M. Tech Computer Science at IITs

Search GATE material

2018-03-24T21:11:00.001+05:30

One of the best resources for CS notes, PDFs and presentations are the homepages of Profs at various IITs. Each professor at IIT has his own homepage where he lists the courses he is teaching, and has taught in the past. Invariably, they also have links to course materials, reference texts, assignments and their solutions and some very interesting links that can be very helpful for someone trying to understand the subject.

Since it is a bit tedious to go to each professors homepage of each IIT and search, I have created a custom Google Search Engine, that searches only on the websites of main IITs (B, D, M, K, KGP, G and H for now)

Just enter the subject you are interested to learn about. E.g. enter "Discrete Mathematics" in the search engine below and see the wealth of resources returned. Happy learning.

Programming languages to learn

2017-04-18T11:02:00.000+05:30

Computer Science students tend to be in a lot of confusion over which programming language to choose as their primary language. With new languages being introduced every now and then, the confusion only increases. They get to hear conflicting things from teachers, seniors and others that adds to the confusion.

In this post, I take a shot at explaining my views on this topic. Listed below are the languages I feel a CS student should know, in the decreasing order of priority. As usual, this is just an advice, and the views are completely personal.

C, because, duh!

A lot of people think that in today's world of dynamic languages, functional programming and fancy Web frameworks, learning C would do no good. Plus you must have heard from your seniors that no company has code in C. Naturally, it leads to the conclusion that C as an option could be easily discarded.

In my opinion, C is the most important language you need to learn, not because every company is programming in C, but because C is the most basic and the most low level programming language available. Its in C you will learn how memory is laid out, how its allocated and de-allocated, how interrupts are generated and handled, how sockets work, how programming constructs affect the byte code and so on. Most other languages hide these details under the carpet and you never learn the intricacies of a computer system. People who have only programmed in Java or scripting languages seriously lack this understanding.

In feel, you should write at least a few thousand lines of code in C while you are in college. Once you master C, learning any other language is just a matter of learning new syntax.

One of OOP Languages

Popular choices in OOP languages are Java, C++, C# etc. Java is undeniably the most popular among these three and that is what I would recommend. Since almost every company has work in Java, learning it is going to be a very handy skill.

Note that learning Java goes hand in hand with learning OOP. OOP is a vast topic in itself and is independent of which language you choose. It is also much harder to master and I have seen people with years of experience getting their OOP wrong. Still, knowing the basics and being able to implement simple programs in an OOP way is absolutely essential.

One of Scripting Languages

Scripting languages like Python and Ruby are very popular now a days. These languages don't have the efficiency of C or the type safety of Java, but have a very fast time to market, i.e. things can be built very fast with very little code. Most things that take a screenful of code in Java to implement, will probably require a line in Ruby. These languages, especially Python, are very popular in start-ups. I would recommend every student should know at least basic Python.

One UI framework (Optional)

Knowing a UI framework is not strictly required unless you specifically want to be a web developer, hence I am marking this as optional. Knowing some basics of UI framework will give you the advantage that you will be able to build working prototypes of your ideas. Good UI can make your ideas presentable and hence could be a useful skill. So have a handy knowledge of HTML/CSS, JavaScript, JQuery etc.

Functional Programming (Optional)

Functional Programming is also gaining a lot of popularity with languages like Haskel, Scala etc. Ruby and JavaScript, though not purely functional, take a lot of inspiration from them and are very functional in nature. Even Java 8 has introduced some functional constructs in Java. Functional programming can be very hard to master as it is a different paradigm and requires a different way of thinking. But if you can get some understanding of functional style of programming, it will be immensely helpful.

Conclusion

I feel knowing one language each from the above sets should be sufficient. Don't worry about how many other languages are being used out there. If you know C, you know OOP and you know how to program in a scripting language, any other language will feel like a combination of these techniques.

Programing Phobia

2017-03-13T11:04:00.000+05:30

These days I see a trend of Programming Phobia emerging in the students of Computer Science. A lot of people ask me "I am interested in Computer Science but don't want to do programming. Should I go for research in Theoretical Computer Science". This post is dedicated to everyone having such fears.

Programming is easy

Before I tell you anything else, understand that programming is not as hard as you are making it out to be. In fact, if you ask me, it is one of the easiest things in Computer Science. I believe, an average IQ is more than sufficient for learning programming.

Also, please do not be under the delusion that you can avoid programming by going into research. First of all, research in CS extremely more difficult than programming. Second, even in research, you need to do things like Proof of Concept, Prototyping and Data Analysis. These will require a lot of programming.

Programming is a Sport

I have always considered programming similar to a sport, say Badminton. It is very easy to learn the basic rules of Badminton. It should not take more than a day to know everything there is to know. But does that make you an expert Badminton player? Can you just compete in the Olympics once you know all the rules?

Programming is exactly similar. Learning a language like C, its syntax, compilation options, is like learning the rules of Badminton. To actually be able to do it well, you need lots and lots of practice. Most students I have seen, never write a single line of code on their own. They just read Yashwant Kanitkar's 'Let Us C' at most and think they 'know' programming. In reality, they have just learned the rules of the sport, and without any practice, this is of no real use.

So how to learn programming?

Ok, you would say, I agree that we need more practice. But the question is where do we begin and how we go about it. Here are the steps one can follow:

Clear the basics: I strongly recommend starting with C programming by Dennis Ritchie. But don't just 'read' it, try and execute the programs given in the book. Most importantly, try the programs given in the exercise. Another piece of advise would be to use Linux platform instead of Windows.
Form a group: Programming is lot more fun when done with your friends. This way you can correct each others mistakes, share the learnings and keep each other motivated. A professor of mine at IIT once said that good code is written in night than in day. Sit with your friends all night coding some project, listening to music and eating snacks, then see how much fun it is.
Take up projects: Take up a small project and work on it. The first 'large' project I build was a Tic-Tac-Toe, where two players can play against one another or a player can play against Computer. There are a lot of simple projects on can take like building a Text Editor, Chat Clients, building simple board games etc.
Competitive Programming: If programming is a sport, whats the fun without some competition. You can compete against other programmers in coding matches on sites like Topcoder and CodeChef. This is a great way of learning. There are annual coding competitions held by Google (Google Code Jam) and Facebook (Hacker Cup), which are open to all. If you can reach till this level, and even do reasonably well in these coding competitions, you stand a good chance of getting a job at a product company.

Conclusion

If after all these measures, you still do not find programming interesting enough, I would suggest you learn it any way, just like we learn Calculus in school/college.

Taking drop for GATE preparation

2016-07-23T12:01:00.000+05:30

Every year, after the GATE results are declared, I hear stories of people who have taken a year or two drop for GATE preparation only to find out that they are getting a rank in four digits. All the money and time they had spent on their preparation is lost, but most importantly, they now are in a situation where they are not able to find any jobs because of a long gap in their profile. In general, I feel this is a risky thing to do and I discuss some ways to avoid it or minimise the risk.

As always, the views and opinions in the post are my own, and you may or may not agree with me. Take my opinions with a pinch of salt.

No Plan B

Most people who take a drop for preparation, don't seem to have a Plan B. They don't spend too much time thinking about the options that will be left to them *if* they are not able to get good M. Tech option. Not only this is a bad idea for GATE, this is a bad idea in general for life. Whenever you are taking a big plunge in life, you always, ALWAYS, need to have a Plan B. If you are taking a year long gap immediately after your B. Tech, your options are very limited if you are unable to crack GATE. So the best option in my mind is to never put yourself in that situation in the first place.

Study with IT Job

This would be the ideal solution as it minimises risks. You are having a full time job, and you study in your spare time. Even if you totally get flunked in exam, you still have your job. In this case, time management would be the key. You can avoid taking up projects/responsibilities in the office that require having more work load, so you can come home on time and focus on studies. This might slow down your progress at work, but this is infinitely better than having no job and a bleak future. Since you are preparing with job, you will have to plan earlier and spend more time than someone who has taken a drop. This is natural so don't rush, and remember, if you can't get a good rank inte first attempt, there is always a next year.

I have personally done my M. Tech preparation while working for Cognizant. I had appeared for GATE twice while on the job and got admission to IIT Delhi on my second attempt. Read more about my experience here.

Study with Teaching Job

If you think a job in IT company is too demanding for studies, you can think of taking a job like teaching that is less demanding and gives you more free time. Any job is better than no job, and your experience will count. Though you may still find it a bit difficult to find IT jobs after 1 year, you will still have a good chance. You can quote personal reasons for taking up teaching for a year if you need to justify it. If not anything else, you still have your teachers job.

Gap after a few years of experience

If you need a gap for GATE studies and cannot manage with a job, a good way could be to first get a couple of years of experience in the IT industry. After that, you can think of taking a gap. If you are not able to clear GATE, you still have a couple of years of experience with you. This will ensure that you can get back to the job market. You can justify your gap saying that you took it for GATE but could not get the institute you wanted. Getting a job this way is going to be lot easier than having a gap and no work experience at all.

Also, if you wait for a couple of years in the industry, you will increase your perspective, and you will have a clearer idea of whether you want to go for an M Tech or not.

Take a small gap

If you are preparing with a job, the final phase of the GATE studies can become very difficult to manage. When exams are nearing, you need to spend considerable amount of time in paper solving, revising, finishing any topics that are left off. In this time, it might make sense for your to take a gap of 1 month or so to prepare for your exam. If you have prepared a good base, a month long dedicated time for studies should be sufficient. If your company can give your 1 month Loss of Pay leave, it is great. If not, such small gaps can be justified with personal or medical reasons. The job experience you have so far will help you get another job if needed.

