What is it like to attend IIT for M. Tech. after clearing GATE exam?

Question

Akash Kaothalkar · Answer

A great question by the way.

Before answering I must give you a little background about myself.

I joined GATE coaching in my 3rd year of Engg in Engineer circle and gave GATE 2018. I just scored 33.33 in GATE ECE with a gate score of 476. So as this score is saying I didn't get any call from any IIT and got a lower NIT and then I decided to take drop and joined Made easy Indore.

I have completed my B.E. from a RGPV affiliated college. So all my technical education came from gate coachings only.

In 2019 my GATE score was 657 and a Gate rank of 1341.

I got call from IIT BHUBNESHWAR, IIT guwhati, IIT kharagpur and IIT gandhinagar according to the forms I filled from which I went to all colleges except IIT gandhinagar.

But the first college I visited and the college I am currently studying is” IIT BHUBNESHWAR”.

I first visited here for interview which was on 01/05/2019. I travelled 28 hours of sleeper journey via train which was not at all a good journey. But then I got down at station and got an auto for IIT BHUBNESHWAR.

10 minutes later I saw a view like this

I was stunned for a moment as it was the first ever IIT I was enterting . I was nervous, happy, tensed all at the same time.

Later that day my interview went well and finally I took admission in that college for my M.tech this year.

This is the capture from my first day here

And then from than day till today I am experiencing a great journey.

Edit 1: Really amazed by seeing the response, 300 upvotes!!! Thanks everyone for the support.

Kishan Panaganti Badrinath (ಕಿಶನ್ ಪಾನಗಂಟಿ ಬದ್ರಿನಾಥ್) · Answer

I am an ME(MTech since the joining batch of 2016) student 2015–2017 in Communication and Networks course at Department of Electrical Communication Engineering, IISc Bangalore, India. [ http://ece.iisc.ernet.in/ ]

I completed my Bachelors in 2014, cleared GATE 2014 just in the borderline, so couldn’t get any good institute in India. Then I worked in DESE, IISc as a project assistant for 6 months, took GATE 2015 after the guidance from 2 of the most inspiring people in my life, one of them being Raghunath Sir [ http://rlcgate.com/index.php ]. This time I got into IISc as an ME student! That was a hell of a journey, but worth it. Life has it’s ups and downs.

Now people around me reacted like this. [ https://www.quora.com/How-did-people-around-you-react-when-you-got-into-a-top-university-Did-people-who-never-bothered-with-you-before-suddenly-take-an-interest-in-you-Did-people-become-envious/answer/Kishan-Panaganti-Badrinath ]

To start off with the journey of Master’s quoting my own answer here: Kishan Panaganti Badrinath (ಕಿಶನ್ ಪಾನಗಂಟಿ ಬದ್ರಿನಾಥ್)'s answer to How is the first year at IISc for an M.Tech student? [ https://www.quora.com/How-is-the-first-year-at-IISc-for-an-M-Tech-student/answer/Kishan-Panaganti-Badrinath ]

%3E I am an ME(MTech since the joining batch of 2016) student in Communication and Networks course at Department of Electrical Communication Engineering, IISc Bangalore, India. [ http://ece.iisc.ernet.in/ ]

TL;DR: A mixed feeling of excitement, learning from the best, fulfilled with expectations and a hectic schedule.

Continue to read if you are interested in knowing the details.

Joining and the 1st term:

After getting the official confirmation about the selection on May 13th 2015, we had to go to the campus on July 13th 2015 to get our documents verified. Now I was an official student at IISc from July 16th 2015.

First week of August, was really exciting. Year long of hard work, expectations were going to be experienced now. These classes were mostly dedicated for administration (like setting up class timings, information on the schedule of upcoming tests and etc) purposes, introduce the course syllabus for the term and to start off with the syllabus on a slow pace.

More importantly, during this first week, one needs to submit to the administrating office (in my case, ECE) the list of courses that I would be crediting for the term. Since this degree requires us to complete 36 credits of coursework (minimum 12 courses) in 2 years, the usual trend in the number of subjects split across the terms are 5,5,2,0 (starting 5 in the first term).

Now, from the second week till the end of the term, which is usually in the November last week, one will be immersed in these courses and their regular tests.

And the first two weeks of December will be the course exams.

Now I’ll write about other things other than the coursework.

My department didn’t have any restriction of the attendance. Yet most of the students attend 100% of the classes since most of the courses and the instructor’s method of teaching are so alluring.

Students are getting adjusted to the mess timings, hostel rooms, their bicycles in the first month. There are 4 messes. Each have a fundamental period of 1 week to repeat the menu. So students are exploring for their norm good food served on which days, and stuff like that. Though I was a day scholar during the first term, I had pretty good friends outside and earlier to the start of the program who acquainted me with these hosteler’s stuff.

In the second/third week, you’ll get your own institute email-id, and username and password for centrally connected internet. Though the internet is not provided in the hostels, it’s available in most of the other places such as the library and the departments. The email is accessed through something called roundcube.com [ http://roundcube.com/ ]. There are bunch of emails coming in daily, basically a broadcast from every department. These emails typically consists of information on the talks, conferences that are going to happen in the near future, sports activities schedule and information on other activities.

During the early second month we had our fresher’s party organised by our supporting seniors in our department. This is great for connecting with people around you since you are going to spend with these people for 2 coming years. There was a fresher’s party organised centrally for all the departments, though I didn’t attend it.

Since we get the stipend/scholarship through Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development [ http://mhrd.gov.in/ ], we are supposed to get signed a form of stipend by our faculty adviser and submit the same to our department within the first 13 days of every month. A faculty in the department is set randomly to every student as a faculty adviser. You can go to this faculty for getting an advice if you have any institutional or coursework or any other queries.

So during this first term I got to know about each and every faculty at my department. Got to know, in the sense, what are their research interests, reputation among the society and similar such questions. This is an important and useful self observation to do since you’ll be asked to choose your guide for your project work which carries 28 credits in the program.

