At IIT Delhi, I found quick friendships and a tougher second semester
My roommates and wing-mates came from different states, while the first semester felt easier than JEE preparation.
College Counselling for IITs/BITS/NITs
Insights from people on choosing college and branch after JEE
17 members · 11 posts
Community Insights
I chose Economics at IIT Kharagpur, then moved into product management
I had pictured finance, consulting, or Indian Economic Services, but technology and startups pulled me toward a different path.
Choosing CS at BITS over IIT options shaped my path to research at CMU
With a JEE rank in the 4-5k range, I picked BITS Pilani's CS program for the ability to explore within the field, and that flexibility led me to a semester of NLP research at NUS, a Google internship that converted, and eventually a research path.
I chose IIT Delhi Engineering Physics over IISER Pune
The peer culture and access to theatre, literature, and psychology helped me realise I did not want to become a physicist.
My first year at IIT Kharagpur reset everything I expected
I arrived expecting one-night exam preparation to be enough, but my first weeks were overwhelming academically and socially.
I chose the college and branch that looked right on paper, but the actual path came from what engaged me once I got there
I ranked BITS Pilani CSE and top IITs in my counselling preferences, ended up with Chemical Engineering at IIT KGP, and spent my first year discovering that coding wasn't for me, Chemical Engineering didn't spark anything, and that I was a people person drawn to entrepreneurship and product thinking instead.
My first year at IIT mixed broad academics with lively hostel life
Engineering Drawing and practical courses felt absurd, while Introduction to Python opened the door to programming for me.
IIT rewired me to understand problems before solving them
Before IIT, I chased right answers on exams and moved straight into solution mode. Research projects there exposed me to unstructured, real-world problems with no textbook answer—forcing me to learn that solving anything starts with framing the problem itself.
First semester at IIT Delhi felt like school again, second semester felt like thinking returned
My first semester was rote recall and visualization work I wasn't built for, but when departmental CSE courses arrived in second semester, the problem-solving came back and made it worth the effort. The real shock wasn't academics—it was the freedom you have over your own time.
IIT taught me to think logically, learn fast, and execute faster—and I live that rhythm every day building Wizzme
Before IIT, I obsessed over every exam and had no sense of what I actually wanted. The moment I arrived, I realized I could choose my own direction—and four years of constant quizzes, exams, and relentless pace rewired how I approach problems and fear.