Don't do it

If any of the option above don't suite you, most likely you should not do it. If you are jobless or waiting for your joining, you can spend that time for preparation, but your primary focus should be first securing a job. Remember, as you graduate, your first priority is to start working. Every day spent without a job is going to cost you very much.

These are some of my thoughts on the topic. If you have anything to add, or any experience to share, do share it in the comments below. Thanks.

My GATE Story

2016-02-26T12:37:00.000+05:30

As the GATE exam is over, lot of people realize that their score/rank may not be enough to get a decent M. Tech opportunity. Today's post is dedicated to all people who are not happy with their GATE performance. I will narrate my GATE story and how I got what I wanted after 3 attempts to GATE.

Attempt 1, year n

My first attempt for GATE was when I was in the final year of my engineering. I had started preparing from third year itself. I started with Discrete Maths, which I considered a fundamental subject, and gradually completed all the other subjects. By the time I appeared for the exam, I was completely immersed in CS.

On the day of result I learned that I had secured a rank of 1027. Though highest in my college, I was sure this was not enough for me to get admission into IIT. On the suggestion of a senior, I applied to KRESIT in IIT B. Surprisingly, I got a call for it. This was around April/May that year, and I was busy with my college project presentation, final exams, job searches etc. I barely got enough time to revise any subject for the IIT B written test. Anyways, I appeared for the test at IITB with a tired attitude and could not clear it. Seeing the IIT B campus was like a dream come true, but after I had to come back empty handed, felt like there was nothing else left in the world. I was completely shattered.

I decided that I cannot waste any more time on sulking and started preparing for placements. Deep within my heart I had the hope that someday I will find time to appear for GATE again and realize this dream.

Attempt 2, year n + 2

I got a job offer from an IT service based company after the rejection from IITB. As I started working for them, I kept thinking of how I can still give another try to GATE and get into IIT. After completing about 1 year, I again filled up the GATE form and started preparing. Unfortunately for me, this time there was a lot going in my professional career and I could not devote complete time to my studies. Even before appearing for the exam, I knew this is not my best effort. GATE result confirmed this, and though I got a rank of 850, it still was not enough. I hoped at least I will get an MS call, but even that did not come. M. Tech seemed very distant at this point.

Attempt 3, year n + 4

By year 3 in my company, I had realized that I am not doing a job of a Computer Engineer. Instead, I was just a manual laborer in the IT industry. By this time I was very serious about my M. Tech and decided that it is the only thing that can bring me out of this trap. I started preparing again, but this time I was determined not to repeat the mistake of my last attempt, namely going for a half-hearted attempt. Fortunately, this time I had comparatively lighter load in my office and I decided to take full advantage of this opportunity. I started preparing in September, and prepared will full discipline and seriousness. I gathered as many books as possible, joined the British Library so I can refer more books, gathered online material. This time I knew it was going to be my best effort.

I got a rank of 295 this time. I got a call from IITK for written test interview. Fortunately for me, I discovered a course in IIT Delhi called JCA (Computer Applications). This was a computer science like course but run by maths Dept and I got a call for it. I cleared the IITK written test, but failed miserably in the interview. I did fairly well in the JCA interview and this was my only hope now. My biggest mistake was I did not apply to any other institute and I feel I should have applied to IITKGP, IITG or IITR. Anyways, I got confirmation from JCA that I will be getting a seat. This completed my life long quest for studying from an IIT. I had no hesitation in resigning from my job and heading to Delhi, even though a lot of people (including my manager) advised against going for an M. Tech.

Placements, year n + 6

Throughout my M. Tech, I was worried about placements, not only because it is important to get a good job, but also that I had left some very good corporate opportunities to pursue my M. Tech. Most people had told me that I would not get anything other than teaching jobs after M. Tech, and I could not afford these people being correct. Thankfully, placements turned out to be very good. Not only I was placed in Amazon.com, a dream company for CS, but that year I was the only person selected from IIT D by Amazon.

M. Tech Programs and eligibility

2015-10-23T22:51:00.000+05:30

These days the most number of questions I get over email are about M. Tech eligibility. Although, I would like to answer each and every one of them, the problem is that eligibility criterions for M. Tech are not straight forward, and most of all, they can change every year. Read this post to find out how to check if you are eligible for a certain course or not.

Understand

The first thing you need to understand is that all IITs are autonomous institutions who can change any of their rules independent of others, at any time. The biggest mistake people make, while trying to figure out eligibility is that they think there is a simple common criteria that can tell who is eligible for what. This is very far from truth. Not only each IIT forms its own rules, each program within each department can have its own rules. So the application procedure, eligibility, cutoffs, selection procedure etc. could be different even within one IIT, leave alone across institutes.

How to get eligibility information

Given that there is no predicting the rules each program has, there is one and only one authentic source of information for all the queries, and that is the Admission Brochure or the PG Brochure of each institute. It is very, very, very important to read the PG brochure of each IIT you are planning to apply.

Most IITs release their PG brochure immediately after the GATE exam is over. From this time, to the time GATE result is announced, one should make it a priority to read the PG brochures and familiarize himself with the programs, their eligibility criterions, admission procedures, deadlines etc. Things become very hectic after the results are announced and it is not a good idea to wait till that time to do this research.

Eligibility is not simple

One more thing one needs to bear in mind is that M. Tech eligibility is not straight forward. Institutes can have arbitrary complex rules for eligibility into a particular program. Most institutes have a general eligibility requirement for masters (like minimum 60% in B. Tech), and then a program specific requirement. For example, see the sample eligibility requirement in IITB PG brochure (2012) in the following three courses:

Chemical Engineering: B.E./B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering or equivalent. Valid GATE score in CE only.

Computer Science: Bachelors degree in Engineering / Master’s degree in Science / MCA (with Physics & Mathematics at B.Sc. level) or equivalent degree with a valid GATE score in CS discipline. Valid GATE score in CS is required for all applicants (including Project Staff (PS)/ Institute Staff(IS) and Sponsored candidates.

Communication Engg. (EE1): Bachelor’s degree (B.E./B.Tech.) in Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, Engineering Physics OR Master’s degree (Master of Science) in Physics(with specialization in Electronics), Electronic Sciences. Valid GATE score in GATE subjects CS, EC, EE

Note that a person with B. Tech in CS and GATE in CS is obviously eligible for Computer Engineering and is not eligible for Chemical Engineering. But what can surprise you is that he is also eligible for Communication Engg run by the electrical dept. Likewise, there are many other courses at IITB that a B. Tech CS is eligible. These things can only be understood from the PG Brochure.

What if we are still not clear

If you are still not clear about your eligibility, as a last resort you can try contacting the respective department via email or phone to confirm. Ensure you have done your homework before contacting them explicitly. Usually the office staff is very supportive and may help you in deciding the eligibility.

Do not depend on anything else

As I have mentioned earlier, IITs can change any of the rules any time. This means rules could be significantly different from previous years and hence depending on your seniors, web resources etc. alone could be dangerous. Sometimes new M. Tech programs are added, older programs are cancelled, eligibility criterions, selection procedure etc. changed significantly. A student could find himself in a lot of trouble if he is not aware of these things. Hence it is always a good idea to be aware of the current rules and procedures. Therefore, at the risk of sounding repetitive, I would re-iterate that, please, please, please read the PG brochure thoroughly before applying.

Running time of a function

2015-10-14T13:00:00.000+05:30

Today I will analyze a problem from GATE 2015 paper 1, that is asking for running time analysis of a C program. Here is the question (click on the image to see it properly):

NOTE: This post is a part of a series on GATE previous year question analysis. You can explore other posts from this series using the navigation bar at the top.

What we need to understand

Since this is a small enough C program, we can just analyze the running time of each statement and combine their running times to get the final answer. What we need to understand is:

When two statements are executed one after the other in a program, their running time gets added.
When statements are executed inside a for loop that loops n times, we need to multiply the running time of each statement by n.

Solution

Note that apart from the for loop statements themselves, each of the statements in the program are just simple imperative statements that need constant time to execute. So it just boils down to finding out the number of times each for loop iterates for a given n to find out the running time. There are three fors in the program, i-for, j-for and k-for. j-for and k-for are one after the other in the i-for. So the running time of this program is going to be

i-for * (j-for + k-for)

i-for

for (i=1;i<n;i++)

Nothing can be simpler than this. The i-for is looping numbers from 1 to n, taking O(n) time.

j-for

for (j=n;j>1;j=j/2)

This is where it gets tricky. The running time of j-for is not obvious, but can be easily figured out. Notice that the loop is halving the value of n in every iteration. The question is - How many times can we half a value of a number before it become less than 1? Recall that halving a number is the inverse of doubling a number. So if we were to double a number n times, we would get 2^n. Since we are doing the opposite, we get logn. So for any number, we can only half it logn times, before it reaches 1. Take a few numerical examples to understand this. It is very important you get this concept.

k-for

for (k=1; k<p;k=k*2)

Here p is the number of times the previous for loop runs, i.e. log n. In this for loop, we are doubling the value of k till it reaches p. Assume that this loop runs x times.

Thus
p = 2^x

Taking log of both sides we get:

logp = x

But
p = logn

therefore
x = log(logn)

Hence the k-for runs for log(logn) times.

