You should prefer IIIT Kottayam. It has a similar curriculum as IIIT Hyderabad. IIIT Kottayam placements 2022 concluded with the highest CTC of INR 42 LPA. In the last three years, the average CTC of the institute has increased from INR 4 LPA to INR 9.68 LPA. reputed companies such as IBM, L&T, Reliance(JIO), NISSAN, etc. took part in the placement drive.  IIIT Kottayam has a thriving coding culture, almost at par with old IIITs such as IIITA, IIITG, etc. Students of the institute have been performing well in competitive coding forums. 

Among these, IIIT Sri City is better for CSE or ECE. The environment on campus is ideal for learning and exploring. The institute has a pretty active research interface. Each year the institute witnesses many international publications.  According to the highlights of IIIT Sri City placements of recent years, the average CTC for CSE is around INR 12 LPA, whereas, the average CTC for ECE is around INR 8.6 LPA. Popular tech companies such as Intel, Amazon, etc. take part in the placement drive. 

A side by side comparison of both the colleges might help you get a clear view on what to expect once you get there: Curriculum: The curriculum mentor of IIIT Kottayam is IIIT Hyderabad which is one of the top-notch institutes for CSE in India. On the other hand, the curriculum mentor of IIIT Bhopal is MANIT Bhopal which doesn’t match the level of IIIT Hyderabad. Closing rank: In 2019, the closing rank for IIIT Bhopal IT was around 41K in the special round. While for IIIT Kottayam CSE, the closing rank was almost 40K at the end of special round-II. You can check the opening and closing ranks for both the colleges in the year 2019 below: Institutes Round 1 Round 2 IIIT Kottayam 19863-37501 37712-39850 IIIT Bhopal 19220-37277 37825-40622 Placements: In 2019, the first placement was held where good companies came forward for recruitment. Some of them wereNISSAN, L&T, Reliance (JIO), etc. NISSAN offered packages starting from 6 Lakh to 10 Lakh. Coding culture: Coding culture at IIIT Kottayam is at par with old IIIT’s like IIIT Allahabad, Gwalior, and good NITs. More than 70% of students clearing the starting round of CODE JAM conducted by Google Campus: While IIIT Bhopal campus construction is yet to be started IIIT Kottayam campus is almost ready. From the above comparison, it’s pretty clear that IIIT Kotayyam has an edge over IIIT Bhopal. However, do consider your pool of interest because at the end your skills and hard work matters the most for shaping your future!

My friend is currently studying at IIIT Bhopal and they usually get loads of assignments and projects which keep them really busy. All the IIITs are quite known for their hectic routine and getting 8 hours of sleep daily also becomes a chilling session at times. Although you may not experience a super-happening college life which is often shown in movies. But you can still find good friends and enjoy the peaceful environment there at the campus. However, my friend has listed some weekend chilling options you might want to know: You can head to DB City Mall, New Market for shopping. The advantage of being at IIIT Bhopal is you also get exposure to places like Lalghati, Jain Mandir, and Karond. Also, they now have a Training and Placement cell of MANIT where you can chill more often. At the end of the day, engineering is never easy and always has a packed schedule. It all depends on how you manage to keep studies and enjoyment balanced without compromising in either of them.

After IITs and NITs, students will always prefer IIITs as they offer neck to neck competition to other institutes. IIIT Dharwad being recently established offers stiff competition to other IIITs. All three colleges claim to have placed more than 70% of its students. Facilities like well-ventilated hostel rooms, cafeteria, digital library, and scholarships to different categories. Admission: For admission into IIIT colleges, students need to appear for the JEE(Joint Entrance Exam) mains exams and get a good rank for the same. Admission is purely merit-based. IIIT Manipur has 50 seats for both ECE and CSE branches. IIIT Dharwad has 75 seats in the ECE branch. IIIT Kottayam has 192 seats in the CSE branch and 48 seats in the ECE branch. The required cutoff for the institutes is as follows. Institutes Cut off IIIT Dharwad(ECE) 13762-28330 IIIT Manipur(CSE) 20809-28906 IIIT Manipur(ECE) 27261-32171 IIIT Kottayam(CSE) 15033-25842 Faculty: IIIT Dharwad has a dedicated group of experienced faculty and many are yet to join the institute. IIIT Manipur had 6 Assistant professors, professors, Ph.D. holders helping students in every field. IIIT Kottayam is composed of experienced faculty for each branch as well as for research. Well developed laboratories and computer centers are set up for the students of ECE and CSE students for these colleges. Course fees: The fee structure varies for different colleges depending on the facilities provided. The fee structure per year for BTech at these colleges is as follows. IIIT Dharwad: INR 2,10,000 IIIT Manipur: INR 1,87,945 IIIT Kottayam: INR 1,35,000 Placement: IIIT Dharwad showed a decent placement record of 94% in the recent statistics. The highest package offered was INR 11 LPA and the average was INR 7 LPA. Some of the top recruiters were Atria, Code, Greenock, Goldman Sachs, TCS. IIIT Manipur being recently established could place only 17 out of 23 students in reputed companies. Because of the remote location, many corporate companies did not visit. But a surge in admission can be noticed this year. The highest package offered at IIIT Kottayam was INR 10 LPA, and the average was INR 5 LPA. The placement percentage was 75%. All the colleges above are recently established but still provide head-on competition to other institutes. The remarkable progress in the placement percentage, student admission, faculty is clearly visible. Students can opt for any of these colleges.