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8/22/2015

AdvisetoIncomingMTechStudents|HigherEducationinIndia

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AssessingStudentsforResearchInternships

September
8,2014

AdvisetoIncomingMTechStudents
jalote

HigherEducation,IIITDelhi,MTechProgram

3Comments

ThisnoteisbasedonmyexperienceandinteractionwithMTechstudentsinthe
threeinstitutesIhaveworked:IITK,IITD,andIIITDelhi.
InIndianow,thenumberofstudentsappearinginGATEisover10Lacnottoofar
fromthenoofstudentswhotakeJEEMains.Basedonmyinteractionwithstudents,
ItisclearthatmoststudentsaredoingMTechprimarilytostrengthentheir
knowledgeandskills,astheUGeducationdidnotprovidethesesufficiently.Thatis
themainreasonwhytheytrytogetintoInstitutionsthathavegoodfacultywhich
canprovidehigherqualityeducation,liketheIITs,NITs,IIITs,etc.
AsthebasicgoalofMTechstudentsistostrengthentheirbackground,knowledge,
andskills,sotheycanimprovetheircareeropportunities,itisabsolutelyessential
theyviewtheirMTechprogramdifferentlythantheydidtheirUGprogram
otherwisetheyriskendingupwiththeoutcomeoftheirUGprogramgettinga
degreewithlittlevalue.Towardsthisgoal,herearesomesuggestions:
Choiceofcourses.Manystudents,whentheycometoInstituteslike
IITs/IIITs,wherealmostallcoursesareelectives,oftenchosetheeasy
courses,largelyduetothedesiretogetbetterandeasygrades.Thisisexactly
theoppositeofwhattheyshoulddo.GiventhelimitationsoftheirUG
degrees,intheirMTechtheyshouldgoafterthecoursesthatwillteachthem
newsubject/area,thatwillmakethemworkhardtodevelopnewskills,that
willtestthemhardandpushthem.Itisthesecourseswherelearningwill
happen.Acourseinwhichthereisoverlapfrompreviouscourses,maybe
easier,butisoflittlevaluetoanMTechstudentintermsofstrengthening
knowledgeorskills.
Developproblemsolvingcapability.Mostprogramsinengineering
collegesteachconceptsatashallowlevel,astheyoftendonthavethefaculty
orcapabilitytodothequalityteachingneededtodevelopthecriticalskillsfor
applyingthemforproblemssolving.Consequently,whilestudentsmayhave
learnt(or,morelikely,memorized)enoughtheorytodowellinGATEand
otherexams,thetranslationskillsofapplyingtheknowledgeforproblem
solvingaregenerallyhighlyinadequate.Therefore,tostrengthentheproblem
solvingskills,MTechstudentsshoulddomanyexcitingprojects(aspartof
coursesorotherwise),participateinprogrammingcontests/hackathons,
academic/engineeringclubs,engineeringorresearch
competitions/challenges,etc.
Strengthenthebackground.MTechprogramsaresupposedtobe
composedofadvancedcourses.Evenifthereareoneortwocourseswhich
Institutesmayincludetostrengthenthebackground,coursesinMTechwill
generallyfocusonspecialoradvancedtopics.However,thebackgroundof
incomingMTechstudentsisweak.Ratherthanignoringthebackground
weaknessandjustsomehowcontinuewiththeadvancedcoursestheydo,itis
bettertotakesomeactionstoimprovethebackgroundmoresosincewhen
itcomestoplacement,companiesfrequentlyaskaboutbasicconceptsand
foundations.Thesetwoapproachescanbeusedforstrengtheningthe
background:(i)everytimesomeconceptiscoveredinanadvancedcoursethat
usesanearlierconceptwhichyoudontunderstand,ratherthanignoringit
andsomehowmanagetoproceed,maketheextraeffortttogoreaduponthe
earlierconceptsandunderstandit.Thisextraeffortwillbewellworthit
sincecourseloadinMTechislowerthaninUG,itcanalsobemanaged.(ii)
MTechstudentsareoftenTAsforUGcourses.Acommoncommentfrom
studentsaswellasfacultyisthattheMTechstudentsarenotpreparedanddo
nothavesufficientbackgroundtoguidetheUGswell.TAworkisanexcellent
opportunitytocatchupandstrengthensomeaspectsofthebackground.For
this,dotheTAworkwithmorediligenceattendthelecturesandunderstand
thematerialforthecourseyouareTAfor,dotheassignmentsyouneedto
gradeyourself,explainthematerialtoUGstohelpthemtheprocessof
explainingwillhelpyouunderstandtheconceptsbetter..
DevelopResearchCapability.Theabovewillhelpbuildskillsthatoftena
goodUGprogramwilldevelopingoodInstitutions.Buildingresearch
capabilitycanprovideMTechstudentsanedgeoverUGs.Manytop
companiesalsolookforresearchcapabilities,besidestheengineering
capabilities.Fordevelopingtheresearchcapabilities,someapproachesare:(i)
https://jalote.wordpress.com/2014/09/08/advisetoincomingmtechstudents/