Final Answer

Combining everything from above we get:

Total running time = i-for * (j-for + k-for)

= O(n) * ( O(logn) + O(log(logn))

Since O(logn) > O(log(logn)):

O(logn) + O(log(logn)) = O(logn)

Hence the total running time = O(n) * O(logn)

= O(n*logn)

Common data structures and complexity GATE 2015, Paper 1

2015-09-24T02:03:00.000+05:30

There is a good question in GATE 2015, Paper 1 about common data structures and their complexity. Solving this would require a good understanding of these data structures. Here is the question (click on the image to see it better):

NOTE: This post is a part of a series on GATE previous year question analysis. You can explore other posts from this series using the navigation bar at the top.

What we need to understand

The above question mentions four operations, which have to be executed on the given data structures, the said number of times. We need to know the time complexity of these operations on these data structures to solve this problem. We also need to understand the basics of Big O notation to find the final answer.

How we will solve it

We will analyze the time complexity for each operations for these data structures. I will try to explain the intuition behind it without going into too much detail. Finally we will summarize the time complexities and pick the best data structure.

NOTE: The problem also mentions that delete and decrease key operations have a pointer provided to the record. This is important because before we can delete or decrease the key of a record, we first need to find it. Since a pointer is provided for these operations, the find itself is constant time and does not cost extra.

Unsorted Array

An unsorted array by definition does not have any ordering, and so nothing can be assumed about the presence of elements in any position. Thus searching for an element might require looking at every element of the array. So, for an array of size n, it could require looking at all n positions. Hence find is O(n).

Insert on an unsorted array can be done in constant time if we just append the new value at the end of the array. The problem is that we could run out of allocated space. In this case we need to reallocate array of double size and copy all the elements to the new space. This will take O(n) time, but since this has to be done only once per n inserts, the average time (amortized time) is still O(1). Hence insert is O(1). (Read about Amortized time analysis to understand this better)

Delete will first require finding the element in the array. Since a pointer is provided, this will take O(1) time. Deleting the element itself will require shifting the elements of the array by one to fill up the space created by the deleted element. This will require n iterations. Delete will thus be O(n).

Decrease key will require constant time for find and constant time for actual decreasing the key, since we can just reduce the value of the array element in constant time. Thus decrease key is O(1).

Min-Heap

Finding a particular element in a Min heap is O(n), which is no better than an unsorted array. Although it might look like we can take some advantage of the structure of the heap, a little thought will reveal that, in the worst case, it will require us to look at all elements of the heap to search for an element. Hence find is O(n).

Insert, delete and decrease key in heap are O(logn) by the very design of heap.

Sorted Array

Since the array is sorted, we can use binary search for find, hence the find is O(logn).

Insert now will be more costly, as we need to maintain the sorted-ness of the array. We will have to insert the element in its proper position, and then shift the remaining elements. Finding the proper place to insert will require logn time by binary search, and shifting will require n operations. Hence insert is O(n + logn) = O(n).

Delete and decrease key will have the same process as for Unsorted array described above and hence O(n) and O(1) respectively.

Sorted Doubly Linked List (SDLL)

This is probably the most complicated data structure of the lot. Though the linked list is sorted, we cannot take advantage of binary search. Find on SDLL will need O(n) time.

Insert will require finding the right place to insert (since it is sorted), which will require n iterations in the worst case. Hence insert would be O(n).

Delete and decrease key will require constant time to search and constant time to carry out the respective operation.

Final Answer

Based on the number of times each operation is performed in the question, the final time complexity with each data structure is:

Data Structure	Find (logn)1/2	Insert n	Delete (logn)1/2	Decrease Key (logn)1/2	Total
Unsorted Array	n * (logn)1/2	1 * n	n * (logn)1/2	1 * (logn)1/2	n * (logn)1/2
Sorted Array	logn * (logn)1/2	n * n	n * (logn)1/2	1 * (logn)1/2	n * n
Min Heap	n * (logn)1/2	logn * n	logn * (logn)1/2	logn * (logn)1/2	n * logn
SDLL	n * (logn)1/2	n * n	1 * (logn)1/2	1 * (logn)1/2	n * n

An approach for GATE preparation

2015-09-18T11:25:00.000+05:30

Preparing for GATE is not like studying for a regular exam. It is almost like doing a research in all the fields of Computer Science. Every topic in every subject has to be studied in great detail, possibly from multiple sources. A key skill required for doing well in an exam like GATE is Problem Solving Ability. Engineering, after all, is about the ability to apply your knowledge to solve real world problems. But most engineering colleges do not emphasize on problem solving, only on rote learning.

A suggested approach

Once the study of GATE syllabus is over, one should focus on learning problem solving. A very good way to do this is to try and solve some of the problems in previous GATE papers "completely". The focus should be not just on finding the right answer, but making sure that you understand how the answer is derived. Take some problems and spend as much time as you want, refer as many resources as you want, but find (and understand) the answer. Working like this will immensely increase your understanding of CS concepts. Not only you will learn the concepts, you will also learn the intuition behind those concepts, which is a more important learning.

To illustrate the point, I will take a problem in some previous GATE paper and solve it. I will try to explain or provide references to theory that is required to understand the solution. I will begin with a simple problem today and analyze more interesting problems in subsequent posts.

Example

I will take a simple example from GATE 2015, Paper 1.

What we need to know?

What we need to understand to solve this problem is that when two functions are executed concurrently by the OS, they are not actually being executed concurrently, since there is only one processor which can execute only one instruction at a time. So when the above to functions are executed "concurrently", the OS is just interleaving the statements of these two functions. The final value of B will depend on the actual order in which the statements get executed.

There are multiple ways in which the statements of P1 and P2 can be interleaved, one of them is:

//Initial Value of B is given to be 2

C = B - 1; //Value of C = 1

B = 2 * C; //Value of B = 2

D = 2 * B; //Value of D = 4

B = D - 1; //Value of B = 3

//Final value of B is 3

How I would have solved it?

What we could do is try out all possible inter-leavings of these statements and manually find out what is the value of B for each of these cases. One possible interleaving I have shown above, another is:

//Initial Value of B is given to be 2

C = B - 1; //Value of C = 1

D = 2 * B; //Value of D = 4

B = D - 1; //Value of B = 3

B = 2 * C; //Value of B = 2

//Final value of B is 2

Note that the OS can only interleave the statements of P1 and P2, it cannot change the order of statements within a function. By analyzing all possible inter-leavings, we can find that the values that B can take are 2, 3, and 4. Hence the answer is 3

PS: If you feel there is any inaccuracy in the explanation or feel that I have missed something, please feel free to point out. I will definitely improve my solution with everybody's suggestions.

B. Tech in EE to M. Tech in CS

2014-08-04T00:54:00.001+05:30

Of late I am getting a lot of questions from people who have done their B. Tech in Electrical Engineering and are interested in doing their M. Tech in Computer Science. I will try to summarize my thought about this through this post, instead of replying to each one separately.

Is this is a good idea?

This is certainly not a bad idea. Whether this is a good idea or not will depend on how good your CS fundamentals are and how prepared are you to compete with CS people on their own turf. I have certainly seen people do this, so this is not so uncommon. A couple of my friends at JCA, IITD were from EE background. They got placed in Oracle (Server Technology). Another friend of mine who was with VDTT is now working at Intel. Have a look at placement record for EET (Computer Technology), IITD.

If you plan to do your M. Tech in CS from an IIT, beware that the structure is very programming intensive. Sometimes even B. Tech CS students struggle to complete the programming assignments. As such, if you are planning such a move, make sure your CS basics and programming skills are very very strong.

What are the options available?

M. Tech eligibility rules are complex, and they vary from institute to institute, department to department. Also, they can change year over year. As I always say, please read the PG brochure of the institute to know about eligibility.

Since I have done my M. Tech from IITD, I will try to give a brief overview of options available in IITD. Rest you will have to figure out from the PG brochures of different institutes.

JCA at IITD: Since JCA is an inter-disciplinary course, it allows people from other branches. Every year at least 3 to 4 students are from EE background. JCA is a good alternative to MCS as most CS companies consider JCA to be at par with MCS. Having said that, the problem with JCA is that it has a different course structure for CS and non-CS students. The courses for non-CS students tends to be a bit lacking and I have seen students struggle a lot. As such, consider this option only if your programming and CS fundamentals are very good (so you don't depend on JCA courses for CS basics), and you can directly take some advanced courses from CS dept. Read more about JCA here

EET (Computer Technology) at IITD: EET is another course run by EE dept that is very CS oriented (Interestingly, EET is older than MCS and also older than the CS dept. at IIT Delhi itself). It has a good course structure. The core courses, though from EE dept. are basic CS courses like OS, Networks, Architecture, Software Labs etc. Program Electives have some very good advanced CS/EE courses, which many will find very interesting like Graphics, Image Processing, Pattern Recognition, Robotics, Network Security, Mobile Computing and many more. Placements wise too, EET is not different from MCS and JCA. Read more about EET here and here

VDTT at IITD: I guess VDTT is the most sought after M. Tech course at IITD, mostly because each student is sponsored by one semi-conductor company during the entire tenure. This course is mostly geared towards VLSI and semi-conductors (as the name suggests) but you will have considerable freedom in choosing courses from CS dept. The program core and electives have ample courses from basic to advanced. If you can get a GATE rank high enough, this is a really good course. Read more about VDTT here and here

There might be other good options available in other IITs, but I am not fully aware of them. Please check the PG brochure of each institute for details.

M. Tech CS after GATE in CS

If you have your GATE in CS, a lot of regular CS programs will allow you to take admission. This way, you can get a degree in M. Tech CS and completely change your profile to CS. Note that though you have your M. Tech in CS, some core companies Amazon, Google, Facebook may still not consider you for placements as they strictly need people with B. Tech in CS. Apart from these few companies, all other companies should be open for you.