Assignment of guides to the students happened in November in my case. There’s an algorithm for it used by the department. Each student, faculty has to give 5 faculty, student names respectively in order of preference. Then an algorithm is executed to match a faculty and a student. The list of first preferred name in one of the faculty’s list is taken, if that student has mentioned the same faculty name as their first preference then the match is made. Some algorithm is followed, I can give the details if anyone is interested in knowing, but the important step is to choose a faculty of your interest, talk with them a priori to this algorithm running event and to convince that particular faculty on your interests for working with them.

This was all the important stuff happened in the first term.

December last two weeks were the term holidays.

2nd term:

There’s minor differences compared to the first term.

Second term started on the first week of January. The selection of courses now aren’t your own picking, rather both you and your guide’s decision. This is important because the guide will have some project idea for you to pursue in your final year, hence your guide will suggest you to select some required coursework for that purpose.

The month of January is when the most awaited event, Pravega [ https://www.thecollegefever.com/events/pravega-2016 ], happens. So you’ll enjoy the start of the term with some great 3 day fest conducted by the under graduates.

This semester was packed with loads of assignments, tests, projects and exams; which made us work sometimes till 2AM and plus. This also made me stay in the IISc hostel!

Just a random click on my phone of Gulmohar Marg in IISc at about 2AM.

Some nights are spent playing TT to have a change in your routine coursework. Some students participate in various activities like sports, music etc.

Then speedily came the initial days of the month of May, which ended our second term.

Summer term:

This is a short term from May to July.

The main objective of this term is to get started with your project with your guide. I had a reading assignment in this period.

You can take any amount of holidays after discussing the dates with your guide.

So this ends my perspective/experience to the question of, “How is the first year at IISc for an M.Tech student?”

In the second year attended some great lecture seminars given by some of the reputed professors around the world. Working on a project, under a great guide Dr. Rajesh Sundaresan. Auditing through some of the mindbogglingly awesome courses from Math department. Playing with the twin nephews! This second year surely has been quite an interesting story of my life.

In short, clearing GATE and getting into IISc(or in any IIT too), completing your master’s successfully will surely uplift your life towards success in a drastic manner.

Suryansh Sahota · Answer

I was undergrad at IIT Roorkee and I witnesses the kinda 'bond' M.Techs and B.Techs share. No doubts that any M.Tech guy can feel the high headedness of undergrads and which, to my opinion comes after conquering the Everest, JEE. It might sound like I'm condoning this kinda attitude but it's not. Humbleness and humility should be intact no matter what you have achieved. 
From academic POV, I guess IITs don't quite seal the deal. A few branches in the few IITs possess an infrastructure meeting the current International Standards. Its extremely rare that any undergrad from IIT does his masters from IIT. Most of them opt for reputed varsities in States.

Abhinav Maurya · Answer

Please see Abhinav Maurya's answer to What is it like to attend IIT as a graduate student? [ https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-attend-IIT-as-a-graduate-student/answer/Abhinav-Maurya ] which may answer parts of this question.

There should be a difference between attending the BTech and MTech programs at IITs. The focus of undergraduate and graduate education is different and you lose out on a lot if you miss this point (many people do!).

As for the relationship between BTechs and MTechs, there are no clear answers here. Both programs have nice people and jerks and you connect with each person differently, not based on what program they attend but based on what common interests, courses, or projects you have.

Via User [ https://www.quora.com/profile/None ]

Nirav Patel · Answer

I did my B.Tech from one of the prestigious college of Gujarat (DDU - Dharmsinh Desai University). But that wasn’t enough for me as many other people, I dreamed of joining IIT. I gave GATE and I got admission into IIT Madras.

I remember the exact day, it was 19th July-2014 when I landed in Chennai for the first time around 8 pm. I took a cab from airport to IIT Madras campus. While cab was moving through the city, I was thinking about how the life will be at IIT. I must confess that I was bit nervous.

When the cab entered into the campus gate, there was a security check. Once that was cleared my cab started moving through the road surrounded by lots of trees (basically forest of IITM) and I was feeling the cold breeze through my cab window (As cab was non-AC). Here is the pic of the road at night.

I closed my eyes and thought about the efforts which I put to reach IITM and crucial decisions I made to crack the GATE. A glimpse what I was thinking then:

1. How I decided to pursue my biggest goal of life to crack GATE and study in IIT.
2. How I didn’t sit for campus job in B.Tech. This lead to tremendous peer, family and social pressure, as all my friends got job and I was a jobless person preparing for “masters” (which is considered by many people as not worthy).
3. How I decided to drop a year to prepare better for GATE as I couldn’t prepare in 8th Semester of B.Tech due to family reasons.
4. How I spent nearly 1,00,000 for GATE coaching without any job at hand.
After 15 mins of drive, we reached to my destination and the real journey started.

This journey has given me more than I can ask. I got to work with wonderful people, improved myself a lot, got a job at Microsoft and also ended my M.Tech-CSE with best academic record in the class. And there are 1000 more things I can write about IIT, but want to keep it concise.

Anonymous · Answer

I'll answer anonymously since most answers seem to portray an image of great bonhomie.

My sister is in IIT-D, and she doesn't quite paint a rosy picture of JEE admits respecting GATE admits.

GATE admits are derisively called 'matkas' and 'matkis' and are generally, perhaps justly, considered to be dumber than the average JEE admit. Whether this kind of thinking is a minority or majority opinion, I cannot say, but its existence cannot be denied.

Sanjeev Mk · Answer

I got admitted to IITB CS this year, so I can explain everything in detail :) (And this is going to be a lengthy answer :P)

For IIT Bombay:
After GATE, the  application process begins where you upload forms etc. During this,  you've to specify your preferences of engineering discipline. If you did  your bachelors in CS/IT, then you're allowed to opt for CSE, and some  other Inter-Disciplinary courses like IEOR etc.
Your application is then evaluated and then you might get a call if you clear some threshold.

