I have friends in both the institutes namely NIT Surathkal and NIT Rourkela. Comparing the reviews I got from them NIT Rourkela seems to be a better option than NIT Surathkal. The primary reason is that its location in the Orissa-Jhansi belt improves the quality of core placements. The faculty however is the same everywhere so that point isn't comparable. Honestly speaking, Metaullurty is a risky branch irrespective of whichever NIT you are getting unless it's an IIT. So, I will advise you to go for CS in new IIIts rather than Metallurgy in top NITs. 

It's illogical to go for a risky branch just for the NIT tag because, in the end, it's your branch that opens doors for opportunities and shapes your career.

So, choose wisely!

You need to first decide which area holds your interest- Mechanical or Biotechnology. Do not go solely after the IIT tag. 

NIT Rourkela Mechanical Engineering Department has an excellent faculty. There are a good number of very qualified professors. 

NIT Rourkela is at par with the IITs in terms of quality teaching and other facilities. These facilities include- well-furnished laboratories, research facilities, and on-campus seminars. The department is growing each year and the placements are promising.

These are the 2022 placement highlights for NIT Rourkela:

The Sector-wise placements for NIT Rourkela in the year 2022 are-

Overall, Mechanical Engineering at NIT Rourkela will be a better choice from a placement perspective. The research scope and quality are good at NIT Rourkela. The infrastructure of NIT Rourkela is also impressive. You should go for Biotechnology at IIT Bhubaneswar only if you have a genuine interest in the field.

My suggestion will be the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. The reasons are mentioned below.

• It is solely dedicated to chemical engineering, unlike NIT Rourkela.
• It is famous for producing brilliant chemical engineers for years now.
• It has location benefits as Maharashtra and Gujarat are home to many industries. This helps in easy internship opportunities and placements also.
• Many good companies and even PSUs participate in the campus placement drive. Even if you have low CGPA points, you will get hired if you do well at the interview.
• The professors are the best in their respective domains. They also have good connections in the industry. They can help you get placed in any industry with just one letter.

Chemical engineering is a part of many departments in NIT Rourkela or any other NIT but ICT Mumbai specializes in it. Hope it helps.

Both NIT Rourkela and IIEST Shibpur are both very well-reputed universities offering good career opportunities and courses. IIEST Shibpur has been ranked 19th by NIRF among the top colleges of India. And, NIT Rourkela is ranked at 16th by NIRF nationally.

Admission Procedure:

IIEST Shibpur

• The eligibility criteria for admission at IIEST Shibpur is students must have completed their 10+2 examination with 75% marks. And the selection criteria are based on the JEE rankings. For ECE the cut-off was 9219 - 11482.
• The university charges an application fee of INR 1,500 from General category students and an INR of 1,000 from reserved students.
• From the overall percentage of seats, 3% of the seats are reserved for physically challenged aspirants and 3% for the defense quota.
• The course fee for ECE is ? 136,500 for the first year and a grand total of ?5.36 Lakhs.

NIT Rourkela

• The eligibility criteria for the students are the same as that of IIEST Shibpur. For EIE the cut-off was 6090-9339.
• For 10+2 examinations should be Maths, Physics and Chemistry are required as compulsory subjects.
• Applications are totally done via an online portal and an application fee of INR 1,000 is charged for every application.

Placements:

IIEST Shibpur

• In 2020 10 students out of 46 students got placed and the number of recruiters came was 45. It witnessed the highest salary package of rupees 39.12 LPA.
• Though last year the university saw a record-breaking placement rate. A total of 462 placement offers were made and 311 students got them.
• Companies like Microsoft, HSBC Technologies, Maruti, TCS, and various MNCs visit the campus every year.

NIT Rourkela

• The most noteworthy salary package offered to the undergraduates in the EIE department was 18 Lakhs by TATA while the normal bundle was 7 lakhs.
• Different large organizations like Microsoft, Tata Steel, Myntra, Bajaj, etc visit the campus every year.
• A year ago around 206 organizations visited the grounds and more than 700 undergraduates got their dream jobs.

Thus, students can apply for any of the two colleges keeping in mind the above-mentioned comparisons. NIT Rourkela and IIEST Shibpur are the two most renowned colleges in India. Nevertheless, the first thing that you have to consider is which stream you want to study and then decide a college depending upon that. Now, if you haven't decided anything and is confused between the above two streams, then studying ECE at IIEST Shibpur is a better option

Unless you plan to live in the same city after graduation, the brand name of a college is important. The NITs have a better brand name as compared to a state level college. NIT Rourkela has a better reputation than NIT Raipur, but the latter offers equally good placement opportunities. 

I would recommend you choose between NIT Raipur and Rourkela, based on which one is more comfortable for you location-wise.

My friend is an NIT Jalandhar pass out so I can speak about that only. She regretted getting admission into NIT Jalandhar. She faced some serious problems

• Faculty: The professors were below average in their teaching methods. Most lacked the basic knowledge and just read out from books. Moreover, if you don’t win their favor you get fewer marks in assignments. This affects your overall CGPA.

• Crowd: It will be hard to find a diverse crowd here as most of the students hail from Punjab itself. Even their language is common within the campus.

• Placements: Talking specifically about Mechanical Engineering placements, the condition is pretty bad. The average package this year was INR 7.87 LPA while the highest CTC was just INR 8.4 LPA.

• Hostels: The first and second-year hostels do not have Wi-Fi connections which is a major drawback. Hostels 3-7 are also averagely built. Mega Hostels have better facilities in comparison to other hostels at NIT Jalandhar.

These are some shortcomings of NIT Jalandhar which might affect your overall experience. You can research the same for NIT Rourkela and make a comparison. In case NIT Rourkela is even worse, then NIT Jalandhar is your last option.

EEE in NIT Trichy is better than CS in NIT Rourkela. NIT Trichy is among the best NITs in the country and offers excellent academics and placements. Around 100% of students get placed from EEE every year. According to the recent highlights of NIT Trichy placements, students of EEE usually receive salaries in the range of INR 4-20 LPA. Microsoft, Uber, and HLS Asia are some of the major recruiters for the branch.