A disadvantage I see is that after this you would loose your status as an Electrical Engg. and may not be able to go back to your core. Take this option if you are sure that you only want to be in CS. Also, you will have get a good rank in GATE CS, which could be very tough after doing your B. Tech in EE.

EET (CTech) FAQ

2014-03-06T10:54:00.002+05:30

Recently I got in touch with one of my juniors who joined M. Tech in Computer Technology (EET, also known as CTech) at IIT Delhi. I wanted to know how is his experience with EET as a CS student. I asked him some basic questions that I thought would be on everybody's mind. I am copying the answers he gave me below

Q: How is the selection process? What are some of the questions asked.

A: Once the cut off is cleared, interviews would be to an extent based on the background. Data structures/Algo, Networks is asked irrespective of the backgrounds.

Q: Can an EET student take up a course at CSE dept.

A: Yes, EET students can take up courses from CSE department. Two courses from CSE department fall in our program electives. Besides students can take courses from CSE dept as their Open Electives. Note that though most of the program electives in EET are from Electrical Department, most of them are very relevant to CS students e.g. Computer Graphics, Network Security, Image Processing, Pattern Recognition etc.

Q: Can an EET student take up his major project at CS dept.

A: Yes, students can do major projects under CSE dept. and there is a student from my batch doing so. However, to get the nod to do a project under any prof in CSE dept is not that easy. One should be good enough to convince the professor. And I feel that, taking his/her course should be a platform for that.

Q: Are EET students eligible for all the good CS/IT companies?

A: EET students are eligible for most of the CS/IT companies, but not all. So there would be about 10 companies like Adobe, Rocket Fuel, SAP etc., which would be open for MCS students, but not EET. Regarding placements, many companies will open for CTech, ultimately its how well prepared one is.

Q: Anything else regarding EET that you would like everyone to know

A: Well I am happy about the decision to take EET. It is not a pure computer science program, as in the students would be from ECE/CS/IT. One would get to learn about hardware here and I found it nice to learn something other than just pure coding.

This course is more focused and recognized for Machine Learning, Pattern Recognition, Embedded Programming. If one likes Comp tech course structure one should go for it, I think.

IITB R.A. Selection procedure - 2013

2013-08-15T09:07:00.003+05:30

One of my juniors went through the selection process of IITB R.A for the year 2013. I am narrating the experience he had in his own words.

Selection Procedure

First round was a written test with the following sections:

General Aptitude
Engineering Mathematics
C/C++/Programming
Other CS subjects

About 50 students were selected from over 400 students for about 32 positions available with R.A.
This was followed by interviews from the interview panels.

I appeared for two interview panels of institute RA - Sysdadmin and Application Software Cell (ASC). Here is the experience with each of them:

SysAdmin

Questions on job experience.
Basic and practical questions on networking protocols IP, UDP, TCP etc. For example which protocol is used in which application in practice.
OS - What are binary and counting Semaphores?
Linux -

Basic Linux commands
Simple shell script writing
Linux file system architecture

Application Software Cell (ASC)

Questions on job experience.
Questions on DBMS Queries (asked to write queries for given scenarios)
How web servers work?

Note that selection procedure could be significantly different for subsequent years. This is for your reference only.

Cutoffs 2012

2013-03-10T19:48:00.000+05:30

In this post I am going to present the most valuable data to a GATE aspirant. The M. Tech cutoff for IITs. Unfortunately, this year I do not have cutoffs for a lot of courses/IITs. I had a hard disk crash because of which I lost a lot of data that I had collected during the admission season of 2012. Anyways, I am still presenting whatever little data I have left with me. If you know of cutoffs for courses/institutes not covered below, please let me know through comments/email.

Disclaimer

THE CUTOFFS IN THIS POST ARE FOR THE YEAR 2012. THE CUTOFFS FOR FOLLOWING YEARS COULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THESE. ALSO, NOT ALL OF THEM WERE DECLARED DIRECTLY BY THE INSTITUTE AND MAY BE INCORRECT. THIS DATA IS FOR YOUR REFERENCE ONLY.

For previous year cutoffs, refer Cutoffs 2011.

Cutoffs

IIT Bombay

M. Tech CSE Direct Admission cutoffs:
First List: Gen - AIR 52, GATE Score 888
Second List Gen - AIR 74, GATE Score 870

(Source: Inferred from list published by the institute)

IITB R.A Written test/Interview cutoff
Gen - AIR 415

(Source: Unofficial)

IIT Kanpur

Direct Admission
Gen: AIR 67, GATE score 875.

(Source: Inferred from list published by the institute)

Written Test/Interview cutoffs:

B.Tech. degree (or equivalent) with at least 55% aggregate or 5.5 CPI, and
a GATE 2012 score of at least

720 (for General category)
648 (OBC)
480 (SC/ST/PD)

or a GATE 2011 score of at least

750 (for General category
675 (OBC)
500 (SC/ST/PD)

(Source: Institute Website)

IIT Delhi

M.S (R), Full-Time with Assistanship,
Short listing criteria for written test/interview:
Gen: GATE Score 765 and 60% or 6.75/10 in qualifying degree.
OBC: GATE Score 690 and 60% or 6.75/10 in qualifying degree.
SC/ST/PH: GATE Score 525 and 55% or 6.25/10 in qualifying degree.

(Source: Institute Website)

JCA Interview:
Gen: GATE Score 760

(Source: Unofficial)

IIT Guwahati

Shortlisting Criteria for written test/Interview

Gen: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 700
OBC: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 700
OBC-NCL: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 630
SC: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 467
ST: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 467
PD: GATE CS and GATE score ≥ 467

(Source: Institute Website)

NOTE: I DO NOT HAVE CUTOFFS FOR ANY OTHER INSTITUTE OTHER THAN THE ONES MENTIONED ABOVE. COMMENTS ASKING FOR ANY OTHER INSTITUTE'S CUTOFF WILL BE DELETED.

VDTT @ IIT Delhi FAQ

2013-02-09T17:19:00.000+05:30

I had the opportunity to work with a few VDTT students during my M. Tech at IIT Delhi. I was chatting with one of my good friends, and asked him some generic FAQ about the VDTT course. I am copying that FAQ here, hopefully it will be useful to people.

Q: Can u give me a brief idea about the interview procedure for VDTT?
A: Interview procedure is similar to MCS, but there maybe a 2nd round where the sponsoring company official would have a chat with people already shortlisted by the Profs. It won't be as tough but some trimming of the list may happen. For CS background people (like me), focus is on Arch/OS/Digital questions (no VLSI/electrical stuff).

Q: Are VDTT students eligible for same/more/less companies compared to MCS during placements?
A: There is some difference - Intel/AMD/TSMC/Cadence/ST(this one is not regular) etc. would have VLSI (VDTT+ICE) students only or would prefer them, but then Google/Microsoft/Facebook last time didn't include VDTT people. Companies like Sony/Mentor come with different profiles where VDTT/MCS people are eligible for most of them. Otherwise every other company like Yahoo/Cisco/HP are open for all MCS/JCA/VDTT. Thumb rule is for first two days there maybe some differences but opportunities are equal after that. After that you don't have any such restrictions (thats when most placements happen )

Q: Apart from course structure, is there any significant difference between MCS and VDTT?
A: Even course structure is not different. I did same courses as my MCS friends, but VDTT final project (for CS students) has to be from Arch/Synthesis/Compilers etc. (Not from DB may be)

Q: Can a VDTT student choose any guide in CS dept?
A: Not sure, but more than half of senior CS faculty is already part of VDTT and those are sure available.

Q: Do the stipends given to VDTT students is same/more than other M. Techs?
A: Stipends are same, but you won't have to pay tuition fee + almost 10K per year for "misc" expenditures

Q: Any other thing typical to VDTT that you would like prospective students to know?
A: VDTT is best for those CS students who have inclination towards Arch/Digital Synthesis, as IITD has best faculty in this area, opportunities are immense, VDTT has had 100% placement record throughout and all get placed in first 3 days. (anyway not more than 4-8 are selected per year and almost half are from EE :))

(Note: My friend completed his M. Tech in VDTT in 2010 and was placed in Intel, where he is still working.)

M. Tech vs M.S at IIT Delhi

2013-01-19T20:47:00.000+05:30

In this post I talk about the choice between going for M. Tech or M. S at CS department at IIT Delhi. Although this article compares M. Tech and M. S. at IIT Delhi, these considerations are valid for comparing between any course intensive program and a thesis intensive program as explained below.

As always, the views in this article are my personal views and you may or may not agree with them completely. Please take them with a pinch of salt.

Definition

When I say M. Tech in this article, I mean any program that has a major emphasis (greater than 60%) on courses and less emphasis on Major project. On the other hand, when I say M. S., I mean any course that has major emphasis (more that 60%) on thesis part.

Who should ideally go for M. Tech

M. Tech CS at IIT Delhi is very course oriented. You spend 2/3rd of your credits doing courses by different professors of your choice and only remaining 1/3rd percentage working on your thesis.

If you are a person who is interested in CS, but has not chosen a particular area for research, M. Tech could be more ideal for you. Since M. Tech allows you to do so many courses, you can select courses on different topics and get a feel of everything before you decide what is that interests you the most.

I was of this type and found everything in CS interesting. I didn't have any particular "favorite" subject so I took a lot of different courses at IIT Delhi. I did courses like Advanced Data Structures, Image Processing, Logic and Functional Programming, Discrete Maths, Computer Graphics, Numerical Optimization, Computer Networks, Algorithms for BioInformatics. Finally, my major thesis was on Computational Biology problem.