Assuming that you want to be in CSE, there are 2 options (and the option is to be specified in the application):

1. M.Tech as a Teaching Assistant (2 year programme) :
This  is a 2-year completely course-oriented programme. In the first year,  you'll have normal courses - lectures, assignments, projects and stuff.  And in the second year, you get to work on your thesis (and one normal  course), or M.Tech Project as it is called.

Admissions to CSE with TA is based directly on your GATE Score/Rank. There are no tests/interviews after GATE.
This year, there were 5 rounds of direct admission and the cut off was around AIR 110 (Gate Score 865/1000) for the Open Category. So if you get a rank in the top 100, you're sure to get in directly as a TA.

TA duties entail assisting some professor with their work. This might include managing lab sessions for Undergrads, exam supervision etc.

2. M.Tech as a Research Assistant (3 year programme) :
I  got admitted to this in this academic year (AIR 129, but that doesn't  matter for RA). 
This is a 3-year programme. It is exactly the same as the  TA one except: You get to work on a funded research project (headed by  some professor) from the very beginning. You're supposed to work 20 hours per week on this project. And because you've to work 20 hours per week on a research project, you get 1 additional year to complete your M.Tech course work. This addition of 1 year is simply because you've 1 extra project compared to your TA contemporaries. This is a more relaxed programme course-wise, and the work is also really exciting.

Both TAs and RAs, have to complete the same amount of minimum credits to get an M.Tech degree, but RAs get one more year to do so.

Admission for this is highly competitive. Around a 1000 students are called for this process (hence, being AIR 129 didn't make any difference. There are RA guys who had ranks beyond 700 in GATE, but did really well during the tests and interviews). And also, the number of RA positions available is dynamic, and entirely depends upon the faculty leading the research. This year, there were 34 positions available, but they eventually selected only 25. So, 25 students out of roughly 1200 applicants. The process consists of:
 * A CS test
 * An interview if you manage to clear the test.

The test can consist of questions from the entire GATE syllabus (few questions from each topic). It's an objective test similar to GATE. If your basics are solid, you can easily get through this. It certainly helps if you studied well during your bachelor's and for GATE.

If  you clear the test, you're then given a presentation of all the  available research projects in the institute. Each presentation is  given by the faculty member leading that particular research area.
After listening to these descriptions, you're supposed to give your research preferences from the options given.

You'll  then be called for the interview depending on what preferences you've  given. Each interview is held by the faculty member heading the particular research project. 
In the  interview, they basically judge if you're capable of working on their  project. There are both technical and personal questions. If you  already have some background in that particular research field, then  you'll be asked questions based on your previous projects in that area.
This  is a very grilling interview process, as the professors are really good  at what they do and they ensure you have a strong foundation in that  area.
(I interviewed for 3 different projects with 3 professors).

A strong grasp of the basic concepts and a good programming background is a must.

A few weeks after the interview they put up the list of who they've finally shortlisted.

(I got selected for Formal Verification of Chip Design, under Prof . Suptratik Chakraborty - an Intel-funded project)

After admission:
First thing: It's totally worth it. IITB CS is really awesome and has some brilliant people.

After admission, you get a plethora of courses to choose from. There are around 20 courses in the first sem, and you're given around 2 weeks to try them out and select 3 (RA) or 4 (TA) courses. Remember, RA folks have 1 extra year, so they can spread all their courses over 3 years instead of 2.

Most of the faculty is really good, and stand up to their reputation. Some are truly brilliant and awesome. There are a few who're not that good, but then every university has pros and cons.

The institute itself is amazing and has an eccentric aura to it. I'm a Mumbaikar ,and have been visiting IITB since my school days. So I've been absolutely in love with the campus since long. And after being admitted here, it really stands up to all the expectations.

Sorry for the really lengthy answer, but I hope it helps you!

Rishikesh Jha · Answer

Well, the first pic that I took was that of Kharagpur Railway Station entrance.

Historically, Kharagpur holds its place for many important things. The feel to reach a place which houses the 1st IIT of this country cannot be described.

Look at this beauty :)

I was getting excited to get into the campus. To get into the place for which we slog hours together. It was a 15 min drive from station to campus and during the journey I was constantly smiling thinking about the hardships that I had gone through during gate prep and the fruits that it bore for me. Life seemed so satisfying.

I reached my hostel and was dying to see the main building of IIT Kharagpur. This is something that is seen almost in everything related to IITs. Here it is…

Isn’t this beautiful ? I was amazed to look at it and stayed there for quite some time. You have to experience the feel. This was how my journey started at Kgp.

Certainly, there was a sense of excitement mixed with fear about many things but with time, things get going. IIT doesn’t only teaches you science, it nourishes you as an individual, making you strong enough to take up any challenge in real.

Maybe that’s for another answer.

Keep working hard & smart.

Thanks,
~Rishi

Deepak Poonia · Answer

GATE exam is an opportunity to turn around your life after a mediocre BTech journey.

I had a poor academic journey in my BTech, having 14 Backlogs in 4 years. But after my BTech, I prepared for the GATE CSE exam, got AIR 67 & went to a top tier institute, IISc Bangalore.

Ever since I have topped GATE exam, there has been a complete turn around in my life, & in the life of thousands of GATE toppers.

How does GATE changes your life, is captured in a sequence of interviews Life After GATE | Sharing Experiences | GO Classes [ https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIPZ2_p3RNHjyknATwLPmXGjOFL2MqTse&feature=shared ] on GO Classes YouTube Channel.