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8/22/2015

AdvisetoIncomingMTechStudents|HigherEducationinIndia

Dotheprojectsinadvancedcourses,whichoftenrequiresomeresearching,
sincerelyandseriouslyreadmorepapersandreportsthanneeded,spend
timeandeffortunderstandingthem,writeagoodreportfollowinggood
scientificwritingpractices(thereisalotofhelpavailableonwritingstyle,
copyright,),makeagreatpresentationusingsoundprinciplesof
presentation,.(ii)Doastrongthesisagainmanystudentslookforeasy
creditshowtodothethesiseasilywithminimaleffort.Insteadgoafter
thesisandprofessorsthatwillrequireyoutoworkhard,willchallengeyou,
willmakeyouacutelyawareofyourlackofskillsandknowledge,willrequire
youtoreadalot,applyalot,engineeralot,Thenwriteagoodthesisaim
topublishitbywritinggoodpaper(s)fromit.Astrongthesiscannotonly
improvethetrainingandskills,itcanprovideexpertiseinsomearea,whichis
alwaysvalued.Itcanprovideagoodlaunchingpad,provideselfconfidence,
andalotmore.AstrongthesisisthebestthinganMtechstudentcandoin
his/herprogram.
Hardwork.MoststudentwilladmitthattheirUGprogramdidnotchallenge
themsmallamountofeffort,oftenaroundexams,sufficed.Thereisno
shortcuttolearningandbuildingskillsonemuststudydeeplyandhardto
understandtheconceptsandmustchallengetheunderstandingbytrying
variousproblemsandassignments,andonemustdovariousprojectstoapply
theknowledgetosolveproblemsandbuildsolutions.Bothtaketime
learningdeeplywillrequiredeepreading,discussingthesubtleties,doing
assignments,etcallthesetaketime.Andapplyingtheknowledgethrough
projects,assignments,andtheliketakesevenmoretime.Myadviceis:ensure
thatyouareputtingatleast10hoursperdayfor6daysaweek.Withoutthis
levelofworknoneoftheaboveispossible.
ThoughmanyincomingMTechstudentsstruggleinthestartapatternIhaveseen
inIITK,IITD,andIIITDmostofthemgenerallymanageverywellintheendas
theyarebright,ambitious,andputinalotofefforttomakethemostoftheMTech
opportunity.Mostendupsignificantlyimprovingtheirplacementopportunitiesdue
totheirtraininginMTech.Butafew,largelythosewhotreattheMTechlikethey
handledtheirBTech,endupwithonlylimitedvaluefromthedegree.Ihopethe
advicegiveninthisnotewillhelpallMtechstudentstoderivethebenefitofthe
rigorousMTechprogramsthatplaceslikeIITs/NITs/IIITshave.

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3Comments(+addyours?)
GauravSharma
Oct20,2014@00:11:49

ThisarticlemeassistancetochoosemyHigherlevelstreamonaccordancewithmy
interested,knowledgeandcaliber.Pleasegivememoresuggestionrelatedto
educationandcareer.
REPLY

SankalpIAS
Dec04,2014@03:38:21

Selectingacoachingclassisalsoimportantforanyhigherstudy.
REPLY

ModyUniversity
Dec11,2014@00:41:38

Nowaday,masterdegreeisanecessitytogetmoreandmoreopportunityinthe
future.Suggesionwhichmentionhereareverybeneficialforstudents.Thisblog
describeseachaspectinaclearmanner.
REPLY

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