Pros of M. Tech over M. S:

You get to do a variety of courses. Flexibility at IITs mean you can choose almost anything you want.
Doing so many different courses means you get to work with a lot of different Professors
Since M. Tech has a smaller thesis component, it almost always finishes within the stipulated two years time.
M. Tech is less demanding as for all the courses we have a fixed syllabus and a fixed grading scheme. It is has a similar pattern to our school and college.

Cons

Since you are doing so many courses, you cannot concentrate one subject if you want to.
Since you do dedicated thesis work only for one semester or so, you cannot expect to achieve path breaking results or make a great contribution to Computer Science.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to have any worth while publication/patent etc. when you are not focused one problem.

Who should ideally for for M. S.

M.S in CS or IT, on the other hand, is very thesis oriented. You spend 2/3rd of the time working on your thesis and take very few courses (that too related to the topic of your thesis).

If you are the kind of person who exactly knows where his interest lies and wants to dedicate a couple of years in it, you should consider going for M. S. There are problems in every area that require years and years of work to solve. M. S. provides you this opportunity to pick up such challenging problems and work on them.

Another subtle consideration while going for M. S. is that you also have to choose your IIT carefully. Not all IITs have expertise in every subject. For example, till the time I was in IITD, it was not a great place for Databases or Artificial Intelligence. So if you wanted to work on Databases for example and went to IITD for M. S., you would end up disappointed.

Pros of M. S. over M. Tech

Because you are dedicated to one subject, you can accomplish some really great results.
You can spend all the time dedicated to your favorite subject and not bother working on anything else that does not interest you.
There is a better chance of coming up with papers/publications/patents as you have ample time
M. S. is a great stepping stone for a PhD, in India or abroad. Since the way you need to work in M. S. resembles the type of work needed in PhD, it can be considered a mini PhD.

Cons

Since there is huge thesis component which is variable, M. S. usually takes more than 2 years to complete.
As the majority of your time is spent with just one professor, choosing a good professor is very important.
M. S. can be very demanding as it does not have a fixed syllabus or a fixed grading scheme. You just work on one very tough problem that probably no one has ever solved. It takes a little while to get used to working in this mode.

Placements

There is no difference in M. Tech and M. S. when it comes to placement opportunities. They compete for the same companies and are mostly measured on the same scale. Though since M. S. usually requires an extra year to complete, M. S. students may have to wait for another year for joining.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would say that choice of M. S vs. M. Tech should be ideally based on your preferences. It is not a very good idea to go for M. S. when you cannot get admission into M. Tech. Since not every one is prepared for the research like mode of working required in M. S., it may not be for everyone.

M. Tech vs. MBA

2012-09-09T16:53:00.000+05:30

This might be the most frequently asked question by B. E. students who are thinking of going for higher studies. There is a lot of confusion regarding the options as most people don't have credible sources to clarify their doubts. A lot of times they take a decision based on what some of their seniors or family members are saying. In this post, I discuss what one needs to consider to make this choice

As always, the views and opinions in the post are my own, and you may or may not agree with me. Take my opinions with a pinch of salt.

The Real Dilemma

A lot of people I know who are really interested in being a techie, still find themselves confused whether they should go for M. Tech (even at an IIT). The common fears lingering in these people's minds (and my responses to them) are:

M. Tech is not good for career, but MBA is

M. Tech from IIT will do wonders for your career. You will be eligible for most of the Tier I product companies in India and abroad. MBA is not bad as a career choice, but you will be moving away from computer science and engineering.

I will only get Teaching jobs after M. Tech

Very few students go for teaching after M. Tech. Most get placed in good product development or service companies. And by the way, even teaching jobs are becoming very well paid, so even that is not a bad option.

I cannot earn good salary after M. Tech, only MBA can guarantee a good salary.

This is incorrect. People get placed in Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft etc. after M. Tech. These companies are very good pay masters. Also note that a lot of MBA graduates too end up with mediocre salaries. Whether its M. Tech or MBA, your placement depends on your calibre.

My senior/elder brother/professor told me don't go for M. Tech, go for MBA, otherwise you will ruin your life.

Whoever gave you this advise, did he himself do an M. Tech from IIT or does he know anybody who has done so. Most likely not.

I don't know anybody who has done M. Tech but I know people who have done MBA and are doing well.

You can find a lot of people on social media who are doing m. tech. They will be more than happy to share their experiences. Do interact with these people before making a career choice.

These things stop a lot of bright and technically inclined people from going for M. Tech. This is the main intention of this blog - to let people know that M. Tech in CS from IITs is a good career option and it will not ruin your life. Through this blog, I try to dispel all such myths going around in B. Tech students. Please read my post Is it worth doing M. Tech from IITs for more information.

Of course, this is applicable to M. Tech from IITs. I can't say about other institutes as I don't have enough data.

The Comparison

The correct way of choosing between M. Tech and MBA should be based on your interests. If you are interested in Management and want to become a Business Analyst, Financial Analyst, H.R or something similar, go for MBA. If you are interested in core Computer Science, like being a techie, are interested in research, want to be a hard core engineer, go for M. Tech. The domain of M. Tech and MBA are so different that the comparison between M. Tech and MBA is almost like a comparison between Engineering and Medical field. They are completely different and it is totally a matter of personal choice. You didn't ask anyone whether I should go for Engineering or whether I should become a Doctor. Asking someone whether I should do M. Tech or MBA is equally stupid.

The Wrong Question

A lot of people also ask me which of M. Tech and M.B.A will pay higher salary, or which one has a higher average package. First of all, as most experienced people will tell you, making a career choice solely based on money will not lead to growth and prosperity. Over a longer period of time, salaries tend to get equalized in all streams. People who are passionate about what they are doing tend to grow faster and earn more.

Also, the concept of average package is heavily abused in India. An average package of 10L in an institute does not mean that everybody in that college was placed at a package of 10L. Usually it means that most people got packages in the range of 4-6 and a very few got exceptionally high package, bringing the average to 10. Sometimes not all the student get placed and the institute does not include these students in the calculation for average package.

Preparing for GATE with Job

2012-08-08T23:27:00.000+05:30

I was not originally planning to write a post on this topic, but I had been asked this question so many times that I thought it would be more convenient to just write a post about it than to reply to everybody individually. A lot of people ask me how did I go about preparing for GATE when I was doing a job. To tell you the truth, I haven't done anything different for preparing for GATE with job. I would have almost followed the same path if I was not working. Anyways, I will still narrate my experiences, just in case someone finds it useful.

The Beginning

I started in September. Initially I thought I would be able to make it, but now I think I was late. I should have started maybe a month earlier at least. It is important to start early because if you are preparing for GATE after a gap of few years, its hard to get the momentum in studies from the day one. So starting at the right time is crucial. Remember that GATE syllabus is huge.

Initially I spent a lot of time just gathering resources like books, online materials, previous papers, GATE question banks etc. I preferred studying from text books and so had to get a lot of books. I have listed the books I used in my previous post. I also enrolled myself to the 'British Library' so that I have access to a lot of books. My pace of studies was very slow at this time.

Gathering Steam

By the end of September I was done gathering all my resources and had been studying about an hour at max per day. Initially it was difficult to concentrate on studies. On weekdays I thought I will study properly on weekend, and on weekends I thought weekends are for rest so let me take some rest now and will concentrate on studies from Monday. Anyways, slowly I started getting used to it. At this stage, I didn't have to compromise on office work and would study only as much as time permitted.

Managing Work and Studies

As I entered the month of December, I knew that I will have to step on the gas pedal. Now it was not sufficient to study leisurely, and only in spare time. Now was the time to make compromises, at least for the next two months. I will now have to start taking time from office to be able to finish the vast GATE syllabus.

At office it was really important to ensure that I kept myself from taking too much work. Anything that I could avoid, I avoided. Obviously, this did not put a very good impression on my colleagues or my manager, but this is a risk I had to take. I tried to politely stay away from hectic projects and just took up smaller tasks. I woke up early and studied in the morning. I reached office only by 11 AM. My manager was always unhappy with me coming this late, but I knew this was only for a couple of months, and so somehow kept the schedule.The biggest thing that one needs to remember is that at this stage, discipline is everything. If you plan your studies, make sure you execute those plans. This is not the time for loosing focus.

All this definitely slowed down my professional progress, but this is a cost I had to pay for having a shot at GATE. I know that after Feb, I can make up for all this.

The Compromise

GATE syllabus is huge. When you are preparing for it after a gap of few years and along with a job, its very likely that you might not be able to finish all of it. In such cases, it is important and practical to leave out some of the syllabus. As far as GATE is concerned, its better to know some subjects extremely well than knowing all subjects on the surface. I was in this situation too. I choose to ignore most of the Engineering Mathematics part. The reasons were two - Firstly, Engineering Maths is very huge and studying after such a long gap would have required a lot of time. Secondly, Engineering Maths is not very useful in CS in general. So it won't hurt if I don't know about it that well. I can't say that about core CS subjects like OS, DBMS, Networks etc. If you are faced with such a situation, be prepared to do some compromise here and there. Know that when you say "No" to a subject, you are saying to "Yes" to some other subject. Just make sure you don't leave out some important one.

The Final Phase

The final phase of my GATE studies was the time after 15th Jan. I had reserved this time for solving previous GATE papers, and revising the syllabus. I had also made a list of topics that I felt I was weak at, so I could revise them later. I spent the last month solving previous year papers completely and trying to find out the answer to each question. This gave me a lot of confidence and cleared my concepts like anything.