Few interviews to watch:

1. Sanket Purandare: From GATE CSE AIR 25 to Harvard PhD. Life After GATE: Sanket Purandare | Meta | PhD Harvard | Microsoft Research | IISc MTech [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NCuoxdPCkA&list=PLIPZ2_p3RNHjyknATwLPmXGjOFL2MqTse&index=2 ]
2. Namita Kalra: From GATE CSE AIR 1 to GOOGLE. Life After GATE: Namita Kalra | Google | MTech - IIT Bombay | AIR 1 GATE 2018 [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJxL8Uyc_D0&list=PLIPZ2_p3RNHjyknATwLPmXGjOFL2MqTse&index=6 ]
3. Kishalay Das: From GATE CSE AIR 37 to IISc, IITKGP: Life After GATE: Kishalay Das | PhD - IITKgp | MTech CSE - IISc | ISRO Scientist | @kishalaydas [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKnIT0a3aOI&list=PLIPZ2_p3RNHjyknATwLPmXGjOFL2MqTse&index=8 ]
4. Parul Gupta: From GATE CSE to Amazon Scientist II. Life After GATE: Parul Gupta | Applied Scientist II - Amazon US | MTech - IISc | GO Classes [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BDnL10WScE&list=PLIPZ2_p3RNHjyknATwLPmXGjOFL2MqTse&index=4 ]
If you are an GATE aspirant, prepare well & go to your dream places.

Arun Iyer · Answer

I have been a master's student at IIT Kanpur (2005-2007) and currently doing my PhD at IIT Bombay (2011-?). It has been around 7 years since I first stepped into IIT, but I can remember the feeling to this day.

1. Green Campus: The first thing I noticed in IIT Kanpur and the same in IIT Bombay is the lush green campus. It is somewhat exhilarating. IIT Kanpur is home to a lot of different birds [A]. I am not exactly a bird-watcher, I can hardly identify any bird to save my own life but I enjoy observing some of the colourful ones. IIT Bombay on the other hand has given me opportunity to see many animals - the most common are dogs, cats, cows, the uncommon but easily found are monkeys and on some rare occasions you can find small snakes, large pythons, cheetahs and leopards.
2. Teaching: I did my bachelors in University of Mumbai. The quality of teaching here is no different from what anybody observes in any other local university throughout India. The first class I had attended at IIT was Prof. Sumit Ganguly's data streaming class at IIT Kanpur. I was blown away by it. Honestly, it was a new experience for me to see someone standing at the stage and speaking to me and the person actually knew what he was saying. I realized that this was a rare opportunity for me to learn things that I always wanted to learn. I ended up crediting some really bizarre courses (ones that I literally had very little hope of clearing but I wanted to do them anyways [B]). The ones I could not credit, I was sitting through them. What I am trying to say here is, for someone who has been starved for good education in local universities would probably think of IIT as a gold mine even though the amount of gold here might be little and spread out.
3. Friends: At IIT Kanpur, I made some amazing friends who are close to me even to this day. Friends can be made anywhere so what is so special about making friends at IIT? Well, when I was going to join IIT, I did not expect to make any friends in the two years of stay, maybe some acquaintances who may or may not keep in touch with me over the years. But, actual friends did not seem like a possibility. I am just making this point because some people who usually haven't been in touch with anyone in IIT have this impression that everyone at IIT are just shut-in nerds who don't even interact with each other which is definitely not true.
4. Society: I always enjoyed taking a walk around the campus and observing things. On any such walk, you can always find - some group of friends involved in nerd talk, some group of friends doing idle gossip, some people jogging, some group playing sports in nearby ground, a couple enjoying their evening walk. There are several councils in the institute run by students. There are several "festivals" conducted by the students and the students are responsible for canvassing and getting sponsors to sponsor these festivals. It is when you observe these things, you realize that the entire campus is a thriving society. Ok, this may be obvious to most of you, but it wasn't obvious to me, because my idea of a institute until that point was that it was just a building where people come in the morning and leave in the evening. The idea that an institute is a community, a society on its own was a revelation for me. Yeah, I can be quite dense, but thanks to that, sometimes simple things can make me quite excited :-).

5. Intelligence does not imply wisdom: Before I joined IIT, I had this notion that intelligent people must make rational decisions and therefore will do the right thing when it matters - for example, not wasting food, observing strict queue order etc. Well, when I came to IIT, this opinion changed. I would say this was a very valuable lesson that I learned.

6. BTechs: I always had the privilege of being around at least one or two people of my age who were more smarter/intelligent than me. When I came to IIT, I had the privilege of taking courses with some students who were at least a year younger than me and way more smarter than I could ever imagine anybody to be. Honestly, I was always in awe of them. What was surprising however was for majority of them what they did or accomplished was just routine. Taking courses with them and observing how quickly they absorbed certain ideas gave me a sense of where I stand and helped me make a plan of where I would like to be. This was important for me, because I was aiming for a PhD even back then and I had no intention of committing myself for 5 years without being at least a little bit prepared.
7. Library: At IIT Kanpur, I had access to a very large library (Kelkar library). Oh, it was a treasure trove. I loved spending time in the library and reading books. Mostly I would read something technical, but sometimes I would venture into the english/philosophy/psychology section and randomly read one of the books in these sections.
8. Discovering new tastes: While at IIT Kanpur, I fell in love with northern food esp. paneer and naan. I discovered my love for anime at IIT Kanpur. I realized that i like to cycle, though I never went on long rides and would probably never do that, but I just enjoyed going around in cycle [C]. IITs have large variety of different things going on almost throughout the year - there are cultural programs, literary clubs etc and if one takes a chance and visit some of them, he/she is bound to discover something they never knew they liked.

In conclusion, being at IIT as a graduate student was a very fulfilling experience for me. I went in with very low expectations, dabbled with everything (well mostly everything, there is only so much you can do in two years) that IIT had to offer and (probably because of that) came out with richer experience.

[A] http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/amit/birds/index.html
[B] I have rarely ever cared for marks as such. In hindsight, I don't think my parents would have been very happy if they knew my intentions.
[C] You see cycles are somewhat integral to your stay at IIT Kanpur as departments are quite far apart and a cycle serves a very good purpose of travelling within the campus. Also, motorbikes were discouraged within the campus, so the only other option other than cycling was to walk (which by the way I also enjoy).

Abhinav Maurya · Answer

It is fabulous!

