ME vs CS - A Dilemma: Sayan Dey

Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering

I was just an average guy like anyone out there who just completed his 10^th CBSE exam under the very impression that it was life-changing until I realized it had very less influence on my career choice. My life in 1^st PUC was like that of a butterfly that just came out of the cocoon. I had adopted a mentality of taking things for granted and not focusing on concepts in the 1^st year. Bunking was a new and exciting concept back then. Little did I know that it would hit me hard in the near future (2^nd year). I literally studied for the finals a month prior and, to my surprise, secured distinction. At that point of time, I had very little idea about all the competition and exams. Never did I even think of my career choice ahead. I just thought it’ll naturally fall into place.

PS: My combination was PCMC.

Then came the 2^nd PUC, when everything just hits you in the face at the same time and you have no clue whatsoever how to organize things and make sure everything goes according to the plan. I’m talking about the competitive exams, the influence of PCM in those exams, and all the fuss about career. You literally just neglect other subjects completely and focus on those three subjects, which is wrong and brings your result down by at least 10%. Anyway, that was the time I knew I had to make a clear choice as to what my profession should be. Since I was a Computer Science student, my first choice was CSE, although there were immature talks all over the college. Some people also made a hierarchy of fields which, I now feel, was hilarious. I wasn’t certain about my choice until l reached a point where I had to select an option. I had secured a decent rank in KCET but it was not good enough to fetch me the best college in the city, and leaving the city to join good colleges in Bangalore proved expensive for me. It is a known fact that in India, parents and relatives have more influence on your career choice than you do. My parents ‘suggested’ me to try Mechanical Engineering, ‘the oldest stream of Engineering’ being the supporting statement of my dad. I researched about both the streams and ended up loving Mechanical Engineering. That was after my exams, after my results and after my counselling. I was certain of getting into the stream of Mechanical Engineering, which I would totally enjoy learning. Now that I know the subjects, concepts and applications of both the streams, I have no regret whatsoever in having selected this stream.

PS: It is crucial to have prior knowledge of all competitive exams and their perks.

JEE, KCET, COMEDK tuition and the pressure

First things first, Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering, Mysuru, is under VTU, the top university from the bottom of the list. The college is, without a doubt, one of the best in Mysuru. As mentioned earlier, I had secured a decent rank in KCET, enough to get a seat in VVCE (ME). Other options would be through JEE, COMEDK and, of course, there is management quota.

As I mentioned earlier, 2^nd PUC is a peak time jampacked with tuition, college and no time to engage in physical activities. I joined tuitions for PCM which I now feel were an utter waste of time, energy, and money. Going to tuition for subjects you don’t understand is useful but enrolling for all subjects just because others enrolled is foolishness. Tuitions make you neglect NCERT textbooks and teach selected important topics. Same happened with me, which I regret now. This also made my comprehension of the subject weak and therefore had an effect on the result of competitive exams.

Coming to the entrance exams, I was not smart in making choices. For instance, I was not prepared for JEE but ended up travelling for 5 hours and writing that exam. Same with VIT, NDA, etc. exams. I wasted 7 days of vital time. I strongly suggest to fix up your mind and prepare for the exam you really want to crack. Also, for the 1^st PUC students, I’d suggest you guys to start preparing for JEE and JEE only because if you can crack JEE, you can easily crack the rest. It is also important to be aware of all the entrance exams of the top engineering colleges in India.

Preparation for competitive exams has a different approach than preparing for board exams. Thorough insight into the concepts of Physics, Chemistry, and Maths of classes 9 to 12 is required. It is important to understand 3 things- what, why, and how. Once thorough with the basics, one has to go through the previous years’ questions to understand the pattern and the type. Solving those problems efficiently must be done daily. It’s better to practice shortcuts, rounding-off, methods of elimination and higher digit multiplication, square and cube roots, base 10 logarithms mentally. To do this, efficient time management is required.

