The Golden Rule for IIT Admission: Which Branch is the Best Choice? Major Mistakes Students Must Avoid During Counselling. Mahamantra for admission in IIT: Which branch will be best to choose? Students should not commit these big mistakes during counselling.


After overcoming the challenge of JEE Advanced exam, thousands of bright students of the country have now reached the biggest and important stage of their career. Like every year, this time too the biggest question revolving in the minds of the students and their parents who have secured their seats in IIT is which IIT and which engineering branch should be chosen. As soon as the counseling process of JoSAA starts, there is confusion among the students regarding choice filling. Experts believe that as important as passing the exam is, it is equally important to take the right decision during counselling, because one small mistake can spoil your years of hard work.

Craze of Computer Science (CSE) or Core Engineering: How to choose the right branch

Computer Science Engineering (CSE) is the first choice of most students during IIT counselling. After the closure of CSE branches of top IITs, students often get confused whether they should choose CSE in the new IITs or give priority to core branches like Mechanical, Civil, Electrical or Chemical in the top and old IITs of the country (like IIT Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur). According to career counselors, students should not choose their branch just based on the placement package or current trends. Students should take a final decision only after considering their personal interest, interest in coding and thoroughly understanding the alumni network and infrastructure of that particular IIT.

Students often make these serious mistakes in choice filling.

During the counseling process, students and parents unknowingly make some mistakes which prove costly later. The most common mistake is that students fill their preferences without properly analyzing the previous year’s opening and closing ranks (cut-off). Moreover, many students only put the branches of their superficial choice at the top and fill the bottom with those colleges or branches in which they are not interested at all. If they are allotted that unwanted seat in any round of counselling, then their avenues for better options are closed. Experts advise that students should make their choice filling list very thoughtfully and in descending order with utmost care.

New IIT vs Old IIT: Know the exact opinion of experts

The debate of ‘College vs Branch’ always remains at the top while choosing a seat. Education experts say that if you are not getting the branch of your choice in the old and established IITs, but you have some interest in any core branch, then it can be a better decision to give priority to the tag of the old IIT, the environment there and the global exposure you get there. On the other hand, if your aim is to make a career only in the field of coding, software development or AI, then you can choose modern branches like Computer Science or Data Science in fresher or tier-2 IITs. It is also very important to use freeze, float and slide options properly in every round of counselling.