I belong to M.Tech. (CSE), IIT Bombay, Class of 2012 and will write from that perspective. I am not sure if this generalizes to other IITs or even other departments at IIT Bombay.

* IIT Bombay has a fabulously green campus in the heart of a bustling metropolis. The architecture is quite functional and dreary and won't do anything to lift your spirits. Nevertheless, I fell in love with the campus during my two years here. [1]
 * Every time I enter IIT Bombay, I feel at peace knowing the campus is home to many intelligent and thoughtful [2] people whom I can talk to and seek advice from. The sense of belonging and the opportunities for nice interesting conversations are probably the most important things I cherish from my stay here.

* I was introduced to Machine Learning - the area that I ended up truly liking more than anything else I had previously known in Computer Science. This was natural since IIT Bombay has some really good people working in the area. [3]
 * For the first time in my life, I received what I consider to be education. This is very different from the kind of functional instruction imparted in ordinary engineering schools, and even the vast amount of knowledge you can gain in good schools across the country. It is about rationality being at the heart of everything one experiences and does. At IIT Bombay, the quality that was essentially expected of me was logical deduction. With one exception, all my CS department exams were open-books/notes where it was enough if I could just correctly analyze things. I never had to really remember and regurgitate things, and I wasn't expected to be superficially familiar with large tomes just because they give the impression that one knows a lot of stuff. Even on issues arising in my masters thesis, I could pose solutions that my advisors wouldn't find favorable. If I could argue my case, I always received their support. If I was being shot down, I would be told the reason why.
 * I became fairly unapologetic about who I was and what I did. As a result, I ended up spending more time doing what I liked and less (or no) time doing what I disliked or hated. This is pretty much the easiest key to happiness and success I now know of, and the only reason to which I can attribute having a good time at IIT Bombay.
 * The importance I attach to being around the right set of people is far higher now. It is the hard way (over many years including my time before IIT Bombay) that I have learnt that thoughts, habits, world-views, and possibilities are contagious. Also, not having any company is better than being in the wrong company.

* I understood the difference between undergraduate and graduate education that any student should know before getting into a doctoral programme. Unlike undergraduate education which mostly focuses on %3Cwhat?%3E i.e. the breadth of knowledge, graduate education is largely concerned with %3Cwhy?%3E i.e. the extent of depth and detail of an area that one is comfortable with. The doctorate is unlike any other degree, and is useless (in the sense of intrinsic value) unless it is earned rigorously and with care under the right set of nurturing advisors. Though this seems simple enough, it is difficult to switch habits and ways of thinking in real life. If you don't believe me, just try switching to your other hand while writing (unless you are ambidextrous in which case cook up some other example).
 * My mode of learning is fundamentally different now. Before coming to IIT Bombay, I (like most other students) learnt from textbooks. This is a disastrous thing, because the student ends up believing that his education (in the sense of acquisition of knowledge) is circumscribed by the A-Z of the textbook and ends thereafter. My view of knowledge now is that of a continuum of ideas related to each other historically and ideologically from which one picks up and keeps analyzing certain topics of import or that catch one's fancy. Hence, one is never quite done with learning.
 * Also, another related notion that I seem to have picked up on is a good way to measure understanding. It is not useful to say that one does or does not know something; one's understanding grows richer and keeps progressing through repeated encounters and mistakes with an idea in various forms. A nice way to test understanding of an idea then is to be able to state it in 30 seconds, 30 minutes, 2 hours, etc. If one's understanding is simple and essential enough and is not based on rote, one will be able to scale and refine one's explanation with ease.
 * As a graduate student, I did not have to go through the grind of compulsory courses. All my courses were electives, except for a useful core programming lab, an atrocious institute core course and an insipid institute elective in the Humanities department. This meant that I had the complete freedom to choose on what subjects to spend my time, and therefore could not blame anyone if I messed up and ended up studying things that I didn't really like.

* My stamina for reading papers has become decently high. On a given day, I can (though I currently don't) skim through tens of papers and thoroughly read between 2-3 papers (depending on the amount of detail). This is a habit that all good graduate schools will teach their students.
 * I hope to return and teach at this wonderful place someday.

Some Background:

* Before coming to IIT Bombay, I studied at VJTI, Mumbai, where IIT Bombay was temporarily located when it started its operations. In fact, Dr. P. K. Kelkar, an erstwhile professor at VJTI went on to serve as IIT Bombay's Planning Officer, Deputy Director, and later on the Director of IIT Bombay.
 * As an undergrad at VJTI, I studied CSE (2004-2008), which for the most part consisted of software engineering and systems and was almost completely devoid of any rigorous and meaningful theory. In retrospect, I learnt very little (if anything) at VJTI. Hence, IIT Bombay is responsible for much of my education.
 * I worked at an Indian IT company before coming to IIT Bombay. The experience made me realize I needed to be around better people.
 * I made the choice of attending IIT Bombay for an M.Tech. amongst admits for masters programmes from all other IITs, IISc, and a few IIMs. The choices I had did not include really good US universities due to financial reasons. However, I would positively and categorically recommend top 20-30 US universities over the IITs for graduate studies should such a choice arise.
 * I did well enough at IIT Bombay (with a lot of help from professors in my research groups) to get hired by Microsoft Seattle and to get admits to graduate programmes from CMU, UMich, Columbia, and RPI.

whoosh... *wipes his forehead*

[1] Abhinav Maurya's answer to Who was the architect of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay? [ https://www.quora.com/Who-was-the-architect-of-Indian-Institute-of-Technology-Bombay/answer/Abhinav-Maurya ]
[2] http://www.quora.com/Abhinav-Maurya/Memorable-Quora-Answers/On-Thoughtfulness [ https://memorable.quora.com/Post-13 ]
[3] Abhinav Maurya's answer to Which IIT in India has the best CS program for Machine learning? [ https://www.quora.com/Which-IIT-in-India-has-the-best-CS-program-for-Machine-learning/answer/Abhinav-Maurya ]

(This is a live answer, and will be updated occasionally. Suggestions for answer edits are welcome. Apologies for the long and sometimes rambling answer.)

