So I got through BITS HD, now what?
From 2015 to 2016, I had the honour of serving as the first Higher Degree Placement Coordinator along with a team of the most hard working and selfless students at Bits Pilani, Pilani Campus.
Since the last two years I’ve received numerous questions from students who got through BITS HD and are either wondering what to do or are just plain scared. I’ve collected some of the frequently asked questions with my answers below:
1. I don’t think i’ll be able to compete, am i ready for M.E.?
Even after two years of passing out, whenever we sit down together for dinner, the first few days of BITS always come up. All our batch mates came from different backgrounds, had different goals, different experiences and different expectations. There were people who had 3–4 years of software development work experience, students who’d come straight from college and students who were still not sure whether they should join BITS or not. Among all this we all shared one thing in common — we were all equally surprised that we’d got selected for the program.
You will never be “ready” for higher studies. It’s going to be an amazing ride filled with adventure and it would be one of the best times of your life. It’s perfectly fine if you are not good at your field just make sure you actively participate in all the projects and not just do them for the sake of completing them. If you’re in CS/SS then it is all the more important to complete your projects — also make sure you put all your projects up on some open source platform like github with good readme files. If you already knew everything — you wouldn’t be taking the course.
2. How should I invest the 2 months between the result and my admission?
Be assured that you wouldn’t be getting so much free time for a long long time after this. If you are not doing a full time job and just waiting for your admission date then the best would be do take up some online courses and work your way through. For CS/SS students, a good start would be Competitive Programming since unfortunately, irrespective of how good you’re in your work, placements would be a little partial towards those who are good in CP.
3. My 10th (or 12th) marks were pretty low, will I be allowed for placements?
What happens during placement sessions is definitely a little subjective depending on a lot of factors out of which a few are sometimes out of the hands of the placement unit. Some companies might have a cut off where they say that they want >80% or something in 10th and 12th. You wouldn’t be able to do anything about those companies. Though the number of companies which have such a cut off will be very less. Others which do not have the cut off will not usually care for your 12th marks — however do expect a question on why are you 12th marks so low and prepare a well thought answer for the same that’s about it. Mostly, cut off will be from your BITS CGPA so try to keep it above 7.
4. My B.Tech CGPA was low, will it affect my placements?
Same as 3.
5. Do M.E. students participate in sports events and other on-campus activities? Are they even allowed to do that?
There is no theoretical restriction for ME students to participate in any of the curricular activities around campus. A lot of students take part in competitions, hackathons and sports meets — your B.E. counterparts are usually very helpful and inviting. Practically, though, more often than not, time is a problem since you’ll be there for only 1.5 years which fly away pretty fast.
6. What will happen if I get a low CGPA in first year?
Placements would start in your third semester so your first year’s CGPA is very important. You do not need do be a 9 point something to crack interviews but being above 7.5 should be a safe bet and should let you through most of the cut offs.
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For more details on Higher Degree Placements check out the following articles:
3. Mechanical & Allied Streams
Rachit Magon