Finally I took a couple of days leave just before GATE so I can study in full force. These were the only leaves I took for studies.

My experience with M. Tech after job

2012-03-09T21:09:00.000+05:30

I got the opportunity to go for M. Tech only after 4 years of my job. So when I stepped into IIT Delhi, I was stepping into an academic institute after a gap of 4 years. Like most people, I had questions like will I be able to study after such a huge gap, will my experience help me with placements, will I get placed at all. In this post I will share my experiences during mtech with such issues.

Academics

Everyone (including me) thought that studying after a gap of 4 years would be really difficult. I had been away from academics for such a long time. Plus I was enjoying a well paying job in Pune. But surprisingly I found no difficulty in dedicating my complete time for study. In fact I think I was at an advantage over people who had directly come to M. Tech after their engineering. They seemed slightly fed up with studies. After all, they didn't have any gap in studies from the last 10 to 15 years. Me on the other hand, I was enjoying the classes, the assignments, the exams. The 4 year gap felt like a 4 year vacation I took from academics and so I felt I was more enthusiastic and full of energy than others. I hope this is the case with everyone going for mtech after a gap.

Besides, if you have done a lot of C/C++ programming in your professional career, it might help you with the large number of programming assignments we get at IITs.

Placements

The fact that placements are not a problem for mtech CS at IITs, I have discussed in my older post here. But if you have a few years of experience, you would be thinking, will they consider my previous experience for placements? Will I get any advantage over others who have come directly after engineering? Will I be given a higher salary/designation than others? Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news first. You won't get any practical advantage because of your experience (at least at IIT Delhi, don't know the details of all IITs but I am guessing the placement system would be same). That is, you have to qualify for the CGPA cutoff and you have to appear for the written test with everyone. There is no separate criteria or written test for people with experience.

The good news is, once you are through the written test, your experience might help you a lot during the interviews. There is very tough competition at IITs for placements and people are not shy about displaying anything worthwhile they have done. So having a few years of experience definitely gives you an edge. Of course, it still doesn't guarantee anything, but it is a great help.

I have not heard of companies giving a different profile or a higher designation to people with experience. This is somewhat offset by the fact that your experience might help you get placed into a better company.

There is one thing that I would like to add though. I used to be under tremendous pressure for getting good a placement because I had left a well paying job to go for mtech. Imagine, leaving a good job, going for mtech and then ending up in a job of lower value than the one you left. One feels like he is competing with himself. Perhaps this pressure is unavoidable for someone coming after experience.

Conclusion

In general I faced no difficulties with studies or anything else because of the 4 years gap. If at all, this gap worked in my favor. I can't say this should be the case with everyone, but it was definitely the case with me.

Job vs Mtech

2011-12-26T01:31:00.058+05:30

This is easily the biggest dilemma for people thinking of doing M Tech from IITs. I am frequently bombarded with questions which go: "I am a B. Tech CS graduate who has an offer of n Lakhs per annum from XYZ company, should I go it or should I go for M. Tech". However frequently this question might be asked, unfortunately it has no simple answer. The answer to it is extremely subjective and too personal for me to even make any suggestion. However in this post, I will discuss things that can help one make a decision one way or the other. Most of the points would perhaps be a repetition of what I have said in my previous posts, but anyways, I will reiterate them here.

Note: Please take the views expressed in this post with a grain of salt. These are my views and you may or may not agree with them.

M. Tech is not that bad

As I have tried to explain in my previous posts, M. Tech from IIT doesn't mean that you will end up doing teaching in some college. Placements for M. Tech CS can be very good, it all depends on how much you take it seriously. So if you are worried that doing mtech will mean you will have to sacrifice on your career, that is not correct. Refer the placements section of my post on Computer Application, IIT Delhi

M. Tech is very demanding

Dont forget that M. Tech is not easy, at least if you plan to do it well. You have to put in a lot of hard work and you have to study a lot. Make sure you are prepared for such a commitment for a period of two years. If not, perhaps its better you take a break from academics and go for a job for a few years and then come back again with a fresh mind set.

Set you priorities

What is your principal aim for going for M. Tech? If it is just that you want a higher salary, then I think there is something wrong. You should NOT be going for mtech. I am not saying you will not get a good salary after M. Tech, but that is not the correct way to approach it. Your primary aim should be research or interest in academics or working for a core CS company like Google/Amazon/MS/Adobe etc. If you are only concerned about salary, then you can get that by working hard for two years in an IT company or going for an MBA (which, lets face it, has a lot of demand in IT sector).

Remember, IITs are a research institute, and you are joining a research institute at masters level, so it wont make much sense if you are not interested in research.

Mtech vs 2 years work-ex

A lot of people ask me whether its worth sacrificing two years of work experience for doing mtech. If you think about it, 2 Yrs of work-ex is a "cost" you are paying for doing mtech. It is the cost you pay for getting opportunity to appear for placements at IITs, for getting opportunities to study under some of the best professors in the country and for getting better opportunities for Phd later on. Also you get an additional degree which you dont get after doing job for two years. What you need to decide is whether you are getting enough in return for the "cost" that you are paying. If you have done reasonably well in mtech, you shouldn't be at least lagging behind people who went for job for two years, and if you have done really well, you could be way ahead.

Are you in a position to take risks

If you have a job in hand, and you plan to go for M. Tech, all said and done, you are taking a risk. You are risking your two years of job security for better prospects in future. What you need to decide is whether you are in a position to take such a risk. Your financial obligations and commitments to yourself and to your family come into picture here.

Take your time

Who says you have to decide whether you want to do M. Tech or not as soon as you step out of engineering college. If you have a job offer and are not sure if higher studies is good for you, take your time. Take the job. Work for a year or two. See if you are satisfied with the job. After a couple of years service, you would be in a better position to decide between job and mtech. People say that once you get into a job, its hard to quite and go for higher studies. I dont agree completely. If you are really made for research, you will one day definitely get bored with the monotonous work given by IT companies.

Hope the discussion helps. The whole point of writing this blog is to help people make an informed decision about going for M. Tech.
For more information about M. Tech, refer my post Is it worth doing M. Tech at IIT

Cutoffs 2011

2011-08-06T11:55:00.082+05:30

Finally the most sought after information in GATE world is here. The Holy Grail of all GATE related searches - Cutoffs for M. Tech CS in IITs (General Category)

Methodology

Unfortunately getting cutoffs for all courses in all IITs is not as simple as it sounds. This is because not all institutes announce their cutoffs. Some of them only display a list of shortlisted candidates on their website while some only send emails to the selected candidates. As such getting cutoffs for these institutes is not easy and one has to follow discussion forums or get in touch with candidates to know the cutoffs.

Disclaimer

THE CUTOFFS IN THIS POST ARE FOR THE YEAR 2011. THE CUTOFFS FOR FOLLOWING YEARS COULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THESE. ALSO, NOT ALL OF THEM WERE DECLARED DIRECTLY BY THE INSTITUTE AND MAY BE INCORRECT. THIS DATA IS FOR YOUR REFERENCE ONLY.

Also refer Cutoffs 2012

Cutoffs (General Cat.)

Institute	Course	Cutoff Score	Cutoff Rank	Cutoff Source
IISc	ME CSE Direct Admission	936	41	Unofficial. From discussion forums
IIT Kanpur	M. Tech CSE Direct Admission	900	69	Unofficial. Institute displays list of shortlisted candidates on website
IIT Delhi	M. Tech EET Direct Admission	900	69	Official cutoff
IIT Bombay	M. Tech CS 1st Direct offer	889	76	Official cutoff
IIT Madras	M. Tech CSE with HTTA 1st Offer	879	93	Unofficial. From discussion forums
IIT Bombay	M. Tech CS 2nd Direct offer	872	101	Official cutoff
IIT Bombay	M. Tech CS 3rd offer	868	104	Official cutoff
IIT Madras	M. Tech CSE with HTTA 2nd Offer	847	155	Unofficial. From discussion forums
IIT Madras	M. Tech CSE with HTTA 3rd Offer	839	175	Unofficial. From discussion forums
IIT Delhi	M. Tech CSE Interview	760	428	Official cutoff
IIT Delhi	MS (R) Interview	760	428	Official cutoff
IIT Kgp	M. Tech CSE Interview	760	428	Unofficial. From discussion forums
IIT Delhi	M. Tech JCA Interview	750	480	Official cutoff
IIT Delhi	M. Tech EET Interview	753	482	Official cutoff
IIT Kanpur	M. Tech CSE Test/Interview	753	482	Unofficial. From discussion forums
IIT Bombay	M. Tech RA	709	NA	Official cutoff
IIT Roorkee	M. Tech CS Interview	NA	683	Unofficial. From discussion forums
IIT Guwahati	M. Tech CSE Test/Interview	NA	910	Unofficial. From discussion forums
IIT Madras	MS Interview	NA	1196	Unofficial. From discussion forums

NOTE: I DO NOT HAVE CUTOFFS FOR ANY OTHER INSTITUTE OTHER THAN THE ONES MENTIONED ABOVE. COMMENTS ASKING FOR ANY OTHER INSTITUTE'S CUTOFF WILL BE DELETED.

Interpretation

Although all IITs declare cutoffs in terms of score, I think the cutoff in terms of Rank is a better metric. This is because the seats at each IIT remain constant every year. Hence the rank wise cutoff for each IIT is almost constant year on year. In comparison, cutoff in terms of score, marks or percentile is dependent on the relative toughness of GATE exam that year, number of students appearing etc.