Satyendra Singh · Answer

Hi.. I am Satyendra a CSE students studied MTech from IIT M. Now I am going to talk about all my observations during entire duration of course.

life is simply amazing at IIT BOMBAY. i am trying to describe it in words and pictures but that won't be sufficient. Come here and live it and FEEL IT “CHEERS”

Life is great at IIT bombay and don't differ much on the basis of branch few highlights of life at IIT BOMBAY ARE.

* campus is green and beautiful. Fresh and calm. Magical but real. Simply awesome.
 * Iinfrastructure is awesome. It feels great to be here.
 * Clasrooms library and auditorium are too good. It feels too good to study there in such great environment.
 * Sports facilites are too good. Name a sport and we’ve separate arrangement for that with trainer and world class equipments.
 * somewhat also good here. Hygenic and somewhat with taste.
During my first semester I had 3 theory subjects and 2 lab sessions and same for the second sem. I did exceptionally well in couse work and lab. I would spend my evenings by playing Table Tenis and nights coding/studying till 12. Course and lab work wasn't that demanding. So first sem was cool. And this was a general trend in all the CSE guys.

Now in the second sem I could see the seriousness in their studies. Slowly they had started preparing for Google APAC test. The preparation peaked almost at the end of second sem. There were no where to see.

Then came the third sem. I got alloted my guides for Second yr project. All students were preparing for APAC test almost 14- 15 hrs per day and with little importance for project. After apac test came the month of December with all big MNC lined up for placements. During entire 3rd sem they were nowhere to see except coding in lab.

I got placed on first day in Nutanix (27 LPA ). and within next 5–6 days all CSE students got offers.

So what after December?

MTech students do not have course work in second year , only project work.

We would play cards till 3–4 am in night. Go to sleep.

Wake up at 12–1 pm.

Go to college and put attendance mark.

Come back Eat lunch , again back to sleep.

TT, badminton, swimming in the evenings

Dinner and back to playing cards.

This was the cycle for the 4th semester. If prof calls and asks about project work , we would manage it somehow.

In the last month we worked on our projects and completed it somehow and we are DONE with MTech.

Hopefully the above description has given you a general idea about life in IIT.

If you are thinking of pursuing MTech in IIT, I would highly recommend you to join in.

Thanks

Anonymous · Answer

Yes you can do, you can do everything, you can be astronaut, you can be a pirate, you can be a world class terrorist, you can be prime minister of india. Everything is possible. There is not even a single man on this earth who can call these things impossible.

See possible is one thing and the amount of effort one needs for it is another thing. GATE is an exam which tests "geniousness" of a person upto much lesser extent than JEE. Questions are tricky, mind bending but they are a subset of whatever you have learnt in engineering. THAT thing is its biggest plus point (comparing jee). Its "possible" for you but you need to keep this thing in mind that you require die hard spirit , self motivation , dedication ( and all those cool words which define a student) much much greater than those who are at better place than you. It is achievable as well as possible. Watch NPTEL/standard textbooks , make self made notes and make sure that the things taught in coaching are a subset of your notes, not the other way round. Understand that if everybody is studying from same coaching notes then where is your advantage ?

Watch youtube for the processes and mechanisms mentioned in your course , clesar all your fundamentals. After that solve tons of "right" problems for gate (join test series ) and lastly 20-30 full mock tests before gate followed by continuous comprehensive revision.

Congratulations! you are at IIT.

Anonymous · Answer

Just Remember these lines whenever you  feel backed down.

Vijayaraghavan Chariar · Answer

Typical MTech CSE Class at IITs has students from IITs, NITs as well as Pvt Engg Colleges. Over the years I have found students from several Pvt Engg Colleges as good and sometimes better in terms of intellectual ability, exposure and drive.

The only difficulty I would say is that students who have never been to an IIT before think that “IIT is another planet”. It would take only one semester to understand that all IITians are as human as you…as naughty as you, as fun-loving as you and as lazy as you !!

The key issue for performance in academic systems such as the IIT is drive. How hungry are you as a student to continue to keep learning ?

Every institution has its own academic system and it takes 1–2 months to know the system of teaching, attendance, evaluation etc.

I would say, (a) relax, (b) enjoy the institution you come from and aspire for, (c) believe in yourself ! These are three simple steps to excel in any academic institution - IITs included !

Anonymous · Answer

1. You get to know where do you stand at the national level, compared to the millions of other fresh engineers graduating along with you.
2. A good GATE score thus brings more credibility to your CV, irrespective of the College/ University. [This is my personal experience. Score 98+ %ile in GATE and the interviewer doesn’t even bother about your not-so-known college/university.]
3. NTU Singapore and National University of Singapore also accept GATE scores for MS admissions.
4. You can also apply to a lot of PSUs that hire based on GATE scores.
5. Your internal/practical marks improve for the remaining semesters of the college (The teachers dare not give less marks to a student who has cracked GATE :P . A personal experience again!)
6. You get offers from GATE institutes for teaching part-time (if your score is decent and you are interested in teaching. Again personal experience!)
7. The efforts you put in for GATE preparation help you in your academics (of remaining semesters), as well as technical tests/interviews for Job.
8. A GATE qualified candidate will obviously get higher preference even in private job selection process, provided that S/he fulfills all the relevant eligibility criteria and is able to present himself /herself properly during the interview.
9. If your score is very very gorgeous (:P), you get offers from coaching institutes to let them use your name for a huge amount of money (which you obviously should turn down!)
10. You can visit several institutes and coaching classes to deliver sessions on GATE preparation and motivation (just like I do!) At most of the places, you’ll receive a warm welcome and after the sessions you will be a celebrity with the curious GATE aspirants crowding around you for your contact details :D
11. You can be instantly popular on Quora and receive several question requests and personal messages every week. There’s no joy and satisfaction better than being able to help so many GATE aspirants here :)
12. You immediately become a star among your friends (specially if you are from a not-so-premier college where scoring good in GATE is a Bigg thing :P )
13. Your parents feel proud of you (Mine didn’t though :P) and get something to boast about you in front of the pados waale Sharmaa Jii :D
14. Your girlfriend (if you aren’t from Mechanical Engg :P) suddenly starts feeling like Michelle Obama :D. [If you are a girl, your boyfriend would, in all possibility , not even bother about it (unless He’s a high quality Nerd):P ! Boys, you see!]
15. The last benefit is a Secret well kept by all those who have cracked GATE over decades. You can get to know this only once you have cracked GATE ;)
[There are quite few other benefits also, but they are all well-known and have been already mentioned in other answers. So I opted to skip them !]

