Well, it depends upon several factors. A few of them are as mentioned below.

• Where you possibly imagine yourself in the next 10 years and more?
• What has been the real motivation behind your aim for pursuing engineering? 
• What is the time period you are willing to assign for reaching your goal?

There are other factors, or possible scenarios, such as,

• Cushy CTC: In this case, CSE will be better than Mechanical Engineering.
• Higher studies abroad: CSE and Mech both will offer similar opportunities. 
• Competitive examination: In case you would want to take the UPSC examination, IES, PSU, or several others, choosing Mechanical will be better as compared to CSE.
• MBA from IIM: With regard to that, being a student from the mechanical department can give you an edge. As it will offer you diversity points. If however, your scores are low, then you will lose the edge.
• Work destination: If you want to work in Gulf in the future, then choosing Mech is better. If you dream of working in the US, CSE offers better options. 
• If you have a natural affinity towards automobiles then go for Mechanical Engineering. 

The above scenarios can give you possible average outcomes, but there can be vague contradictions as well. You also need to consider which subject interests you. 

According to various student reviews, the preference order for CSE and Mechanical is MNNIT > NITJ. You should always give preference to the branch rather than the institute. Hope this clarifies most of your doubts.

As far as placements are concerned, you should be aware of the latest placements that have taken place in the last year. As of 2020, there were about 1188 eligible students of which 757 were placed in different industries.

When it comes to the top recruiters at the college, these include Myntra, IBM, Wells, Uber, Tata Steel, JP Morgan, and many others. 

Most students from the computer science department are recruited in the placement drives. For 2019, in particular, of the 1185 eligible students, 851 students were placed. Here is the number of students who were eligible and placed in 2020.

You can expect a high salary of INR 49 lakhs per annum with an average CTC of INR 10.28 lakhs per annum. If you are opting for a B. Tech degree, some of the top departments include CSE, IT and Electrical Engineering.

There are multiple branches that offer placements. The table below should help you out with the highest and average salaries of each branch in B. Tech.

The overall placement percentage from these branches was 31.26%. The alumni from the college also are spread through different companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Qualcomm, Accenture, Cognizant, and others. Overall, the placements are quite decent at the college and you can expect to get placed with a good job if you work hard.

IET is ranked #1 among all the ATKU 600+ engineering colleges, whereasMNNIT Allahabad was ranked #48^th by NIRF for B.Tech courses. The placement rate of CSE branch is higher as compared to other subjects in IET. Generally the recruiting companies for CSE and ECE branches are almost similar. The only difference lies in the institution, teaching staff and the candidate’s performance. Both the institutions have qualified faculties. Both of them are approved by AICTE.

Intake process

IET Lucknow:

• The candidate must have completed 10+2 having Physics and Mathematics (compulsory subjects) with Chemistry/ Biology/ Biotechnology from a recognized board with a minimum of 45% marks.
• He/she must have completed an entrance exam i.e., UPSEE
• The total intake of the program is 60 seats.
• The fee for 1st year is Rs 89,775.
• The cut off for the home state candidates is 357-495 and for other state candidates is 193-342.

MNNIT Allahabad:

• Candidate must have completed 10+2 in Science stream with a minimum 75% marks.
• Candidate must have passed the entrance exam, i.e., JEE Main.
• The fees for the ECE course is Rs 84,666.
• The cut off for the home state candidates is 3600-7128 and for candidates from other states, it ranged from4615-6752.

Placements

• In IET Lucknow:
  • Some top recruiters of the institutions are: Adobe, Wipro, TATA Project Limited, Lava Mobiles, Honda, BYJU’S, etc.
  • The highest salary offered to the students was INR 37 LPA.
• In MNNIT Allahabad:
  • 90.63% is the ECE placement rate of MNNIT Allahabad.
  • Some of the top recruitersof MNNIT Allahabad include the Indian Navy, Dell, Canon, BHEL, E-bay, Adobe, Bharat Institute of Technology, etc.
  • The highest salary offered to the students was INR 25.33 LPA and the average salary offered was INR 10.95 LPA.

Some of the on-campus facilities of IET Lucknow are library, gym, hostel and bank. Some of the on-campus facilities in MNNIT Allahabad are a stationery shop, generator, student club, hostel (geyser, air cooler, refrigerator, water cooler, washing machine), PCO, 24/7 canteen, etc. Getting into IET Lucknow is difficult, as their cut-offs are really high. But the companies recruiting are not so good. Choosing ECE over CSE will give you the advantage of sitting in placements of both the courses. The rest all lies in the hands of the candidate and their interest. They can compare all the information available and then decide which is better for them.

