How can a fresh CS undergraduate from below average college improve his skills to match those of someone just out of a top engineering college?

You've asked a very important question, how do I get as good as the best? I've not programmed in a long time but I work with a great team of developers at my startup and have interviewed about a hundred+ developers, so I'll give you the perspective of a startup CEO. The truth is most CS graduates from top colleges can't program to save their lives and often have zero interest in their subject. They've learnt a lot about problem solving and algorithms but have little or no experience in writing production level code mostly because they've never had the drive to learn to build end-to-end products. These graduates will be incredibly good at maths and might be pretty good at competitive programming, but I wouldn't hire them because of their academic credentials or their solutions to a problem in a test. Here's what I think you can do today to get better as a programmer: Write and release as many apps and programs as you can, as fast as you can Focus on writing good code. Here's a handy guide: http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~ranade/coding.html Figure out which part of building an app did you really enjoy the most(Design, front end, server side, etc) Commit to getting better every single day at whatever you enjoy Launch a public side project which you run Ask for help from the better developers you know and get them involved in your project. You'll learn from somebody who is better than you Find a relevant role that will give you ample opportunity to be challenged and work with good developers Practice and practice The fact that you want to be a good developer so badly that you've asked this question on quora, right away puts you in a small minority of Indian CS graduates. I graduated from BITS 3 years back and I can't find too many CS batchmates working in CS related roles in India. Most people get an MS or an MBA after a top college looking for the proverbial pot of gold they feel they are entitled to or a way to avoid a bad job. So the pool of developers you are competing against within a few years grows smaller. Absolutely every big company product manager or a startup CTO will agree that there are simply not enough good developers considering the growing demand for them. You'll also be surprised to learn how being a good co-worker also helps in being a successful developer. A developer who takes initiative, goes beyond his job description, is supportive, is excited about learning and executing, will get access to the better projects. A developer with superior social and communication skills will be able to get more out of his team members working on his project. I've seen that consistently successful people have a chip on their shoulder to prove something better described as 'drive'. It seems like you very much have that, which people from top colleges often don't. There's a long marathon ahead of you, some people have a head start but its no guarantee of a victorious end. The most respected developers aren't folks who won a competitive programming contest or worked at a top company but people who've given something useful to the world like Steve Wozniak, Paul Allen, Linus Torvalds, Ray Tomlinson, Mark Z, etc. Good luck in your pursuit!

Post graduation or within 2 years, join a product startup. That one place will train you on everything. MNC is a place to relax once you get older and want to have a balanced life with family and kids. But remember, joining a startup requires GUTS. Sometimes you may not even have time to take a bath (It happened with me). Growth opportunities are good. Even if the boss of startup is saving every penny, you gain a lot in terms of skills and when you switch, you may have a confidence of getting into a decent company with a 100 % hike.

I wish i could write some algorithm which does not allow these kind of questions. Dude you lack self confidence , you say you r a working professional. Working professionals does not talk like that , you are talking like a dumb first year guy whose thinking is immature. You know how can you improve your coding skills , by practicing and reading good algorithmic problems .(You say you solve problems in Hacker rank etc). Now what do you want ? some one should come there and spoon feed you as in how to solve problems, you have internet , you have solutions , read them understand them , see problem solving approaches in topcoder blog. No one gave a spoon to the guys you mentioned above , it was because of their hard work. Do it. You don't have to take part in competitive programming for landing a job in google or facebook. There are many examples. Take an algorithm book , read it , write code  , think ways of optimising it , google some information , write code again .Thats it.