Good Luck!

Cheers!

Deepanshu · Answer

We are not afraid of petty failures in exams here as we have already faced a bigger one.(First attempt)
We feel more mature in our thinking and experiences as we spent a full year extra than our classmates. 
Most of us are sure to be little more careless and lazy than our batch mates. That's one of the reason it took a year extra.
We have a good story to tell why we could not make it in the first attempt and the bravery we showed in our dropper year.

Tanuja Singh · Answer

The GATE exam is one of India's most prestigious and competitive exams. It is designed to assess a candidate's knowledge and understanding of engineering and science subjects. It goes beyond just an entrance test because it offers many opportunities. These opportunities can shape your career in academia, research, public and private sectors, and even entrepreneurship.

With its recognition both nationally and internationally, GATE serves as a launchpad for ambitious individuals aiming to achieve academic excellence and professional success.

Admission to Prestigious Institutions

* M.Tech/M.E Programs: GATE is the primary gateway to pursue postgraduate programs (M.Tech, M.E, MS) in top-tier institutes like IITs, NITs, IIITs, and other reputed universities. These programs offer specialization in diverse fields, providing opportunities for academic growth and research.
 * Ph.D. Opportunities: Many institutions offer direct admission to Ph.D. programs through GATE for candidates interested in research and academia.
2. Scholarships and Financial Assistance

* Candidates admitted to postgraduate courses through GATE are eligible for a stipend of approximately ₹12,400 per month, funded by the Ministry of Education (formerly MHRD). This helps students focus on academics without financial strain.
3. Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Jobs

* Many top PSUs recruit candidates directly based on their GATE scores. These jobs are highly sought after for their job security, attractive salary packages, and additional benefits. Some notable PSUs include: Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
 * PSU salaries typically range from ₹10–15 LPA for fresh recruits, along with other perks.
4. Research and Development Opportunities

* GATE opens doors to research roles in premier organizations like: DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), and BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre)
 * These roles allow candidates to work on cutting-edge technologies and innovative projects.
5. Opportunities Abroad

* Some foreign universities, like the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), accept GATE scores for their postgraduate programs. This allows candidates to pursue higher studies abroad without additional exams like GRE.
6. Teaching and Academia

* With an M.Tech/Ph.D. obtained via GATE, candidates can pursue careers in academia as professors or lecturers. Teaching roles in engineering colleges are not only intellectually fulfilling but also come with job stability and decent salaries.
7. Career Advancement in the Private Sector

* Many private companies value GATE-qualified candidates for their technical expertise. Candidates with M.Tech degrees often secure higher-level positions and better salary packages in companies like: QualcommIntelTexas InstrumentsSamsung R&DTCS Innovation Labs
 * Specializations in cutting-edge fields like Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and VLSI design are highly sought after.
8. Higher Studies in Interdisciplinary Fields

* GATE enables candidates to explore interdisciplinary fields such as Robotics, Machine Learning, and Computational Biology. These fields are growing rapidly and offer exciting career prospects.
9. State and Central Government Jobs

* Many state-level and central government organizations, such as state electricity boards and water resource departments, hire candidates based on GATE scores.
10. Entrepreneurship and Startups

* GATE-qualified candidates with a solid technical foundation can venture into startups, particularly in technology-driven domains. The experience and knowledge gained through higher studies or projects can lay a strong foundation for entrepreneurial success.
11. Civil Services and Administrative Roles

* Although not directly related to GATE, the analytical skills developed while preparing for GATE can help candidates excel in exams like UPSC, ESE, or state-level administrative services.
Clearing the GATE exam is not just a milestone; it is a gateway to many opportunities that cater to diverse career aspirations.

Best of luck!

Kiran Kumar · Answer

My life has become very busy now with tight academic schedule. I’m meeting with students from all over the country with their diverse opinions. I also get to meet students who are extremely talented whom I could have never met outside IIT. Ofcourse the curriculum is tough and demanding. Being an Mtech guy, you will not get much time for other activities unless you manage time very very well.

Also I realize that the common man does not know much about IIT in fact, they know more about Anna university that is situated just opposite to our campus. IIT tag is known only by the upper middle class educated people who have studied engineering or know someone from their family who did it there in IIT. But it is slowly catching up with other people also because of the newspaper.

Overall it is a very good experience being in IIT.

Rahul K Mishra · Answer

I wouldn't like to classify/tag IIT life as a graduate as good or bad. Rather I would call it varied and unique in its own ways as people often say "Generalization and classification are society's biggest curse". For M.Tech there are 2 offerings: TA(Teaching Assistant) of 2 years and RA(Research Assistant) of 3 years. Both are again good in their own ways and hence life in M.Tech is very much determined by the individuals and how do they want to see themselves in near and far future. Those who can see very far are the visionaries. Those who worry only about the near future are also in a way 'nice to be position' due to the various dynamics involved. In my personal honest opinion, I think 3yrs RA is a very long time unless an individual is very dedicated to a particular area of acads and wants to explore it to its limits  slowly and enjoying every bit of the journey to build a platform for further academics(PhD mostly) or a solid professional background.