My IIT Kanpur Experience

2011-02-23T19:27:00.021+05:30

Before I had my interview at IIT Delhi (in 2008), I also appeared for written test/interview at IIT Kanpur. That trip to IIT Kanpur was one of the most tough yet memorable trip of my life. I will try to recall my experience with the selection procedure at IIT Kanpur. Maybe it will be helpful to people going to IITK this year.

If I remember correctly, the approximate cutoff that year for IIT Kanpur M. Tech CS, in terms of rank was about AIR 350 (for open category). The number of seats (total) were around 50. I received an email from IIT Kanpur on 6th May and the written test/interview were to be held on 23rd and 24th May. I was working in Pune then, and I found it really difficult to get train tickets to Kanpur, that being the vacation season. Somehow I landed up in Kanpur after a 36 hour journey on the morning of 23rd.
After getting accommodation and taking some rest, we proceeded for the written test. The written test started at 9 AM. It was a 3hr objective type test. Toughness of the test was comparable to that of GATE. There was a lot of emphasis on Discrete Maths, Probability, Maths, C and programming etc.

I think interview were the most tough part of the selection process. There were about four professors in a room and they were grilling candidates for 15 to 20 minutes each. The professors had a bias towards Discrete Maths, Probability and TOC. Any guy who mentioned any of these as his favorite subject was bombarded with some really tough questions. So the general strategy was to stay away from mentioning these subjects. The professors were not at all interested in OS, DBMS or networks and they regarded these as "easy" subjects. Finally it was my turn. The first question that I was asked was a Dynamic Programming question. At that time my understanding of DP was very weak and I knew then that my chances here are not that good. After I wasn't able to solve it, they then asked me some questions on Merge Sort etc. I was not answering these questions very confidently and they managed to confuse me pretty badly. The worst part about the interview was that they didn't allow me to do any rough work on my own and asked me to use the whiteboard for rough work. This was very tough to do with four professors staring at me.

When the results were declared after a couple of days and I wasn't selected I wasn't surprised. Later during my M. Tech at IIT Delhi we worked a lot on recursion and DP. I then realised that the IITK interview question was not that tough after all...

JCA - Computer Applications at IIT Delhi

2011-01-07T23:23:00.072+05:30

Certain courses in IITs are usually over looked by MTech aspirants because either they don't know about them at all or they are not sure if the course is good for them.

One such course is Computer Applications (JCA) at IIT Delhi which I feel doesn't get the attention it deserves. In this post I will talk about the Pros and Cons of this course.

IMPORTANT: The course has been discontinued by IIT Delhi. Please refer the PG brochure of the institute for details. Refer CTech (EET) which is a similar course run by EE department.

Note: Please take the views expressed in this post with a grain of salt. These are my views and you may or may not agree with them.

Introduction

Computer Applications, or JCA as it is commonly known, is an inter-disciplinary M.Tech program jointly run by the following three departments at IIT Delhi: 1. Mathematics 2. Computer Science 3. Electrical Engineering

The parent department of this course is Mathematics. JCA being an inter-disciplinary course, students from a lot of backgrounds are eligible for it. Non-computer science students are offered some basic courses in the first and second semester, where as students with computer science background are offered more advanced courses. Apart from this, the students can choose various electives that are offered by the participating departments.

You can view the course content in detail here

Cutoffs

Note that the cutoffs this year could be significantly different from the previous year.

Get the cutoffs for year 2011 CS here

JCA vs MCS

This is a very frequently asked question. Although this is a subjective question and answer will depend on a lot of factors, I would say that if you belong to B. Tech Computer Science background, JCA is almost similar to MCS for you. You will have to do some Mathematics Dept. courses and labs, but apart from them you can take any course from the CS dept. You can also do your major project under a CS dept. prof. Also almost all companies that open for MCS are also open for JCA.

JCA vs EET

Again, answer to this is subjective, but in my view, for B. Tech CS students, JCA is better than EET. The reason is JCA is an inter-disp course while EET is run by Electrical Dept. As such, EET is more oriented towards Electrical and Electronics. EET is better than JCA if you are a B. Tech Electrical/Electronics. Again this only MY OPINION.

Placements

The million dollar question. The following table lists the number of MTech Computer Applications students placed in various companies in the placement
period 2009-10.

Company	No. Placed
Microsoft	1
Amazon	1
Oracle (Server Technology)	3
Strand Life Science	1
Citrix	1
Nagaro Software	2
Rakuten (Tokyo Posting)	1
Atrenta	1
Clickable	1
Singhania University	1
Itaas	1
Informatica	1

On the other hand

The biggest drawback of this course is that its parent department is Mathematics. This is not the best dept. in IIT Delhi. If you are a CS background student, you have the luxury of avoiding this dept. by taking all your courses from CS. Still you will have to do a few courses there and you may not like it that much. Apart from this CS students shouldn't be affected and your parent dept. wont be a concern during your placements etc.

People with non-CS background have usually a hard time in this course. The structure is not very friendly towards non-CS students and they have to put a lot of extra efforts to cope up with the requirements.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would say that JCA is a good course if you belong from B. Tech CS background. Personally I found that people with non-CS background find it difficult to manage in this course. Again this depends from person to person but this is a general observation.

GATE CS Preparation

2010-09-16T11:14:00.020+05:30

In this post I will discuss some ideas related to GATE preparation. These may or may not work for everyone but this is how I went about preparing for GATE myself.

When to Start

As of writing this post, its September. Ideally you should have started the preparation by now. If you haven't, its still not very late. Assuming that you have a fair understanding of Computer Science concepts, even starting now, you could manage to finish the syllabus and test preparations on time. I myself started it from end of Sept. Do keep in mind that GATE has a fairly huge syllabus, so its going to be a big task to finish all that.

Where to study from

This is perhaps the most frequently asked question related to GATE. Where to study from, that is what to refer and what not to refer. In my experience, the best resource to study for GATE is your own textbooks that you used during your engineering. But no subject will have a single book that is sufficient for that subject. That is why I would suggest that you refer atleast two books for every subject. I know this is a going to take more time, but it helps. I had a primary book for every subject, but I referred other books for some specific topics that I didn't find properly covered in the primary book. So for example my primary book for OS was Galvin. But I didn't understand synchronization that well from this book. So I referred internet or other sources for this topic. The bottom line is: Do not depend on just one source, study from as many sources as possible. This is a list of some of the books I referred:

Book	Subject	Remarks
Data Structures in C, Horowitz, Sahani	Data Structures	Excellent book for DS
Introduction to Algorithms, by Cormen, Rivest	Algorithms	Need to study first few chapters only .
Computer Algorithms, by Horowitz, Sahani	Algorithms
Principles Of Compiler Design, by Aho and Ullman	Compilers	De-facto books for Compilers
John Martin	TOC
Hopcroft & Ullmana	TOC
Digital Design, by Morris Mano	Digital Logic	Excellent book for Digital Logic
Operating System Concepts, by Galvin and Silberschatz	OS	Standard book for OS
OS, by Tanenbaum	OS
Fundamentals of Database Systems, By Elmasri, Navathe	DBMS	Covers normalization very well
Ramakrishna Gherke	DBMS	Good for SQL, relational algebra
Tanenbaum	Computer Architecture
Computer System Architecture, by Morris Mano	Computer Architecture
Hamacher, Zaky	Computer Architecture
Tanenbaum	Networks
Peterson, Davie	Networks
Computer Network, By Douglas Comer	Networks	Good for TCP/IP and internet
Trembly & Manohar	Discrete Mathematics	A little heavy but good
C. L. Liu	Discrete Mathematics
Graph Theory, by Narsingh Deo	Graph Theory	A complete reference for Graph theory
The C Programming Language, by Kernighan and Ritchie	C	Excellent book for C. (Preferred over Let us C)

Note: The list is not exhaustive. If there are other books that you have found useful, you can suggest them in the comments.

Online Resources

Link	Subject	Remarks
Kentucky Notes	TOC	Excellent resource for TOC. Covers Automata, Computability, Languages, Unsolvability. Must read.
Kentucky Notes on Algorithms	Algorithms
Crack the Interview	Data Structures, Algorithms, DBMS	An extensive resource. It is a compilation of campus interview questions. Go through it if you have time.

Previous Year GATE Papers

This is probably the most important thing that helped me get a decent score in GATE. Once you are done with a complete study of the GATE syllabus, you should solve at least one previous year GATE paper completely. By solving I don't mean solving it like an exam, but solving each and every question open book without any time limit. You can refer any book, internet, ask your friends or do whatever you can. Just solve each and every question in that particular question paper. It can take weeks for you to find out all the answers. Remember just knowing the answer to every question is not sufficient, you should also know how the answer was derived. This process will clear your concepts like anything.You will feel the difference in your confidence and your preparedness for GATE after finishing this exercise.

Coaching

Since personally I never joined any coaching for GATE, I cannot suggest anything in this regard. But even if you do not plan to join a GATE coaching institute full time, at least try joining a test series on GATE. A lot of coaching institutes have only test series packages. These test series give you good practice of GATE exam. I joined one such test series towards the end of the year. Apart from this, I have not taken any other coaching.

Conclusion

Studying for GATE is not like studying for CAT. GATE is not about practice but about knowledge. Studying for GATE is almost like doing a research project. You have to refer as many books as possible and study as much as you can. Remember if you think that there is too much to study in GATE, just wait till you get admission into an IIT. Compared to the workload in IITs, GATE will look like piece of cake to you. PS: If you know of a good book or resource for GATE, please share via comments. Thanks.

