Both IIEST and NIT Sikkim are excellent institutes for engineering in India. There are several aspects in which one of the two institutes is ahead of the other. The points below elaborate on those factors for both the institutes to give a brief overview of both the campuses.

• IIEST has a much better infrastructure than NIT Sikkim, being a much older and established institute. IIEST is the second oldest college in India. The buildings of IIEST are quite old. But, the overall campus is huge, consisting of all kinds of required facilities.
• NIT Sikkim is one of the new NITs, and so does not have a permanent campus. But, the temporary campus is worth living on. It has a view of mountains all around and is situated at a hill station. Even being a small campus, it is filled with required amenities.
• The hostels of NIT Sikkim have some problems due to their recent establishment. But, they are good overall, having spacious rooms and corridors.
• IIEST hostels are good too but are very old. They are not that well-maintained. But, you will get used to it eventually.
• Although NIT Sikkim is a new NIT, it has been showing good placement statistics in recent years. There are companies like the power grid, Intel, etc, that visit the campus for placement. According to the placement highlights of 2020, the average and highest CTC offered at the institute are 8 LPA and 18 LPA.
• The placement of IIEST is definitely very good with great packages for CSE, IT, and ECE branches. In 2020 the highest CTC offered by the institute was 39 LPA.

Overall, both the colleges are decent in their own aspects, providing several opportunities to students in fields of placement and research. It is on you to do good research about both, observe the key highlights, and then make a decision.

The placement in CSE at NIT Sikkim is very good, having offers from top MNCs across the world. The points below give a brief overview of the placement of NIT Sikkim, specific to Computer Science and Engineering.

• Some of the top companies visiting NIT Sikkim for recruiting students from CSE are Intel India, Johnson Controls, McAfee, Bosch, Infosys, etc.
• There are several students from the CSE branch who have done summer research internships in several prestigious national and international institutes. Some of the institutes are the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, IIT Bombay, etc.
• There are some students who were successful in cracking Google Summer of Code. They were the only students from all NITs in north-eastern India to crack GSoC.
• The main recruiters for CSE in NIT Sikkim are all state private limited, analytics quotient, and Checktronix India Ltd. With time, NIT Sikkim has evolved as one of the best NITs in north-eastern India.

Therefore, it is clear that placements in CSE at NIT Sikkim are as good as any other institute of the national importance of the same level.

Both NIT Goa and NIT Sikkim are decent options considering the atmosphere surrounding the campus. But, NIT Sikkim has some disadvantages. The points below state some of the advantages and disadvantages of both the institutes.

• The campus of NIT Sikkim is surrounded by lush greenery, having a pollution-free atmosphere. If you want to enjoy the calmness of nature and stay away from noise and crowds, NIT Sikkim is an excellent place.
• The mess food is a disadvantage of NIT Sikkim.
• Sikkim is cold throughout the year. So, you will need to use blankets and heaters all year long.
• Communication to and from the campus of NIT Sikkim is a problem. There are frequent jams and landslides. So, going home for a vacation often becomes a problem.
• NIT Goa gives a much better lifestyle and opportunities in campus placement, which are the two among the most important parameters in choosing an institute. These aspects make NIT Goa much ahead of NIT Sikkim.

Here is an overview of the recent placement statistics for the institutes.

Thus, it is clear that NIT Goa is a clear winner among the two.

Among NIT Silchar and NIT Sikkim, NIT Silchar is better. The placement and faculty at NIT Sikkim are not that great since it is a newly formed NIT. NIT Silchar is one of the oldest NITs and hence the placement here is good, for the civil department as well.

According to 2020 placement highlights, the average and highest CTC offered at NIT Silchar are 7 LPA and 35 LPA. The average and highest CTC offered at NIT Sikkim are 8 LPA and 18 LPA respectively.

Many students leave NIT Sikkim when they get NIT Silchar in spot rounds, you will find a lot of such students at NIT Silchar who earlier were at NIT Sikkim.

If you work hard and score a CGPA of or above 9, you can apply for changing your branch after the first year. In every college, you will find an ample number of students who changed their branches after the first year.

I recommend NIT Silchar.

NIT Sikkim is one of the 10 newly sanctioned NITs built by the Government of India. Here is what you need to know about the EEE branch at the institute.

• NIT Sikkim started with CSE, ECE, and EEE branches. In the subsequent years, Mechanical, Civil, and Biotechnology were added. As evident, Electrical and Electronics Engineering is one of the oldest branches in the institute. It has been providing quality education to its undergraduates over the years.
• The Department of EEE has good facilities of labs and an excellent curriculum. The placement is also good enough with great offers from PSUs like Power Grid Corporation Ltd too, along with several private-sector jobs. The average CTC offered at the institute is 8 LPA.

Therefore, if you have an interest in the fields of electrical and electronics, you can surely opt for the institute.

Do not come here with too many expectations because you are most likely to get disappointed. My friend is currently in 3rd year of B.Tech at NIT Sikkim, and according to his first-hand experience, the hostel scenario is as follows:

BOYS HOSTEL

• Firstly, the boys' hostels are located outside the campus, about 2 km away from the campus.
• There are 3 hostel buildings namely BH-11, BH-12, and BH-13. You will be allotted a room with about 2,3 or a maximum of 4 people to share.
• Although attached bathrooms for each room are a big plus point, you won’t get any wi-fi facility in any of the hostels.
• No matter which hostel you belong to, you will have a common recreation room with TV, TT, carom, etc., and a common mess as well.
• Water and electricity issues are persistent.

GIRLS HOSTEL

• In terms of girls hostels, they are located inside the campus which is a huge plus point.
• The rooms are bigger in size and have attached bathrooms. However, one room is to be shared by 5 girls.
• The mess facility is also separate for all hostels. Also, you will be provided with a wi-fi connection, unlike the boys' hostels.
• There are no issues related to water and electricity shortage.

The hostels might not be the best in terms of infrastructure or facility, it all boils down to the memories you make during your journey. However, if hostel facilities are your topmost priority, then NIT Sikkim is not the place for you.

Many students go through this dilemma and the right way to choose a college is to compare them on various aspects. As some of my friends are from these institutes, I can provide a bit of information about them.

• NIT Sikkim is a very popular and reputed engineering institute but the college in Dehradun is not much reputed and also has less popularity.
• To get admission to NIT Sikkim, you will have to clear the JEE exam.
• But the college in Dehradun is a private college and you will have to sit for an exam conducted by the college to get admission.

Civil Engineering Department of NIT Sikkim

• The students in this department are very talented and more than 50% of the students have scored more than 8 GPAs in their 3rd semester.
• The faculty of this department is decent enough and very cooperative.
• The weather here is very pleasant and the campus is very beautiful.
• The infrastructure is not good enough as in private colleges. The lab facilities available in this department are also poor.
• The placements at NIT Sikkim are very good. There will be PSUs and many other popular companies visiting the college, so the numbers are likely to increase further.

Hence, NIT Sikkim is a very good college to pursue civil engineering and you should definitely go for it over any other private institution. It will give various opportunities which will be very helpful for your career.