My 2 Years of experience at VIT (MCA).
From last 2 years I am getting messages about MCA in VIT. I get more than 50 messages when the admission season approaches. Few I reply and few I can’t because every time I have to answer the same thing and it’s a little bit irritating. So I am sharing here my 2 years of experience at Vellore Institute of Technology. I am also including here “where I went wrong”. And whatever I am writing here is totally my point of view which may differ from others.
MCA 2018–20 were the first batch who were introduced to the two months of summer semester. Before 2019, it was limited to MTech, MTech(Integrated) and MSc(CS). So we were the first batch among the MCA’s to get this opportunity to go for both internships as well as placements. I am dividing my whole experience in three parts, i.e. Admission, Academics, Placements.
1. Admission:
I got admission in VIT through its annual exam for Master’s Degree(VITMEE). I got 103rd rank in the exam. Questions were asked from mainly Computer Fundamentals and DSA concepts e.g. Prefix, Postfix. Around 20 questions were asked from English. And if I remember correctly, there was only one question from Mathematics. You can easily crack this exam if you have given a good time to your bachelor degree courses. After clearing it, we were called for counselling and according to the ranks, we were allotted seats. I was lucky enough to get the Vellore campus.
2. Academics:
Starting with first day, We were called for orientation. I reached late so I didn’t get the chance to sit in the Anna Auditorium that day. I sat in the big hall that was adjacent to the auditorium. I left the orientation (I needed to change my ID card) after few minutes which I regretted later. They told us about the whole Credit system and how it worked. You should not skip it. Later we were told to go to SJT (the place where our classes happened). We gave EPT(English Proficiency Test) there and got to know about the VIT portal (VTOP), our companion. It will have all the information from your classes to the courses allotted and which courses & faculties you want to choose. This choice thing will commence from the 2nd semester. For the first semester, you all will get compulsory courses. If I go on talking about the curriculum then it may need another post. I leave it to you. Get answers about it when you join this institution and remember don’t skip the Orientation. But I will definitely talk about what you need to do before joining? Start brushing up whatever you have studied in your bachelor’s. Be it DSA, DB or Data Communication. Each one of them is necessary. I didn’t open a book before coming and that’s where I went wrong. At least have the basic knowledge of the topics. Faculties will definitely starts with the basics but the pace they will take, you won’t be able to catch if you haven’t studied properly in your UG. So come prepared.
3.Placements:
So as I told you earlier that we were the first batch who got the opportunity to sit for both internship as well as placements. In 2019, our final paper for second semester ended and everyone was going home for the vacations except us, MTech, MTech(Integrated) and MSc(Computer Science). For those two months, various company visited the campus for the internship. Many of them came with internship cum placements offer. Those who belonged to Chennai and Bhopal campuses, they also came. Doesn’t matter which campus you get, you will get the placement opportunity same as the one living in Vellore. Here I did blunder. I was so sure about my career ahead that I want to do higher studies. I started preparing for GATE. I didn’t sit in the internship examinations until and unless the company was offering a better career prospects. Later I realized I should have sit for those companies. So, I didn’t get any internship. And the summer vacation gets over, everyone returned. And by this time, I was sure GATE is not my cup of tea. So I sat in every company in which I was eligible to sit. I got selected in TCS and reached interview rounds for Deloitte, Danfoss and Federal Bank (I got unlucky in the last moment in the Deloitte interview round and the another two were the companies to which I said no). There were more companies which were going to come and got cancelled due to Corona. I haven’t answered questions that are asked in the messages about placements yet. Yes, you will definitely get the opportunity to sit in companies that will come with good pay and career prospects. I have seen the placement cell of VIT. They work 24*7, so that more and more companies can visit the campus. It all depends on you. Placement seems to be good if you are good and seems to be bad if you are worse. Even though, they tried to get everyone on the boat.
Few tips:
1. Sure you will get to explore many things at VIT but try to focus more on placements because unlike BTech students, you don’t have 4 years there to rectify your mistakes.
2. Even if you get an internship offer, try to get any placement offer as well. This will secure your career ahead if your internship couldn’t turn into the placement offer. Well this thing you will get in mails a lot.
3. Use your free time to learn from external sources and try to get few certifications as well. It will help you to decorate your resume.
4. Don’t take Communication and Aptitude classes lightly. Ask the faculties if you get any problems.
5. Come prepared mentally.
6. Don’t get any backlogs, try to clear them in the same semester. Sometimes, subjects aren’t available and can’t be fit into the slots. It can delay your chances at sitting in the placements.
These all are my experiences, I wrote this post so that I won’t feel guilty of not replying to messages that I receive. If anyone feels to correct me, most welcome.