Self-study is the key. Join tuitions for selected subjects, and only if it is required. Join a college where importance is given to JEE.   

For 1st year students:

• Re-search about all the competitive exams
• Know their perks
• Make priorities and set a goal. I prefer JEE
• Know about the exam
• Study previous years’ papers and solve them
• Give 100s of mock tests online
• Analyze & improvise
• Finish portions at least 2 months prior to the exam
• Last 2 months of preparation must only include revision and mock tests

For 2nd year students:

• Preparation strategy solely depends upon your goal setting
• Prepare for JEE if confident, else strategically prepare for state entrance exams such that you are bound to get a good rank
• Know about the exam
• Study previous years’ papers and solve them
• Give 100s of mock tests online
• Analyze & improvise
• Finish portions at least 2 months prior to the exam
• Last 2 months of preparation must only include revision and mock tests

Learning and Insight:

College life, Engineering college life, is something to cherish your entire life. They say these are the golden 4 years of one’s life. We don’t realize that until the last day, the last exam, the last project, the farewell. Your memories depend upon the choices you make during your time there. Your choice of friends, your choice of extent of enjoying, your choice of mode of enjoying- all shape the person you are and most importantly, shape the type of engineer you are going to become. Engineering is all about absorbing knowledge, using the basics, and manipulating them to create something innovative. It is not just about practical knowledge, it is about learning the theory to back up your quality of practicality. The difference between a mechanic, mason, electrician, and an engineer is that an engineer can answer the questions what, why, and how and is able to innovate and investigate.

‘Did I choose the right career?’ is the question people most often ask. It is totally okay to be puzzled. When it comes to me, I couldn’t have been more satisfied and happy about my career choice and my line of work in the near future. As for others who are confused, I’d suggest you to score a good grade in the 1^st year so that you have an option to change the stream in the 2^nd year, after you learn the essence and basics of each field.  

How to effectively use 4 years to shape career

1^st year -  The time to make new friends, to learn, and research about the stream. It is the time to absorb all career options, the nature of work, and the skills needed by an individual to outstand the rest. For instance, I am an undergrad in ME. So, for me, learning CAD/CAM software, a little coding, research papers, 3 to 4 projects excluding the final year project, were important. It is also important to be a part of co-curricular activities, sports, debate clubs, entrepreneurship cells, NGOs, NPOs, etc.

2^nd year – The time to be certain of the branch that you have chosen. From this year, you should be dedicated to practicing self-improvement and learning software like CATIA, ANSYS, PRO-E, etc., getting involved in professional clubs like SAE, iEEE, ISHRAE, etc., start doing mini-projects, and applying for summer internships.

3^rd year – Start focusing on career and indulging in co-curricular activities must be minimal. Research about higher studies and respective exams- MS, MTech, or job & MBA, the respective exams being GRE & TOEFL or IELTS, GATE, and CAT or GMAT. I personally feel that GATE is an exam every engineer should focus on first. It is the benchmark that determines your standard and also opens up a wide range of job opportunities in PSUs like ONGC, HAL, BEML, BARC, ISRO and other reputed companies. Start preparing for GATE now!

TAKE MY WORD FOR IT…

In engineering, studying for a good CGPA will fetch you a certificate, studying with the intention of learning and implementing will fetch you a job and also develop a love and interest for the field. That being said, choose a domain of your interest. Study the theory. I fell under the impression that practical is everything. Practical without theory isn’t Engineering. Trust me on that this one. Study only from standard foreign authors. It may be bulky but it is very well comprehensible and carries the essence of the subject. As far as marks is are concerned in local colleges, studying selected notes 1 month before the exams can fetch you a CGP above 8 easily. Study for GATE and you will automatically understand the importance of learning concept.

About the Author:

My name is Sayan Dey. I am pursuing Mechanical Engineering (4^th year) from Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering, Mysuru. My hobbies include playing the guitar, football, reading sci-fi novels and have keen interest in automobiles, automation, and aviation. I have been a part of many NGOs.