M.Tech aspirants join IIT Bombay for varied reasons : 
 * Academic interests 
 * IIT Bombay Tag interest (It really works in India atleast)
 * Just to have good time due to enormous extra activities and facilities
 * Placement interests
      
         From now on, instead of speaking about the sample/population , I shall be expounding my own experience and would warn anyone reading this not to generalize. I'll try to present things as frankly and honestly as possible.

I initially joined IIT Bombay only for the purpose of getting a tag and never even cared about completing/earning my degree. Soon after getting admissions in the RA program, and already having a decent GRE CS score I started applying  personally via mail for PhD(sometimes integrated M.S.) under various professors from different universities across U.S., Canada, Europe and Israel in the area of Networking and Machine Learning  (Yes, I was confused as on what area should I do my  PhD and therefore, I presented the profile as an intersection of the two). I often told friends that dropouts are anyways successful. I did get more than a couple of good admits courtesy the IIT Bombay Tag. But, now I was completely a changed person(may be due to overdose of Philosophical and spiritual books or may be the laid-back attitude of various guides(profs of IIT) towards their students) . I had started to abhor the concept of degree, marks and related things. I simply thought its all flawed and had various unresolved arguments inside myself to never come to an conclusion. Hence, I had to write back to the profs who had replied back positively to extending it for next semester(should have apologized right away and said No... ).  Nevertheless, now I had to find a motive to be at IIT Bombay and the search began within myself. After much SWOT-kind-of analysis, I set myself to acquire different tools, their elegant usage, where to get them from and finally networking with industry and academia. I often followed the principle of "know it or know from where to know it". I am of the opinion that once I acquire these tools, I could carry out my research on my own and wouldn't require any university/prof .  But amidst this chaos, I had missed time to build the fundamentals for my chosen area. 
                
             This principled approach did not let me go deep into any of the subjects but allowed me to cover a lot of breadth(even sometimes unnecessary). I did courses across IEOR, MATHS/STATISTICS, CSE, EE, HSS departments  although without good grades and a lot of online courses too . IIT Bombay does facilitate you to take any number of courses from any department in consultation with faculty adviser and guide(sometimes). IIT Bombay is a wonderful place to learn if you are willing to learn. It also provides platform for a plethora of activities to improve one's  personality or add dimensions to their personality. But, one needs to be careful so as not to get  blown away with it. It depends on individual to have a right balance. Rightly said by Prof. Ravi Sinha : "IIT Bombay doesn't prepare you for the first job but for the last job". The institute provides you a lot of freedom to collaborate and learn with the student in the campus and with other organization. For example, a student can take credit courses from TIFR, can enroll for a semester exchange in European universities, and many more.

Quality of the profs is always the Gaussian distribution: few good, many average and some bad as well. Salutations to the profs for keeping the spirit of teaching and learning still alight. But sadly they are very few, i found most of the profs here lack professionalism and in no ways contribute towards quality teaching or research. One can clearly assess this difference between the profs of IITs and profs of top universities in US, Canada and elsewhere by talking to their friends about their universities. Even the not-so-highly ranked universities have similar kind of professionalism as compared to high-ranked universities. The quality of teaching can too be compared by looking at the video lectures of ocw.mit, see.stanford and the lectures taught to us.  The teachers in IIT Bombay in general do not value students and their time. These teachers will be here until  they retire and do not have any motivation in the area of teaching or research for that matter. Its a kind a hypocrisy here for the outsiders but for an IIT alumni the true face is no more hidden. In IIT Bombay, I hardly find any pioneers in their own respective area. IIT Bombay is a good place for doing undergrad but  not grad studies. For grad studies, I would suggest US Varsities(Top 15-20) and other reputed universities over IIT Bombay because of the professionalism and command over the area. Sincere apologies for using harsh words in this para, but I tried to do the best I could to be impactful. Nevertheless, being a grad student one is mature enough to rationally judge  and get inspired by good profs rather than crib about the negative aspect. And, I am of the firm opinion that there are still a bunch of profs in every department who can inspire in good ways.

Now, that we have talked about Profs lets dive into the students role.  Just like teachers, so are students not being professional here. Most students try to up their grade by unethical means not limited to copying the assignments and project. In doing so, they loose the fundamentals and the grasp of the subject. Getting a good grade might be beneficial in the near future but I am not sure how far its gonna take you with that kind of knowledge. Copying the assignment or letting others copy it from you are both unethical. I consider these assignments as an implicit feedback to teachers for assessing the level of understanding of the students in a particular subject. Nowadays, a false feedback is being provided by the students and which in turn ruins the entire system as it leaves no room for teachers to adapt to the level of understanding of the student. Even in US universities, mostly Indian and Chinese students are the ones who copy assignment and thus lack originality from very beginning .  Thats the main reason why only a few excel outside.  The same is reflected in their research and professional field. Its therefore very important to have ethical friend circle around, whom you can proudly call your friends without any hesitation. But, people choose intellectual circle rather than ethical to obtain immediate benefits for grades and are then doomed in their path of knowledge.

I took a little more time to get the mentality of tool-gatherer and had not built foundations well at the start but many people in general are very smart to understand this from the very beginning. Some are even smarter(better to call them intellectuals)  to not worry about the width but just to go deep and deep and reach at a good maturity level; after all its the era of super-specialisation.

IMHO, being in IIT as a graduate is mostly about motivation(self or driven). Driven comes from your guide or your friend circle.  
1.  If you get a good guide, you'll  learn a lot.
2.  If you get a good guide who happens to be a good person , you'll enjoy and learn.
3. If you get a good guide but a bad person, you'll learn a little.
4. If you get a bad guide but a good person, it would all depend on your self motivation
5. Finally, bad guide bad person... GOD SAVE YOU.

I also came across this blog  http://earthisnotround.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/on-hypocrisy-hollowness-and-iits/  (by Prof, IIT Madras) sometime back which elucidates the hollowness inherent in undergrad but can very well genralized to grad as well.  It is true and hard-hitting in its own ways.

P.S. I had initially refrained from answering this question as people might be prejudiced after reading it  but couldn't help it as I was asked to answer by my classmate.