Is it worth doing Mtech at IITs

2010-02-28T16:22:00.056+05:30

Ever since I graduated out of college in 2004 as BE Computer Science, I had this at the back of my mind that I have to do my masters, perhaps an M. Tech from IIT. I dont know how and why mtech got into my head, perhaps it was the dream of studying at IIT or that I was too scared to go to US for MS or had that kind of money. Then I joined a Software company and started my professional career.

But the more I worked for them, the more I realized that this is not the kind of work a computer scientist is supposed to do. This made my eagerness to go for m tech even stronger. Finally in 2008 I appeared for GATE, secured for myself a seat at IIT Delhi, left the well paying job and joined IIT delhi.

Believe me, making this decision of going for mtech while I was working for a software company was not easy at all. I had not seen anyone going for mtech in flesh and blood, so making an informed decision was very difficult. Then there is so much stigma against mtechs that convincing everyone around me (and myself) turned out to be very difficult. I realized that the only way of finding out whether its good for me or not, is to go for it. Besides I was fairly confident that however bad this mtech thing turns out to be, I will still get some job, at least as good as I had before mtech. So I thought, lets go for it.

The intention of this blog is to give you some information about aspects of doing mtech at IIT. I hope after reading this, one should be able to make a more informed decision.

Quality of Education

Most people think that quality of education in mtech is not as good as in btech. This is incorrect as the faculty (and facilities) for mtech and btech is the same. In fact even some of the courses done my btechs and mtechs are same and for some of the courses I have attended classes with the btech guys. So if the quality is good for them, its good for mtechs too. As far as my experience is concerned, this is the first time in my life that I have seen really good faculty. Faculty in my btech college was horrrible. Here in IITs I have studied from profs who have Phds from Stanford, Cornell etc. and some have experience of over 20 years in teaching or industry. Its a great experience to learn from such people, something I would have never got in any other college.

Expenditure

Mtech from IITs is cheap. Although the fees has gone up phenomenally this year, it is still cheap. I think it will cost about 35K per semester for mtech in IITs. This includes your tution fees, hostel fees, mess dues, etc. In this amount you get to live in a quality IIT environment, and get to use all the facilities like labs, sports facilities, internet etc. Plus you get a stipend of Rs. 8000 per month (i think this could increase this year). So that almost covers your fees. Compare this with doing MS in a US university or an MBA.

Work Load

Most people think mtechs dont have to study much and they can relax for 2 years. This is not entirely true though it could be partially true. Here's how: Courses in IITs can be divided into roughly two categories:

1) Courses that are really very good but at the same time extremely tough. It is very difficult to get a good grade in such courses but you learn a lot. It is in these type of courses that you get the real advantage of being at IIT.

2) Courses that are very easy but mostly useless. You can easily get a good grade in these courses without much effort but they will hardly do any value addition.

So if you mostly take easy courses in your mtech career, you can end up with a good CGPA without working hard at all. But then your mtech would be a waste and you will struggle to get a good placement. On the other hand, you can take the tough but good courses, you will learn a lot, but believe me, it becomes very hectic. These courses will make you work so hard that GATE studies will look like a piece of cake. But at the end, it will be worth it. Same logic applies to your choice of project. As such how tough or how easy your mtech is will depend on how much hard work you are willing to do. Unfortunately, most people take the useless easy courses, dont work hard at all during mtech and then say doing mtech in IITs was a bad idea.

Placements

This is the million dollar question, literally. People have this perception that after doing an mtech, the only thing you can do is teaching. I dont know about other branches, but this is certainly not true for mtech in computer science. In my batch itself mtech people got placed in Amazon, Adobe, Morgan Stanley, Oracle, Citrix, Cisco, Mircrosoft etc. Some of these companies hired more mtechs than btechs. Placement in IITs depend very much on your caliber than on anything else. Companies that come for campus allow a lot of people to appear for their written tests. So one gets an opportunity to appear for a lot of companies. But if you cant clear their written test or crack their interviews, there is nothing anybody else can do about it.

But there is a catch. There is no separate placement for mtechs and btechs. This means an mtech has to compete with btech for placements. But if you have done your mtech seriously you can still compete with them. A lot of mtech guys do get better placements than btechs.

Other prospects

Apart from placements, an mtech from IIT also stands a chance for getting into a reputed university abroad for Phd. You would need a high CGPA and a good recommendation from a prof. at IIT. Also, some guys who do good work in their project, get their work published in reputed scientific journals. So you get an opportunity to do some real contribution. Besides the option of teaching is always open. With so many engineering colleges mushrooming everywhere in the country, you always have an option to opt for teaching.

Conclusion

I would conclude by saying that mtech is good only if you are genuinely interested in Computer Science and research and willing to work really hard for next two years. Otherwise you are better off going for a job.

Mtech Computer Science Admissions in IITs

2010-02-17T21:28:00.023+05:30

So you really worked hard for GATE and appeared for the exam. Now the exam is over and you think you did well. Now starts the second phase of Mtech admissions, the post-GATE phase.Frankly, application procedure after GATE is no less hectic than the GATE preparation itself. You have to skim through lengthy prospectus of IITs, find relevant courses, get documents attested, get the DDs, and finally post the applications.You also have to do some more preparations as some of these institutes require you to appear for an additional written test or interview or both. In this article I discuss certain frequently asked questions by people applying to IITs after GATE.

Which IIT to apply to?

The answer would depend on your rank and your interest. But mostly it would depend on your rank. This is what I feel are the options available to you based on your rank in GATE(applicable for GE category, Computer Science only):
1) Rank 250 to 350: May get a call from IITK for written test. Mtech CS in IITG and IITR are also possible. Other possibilities are JCA at IITD, EET at IITD, MS in IITM and RA at IITB. For people with a btech CS background, I would suggest JCA at IITD after IITK.
2) Rank 200 to 250: All of the above plus may get a call from IITD for interview and IITKGP for counselling.
3) Rank 100 to 200: Should get a call from most IITs (except IITB) for written test/interview. Your selection will depend on your performance in interview, but there is still a lot of weightage on your GATE rank.
4) Rank 60s to 100: All IITs, chance of IITB mtech CS.
5) Rank 1 to 50: All IITs, IISc. People in this rank usually prefer IITB/IISc or direct admission in IITK. VDTT at iit delhi is also an option if you are interested in embedded/VLSI.

Note that this is based on previous years data. Since IITs are adding new courses and new seats to existing courses, the rank cutoff for some of these options could actually go down on a year-on-year basis. It is advisable that you apply to one or two categories higher than your rank. You never you, you might get a call.

Get the cutoffs for year 2011 CS here

Which IIT is better?

There is no universal answer to this question. For computer science, IITK is considered the one with the best Computer Science department. But IITK have a more research oriented mtech course as compared to other IITs. As such mtechs in IITK do less course work and more thesis work. This may be good for you if you are totally into research. IITK is followed by IITD, IITKGP and IITB. IITD and IITB have an edge over all other IITs when it comes to campus placements. IITM is not bad either. IITG and IITR are usually less preferred. Which IIT is better for you may also depend on your research interest. For eg. IIT Delhi is known for its Computer Vision and Graphics. IIT Delhi is also good for Networks as well as Semantics and Verification but not so good for Database related stuff. You can get some idea by looking as the list of professors currently in a particular IIT and their area of research. This should give you some idea.

Specializations?

There are very few specializations in IITs for mtech in computer science. Most IITs just have Mtech in Computer Science/IT etc. After you get admission to mtech, you can then choose your courses and project based on your interest. The only specialized course i know is VDTT at IIT Delhi. It specializes in embedded and VLSI designing. But the cutoffs are usually very high for this course.

What about inter-disciplinary courses?

People seem to have a thing against inter-disp courses. Most of them are not that bad and some like JCA at IIT Delhi are actually good. For some reason they don't get that much attention. Before you judge any course, I would suggest you contact someone from that course or from the same IIT and ask their feedback.

What about MS courses?

One common mistake made by most GATE aspirants is to apply for MS when they are could not get a seat in mtech. MS at IITs should not be considered a substitute for mtech. MS is research oriented. MS people do very few courses and mostly work on their thesis or project. Because courses at IITs are a great learning experience, MS guys mostly miss out on this opportunity. Technically MS could finish in 2 years time but mostly because of its research focus takes much more than that, typically 3 years. MS has usually the same placements as mtechs, but because it takes longer to finish, MS guys have to wait longer for the job. From a pure academic point of view, MS(R) is actually better as you can spend a lot of time on a research problem and if you get a proper guide you could really do some good work. But if you are in a hurry of getting a job, you should probably go for mtech.
Advantage of MS is that most IITs allow you to convert it to Phd if you have a good enough CGPA. So frankly, there is no point in doing MS if you are not willing to convert it to a Phd or do a Phd after you finish MS.

Preparation for Written test/interview.

All IITs have their own ways of conduction written tests and interview. Infact withing the same IIT, different departments also may have different procedures. When you apply to a certain course, find out the people already doing that course and find out about the admission procedure. They are the best guide.

Mostly for CS it would involve data structure/algorithms, programming in C, OS/Architecture or networks. Some courses/IITs may focus on some specific subjects depending on the problems the professors are working on. For eg. IITK written test/interview was mostly centered around Maths/probability/discrete mathematics etc. Note that the above information is subject to change every year as IITs add more courses and revise course structure for existing courses. I would suggest reading the PG admission brochure carefully for selecting a suitable course. PS: Please let me know your views/ideas/comments. This would help a lot in improving the blog. Thanks.