If you are an OBC aspirant and want to fetch a seat in CSE MNNIT Allahabad, you need to score above 205 marks in your JEE Mains. If you score anywhere near 170 marks or above, there is a possibility that you will get a seat in the spot round of the counseling. 

According to the recent trend, the required cutoff for OBC quota students for CSE at MNNIT Allahabad is as follows.

However, it completely depends on the basis of vacant seats available and the number of aspirants claiming for the seat.

Firstly, you need to understand what your priority is before choosing any one of them. In short, if you are very branch-specific and want CSE as your forte then go for MNNIT Allahabad without giving it a second thought. On the other hand, if you are looking for overall growth then choose DTU any day. Here’s why:

• DTU being situated in the capital city makes it easy to get numerous opportunities for placement and internships.
• Although academics are a priority, DTU offers better exposure to college life other than just academics. For example, ample extracurricular activities, fests, better social network, infrastructure, and facilities.
• Also, there is better exposure for MBA and MS at DTU, if you are interested in AI or robotics.

Overall, if you are not branch-specific and can make up your mind for ECE, then choose DTU. While, if CSE is your pool of interest then go for MNNIT Allahabad. MNNIT has a huge Alumni Network and CS curriculum is good too.

MNNIT Allahabad offers similar opportunities for IT and CSE branches. Other than a few subjects, the curriculum, faculty, and career opportunities are more or less the same for NIT Allahabad. 

Though Surathkal is promising a better university life with beaches and all. 

NIT Allahabad houses one of the country's biggest and brightest CSE departments. Here you're getting a good, competitive, and coding-oriented environment. Seniors are very supportive and the course is good. But the location is quite remote so if you belong to a metro city, you will be disappointed with the city life. 

In terms of placements, both institutes are almost on the same level. 

Another important aspect you can factor in while choosing is the distance of the institute from your home and choose the nearlest. 

Delhi Technological University (DTU) and MNNIT Allahabad have numerous opportunities for the students opting to do civil engineering. DTU has an upstanding ranking record as it was ranked at #2 in Best Technological Universities in India by Times Engineering Survey and #34 by NIRF. MNNIT on the other hand was ranked at #14 in the Top Public colleges in India 2020 by India today and #19 for B.Tech in India 2019 by The Week.

A comparison is presented below to explain the factors to be considered while choosing civil engineering course from these two universities:

Admission Criteria:

• DTU – Admission into DTU is granted based on 10+2 results and JEE Main exam results. The university gives 40% weightage to CBSE results and 60% weightage to JEE Main scores. Students applying in this college need a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate of Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics along with English being one of the main subjects.
• MNNIT Allahabad – students require a minimum of 75% with science stream in their 10+2 results or feature among the top twenty percentile. Further, for selection JEE Main scores are considered.

Campus Placement:

• DTU – the placement cell of DTU has a stellar record by achieving 100% placement in the previous years. Outlook India ranked DTU as #1 college in the placement category. In 2019, 323 companies visited DTU and the highest package offered was a whopping 1.02 Cr. (INR).
• MNNIT Allahabad – a total of 285 companies visited MNNIT’s campus for recruitment in 2019 and out of the eligible 1174 students, 792 were placed.

Scholarships offered:

The University of Delhi offers certain scholarships to DTU students such as-

• Inder Kohli and Anand Kohli Scholarships to the students passing Senior Secondary School Examination with first division marks
• Pandit Man Mohan Nath Dhar Scholarship for undergraduate financially weak students

When it comes to placement and scholarship opportunities, DTU does have a certain edge and MNNIT has an edge in terms of lower course fees. But eventually, all the factors relevant in an individual case need to be analyzed before selecting in between these two universities.

A lot of software companies do know about MNIT however, don’t expect a jaw-dropping response. People are definitely aware of it though.

However, in my sister’s opinion, once you start progressing in the software industry, no one will actually ask you about which college you are from. You just need to gain experience in the industry for about 3 years and after that, you will no longer be treated like a college graduate. Finally, it is your technical knowledge and projects will be looked at.

If you are concerned about reputation abroad, most institutes abroad are only aware of IITs and many students are asked more about their M.S. colleges than their undergraduate history. You really don’t have to worry about this.