years, unlike IITs where placement happens for two weeks or so.

Like most engineering colleges, CSE as usual tops the placement with their highest packages. The most popular recruiters include Amazon, Microsoft, Adobe, Goldman Sachs, etc.

Almost 100% of students are placed in all the branches. Here are some branch-wise placement statistics for the year 2020.

Another good thing at Jadavpur University is that most of the big IT/ Analytics firms do not discriminate between the branches and allow them to sit for their placements. This way, you can grab a job in any field that you would like if you develop an interest in it in your college tenure. 

Having some friends at Jadavpur University, I can list some problems that students usually face:

1. As Jadavpur University is a regional university, it lacks the exposure what central institutes usually attract. For the same reason, the administration is a little lazy and students enjoy too much freedom. 
2. Most of the professors are quite qualified and experienced, you can find a lot of them who aren’t up to the mark. Here, it becomes quite difficult to compete with the level of IIT and NIT professors.
3. Students at Jadavpur are not creative and do not think out of the box. They usually like to go with the flow and simply follow the syllabus for good placement. 
4. The placement scenario of the CSE department might be at a height but sometimes, other departments suffer and couldn't get as great opportunities.
5. The UG research quality in JU is not up to the mark. Although many students indulge in research and projects, the publication quality is not at par. They just make some small change in an algorithm and produce two/three papers but are not recognized very kindly by foreign universities.

All in all, JU needs improvements with the serious involvement of all the students, teachers, staff, alumni of JU. By tackling all the problem areas together, it can shine like IITs and NITs in the near future.

Pursuing a course at Jadavpur University is quite affordable, as opposed to other universities. It is incredible to believe that a university that ranks among the top 15 engineering colleges of India, costs less than most universities around the nation. 

Here is a brief highlight of different fees in JU. 

• Tuition fees: Rs. 2400 per year
• Refundable Caution Deposit: Rs 2500 (One time)
• Hostel fees: Rs. 1000 per month (It includes different kinds of vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals as well)
• Examination fees: Rs. 60 to Rs. 70 per semester
• Library Fine (if a book is submitted late): 6 Paisa per day for some books and 50 Paisa per day for others.

This was the typical fee structure followed a few years back. Recently, there can be a 5% - 10% increment regarding the same. As per the recent update, the 1st year course fee for B.Tech at JU is 2,400. You can evaluate the expenditure to be around 1 lakh for the entire B.Tech course, incorporating the tuition fees, study materials, hostel fees, mess fees, alongside other miscellaneous expenses.

On the other hand, JU has a great placement record. A typical student from the CSE department can receive an average salary package of about INR 19 LPA, while it is INR 8 LPA for departments of ECE, EEE, and IT. Lastly, the average salary package is INR 6 LPA for departments concerning Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Metallurgy, Construction, and Production.