Once you have cleared JEE Advanced (and done with the celebration), it is time to choose which IITs and which branches you want to apply for. It is a crucial decision for a future engineer because the IIT and the engineering branch you choose can determine the career path you’ll take and the type of opportunities that come your way.

1. What is my IIT JEE Rank?

You will get admission in an IIT based on your JEE Advanced Ranks. Suppose, you want to join Computer Science Engineering in IIT Bombay and there are 110 seats available. Then, you will need to be amongst the Top 110 applicants applying for that particular course in that particular branch - according to their All India Ranks (AIR) or the Category Ranks in the IIT JEE exam. The student with the highest AIR determines the Opening Rank of the program while the student with the lowest AIR accepted by the institute determines the program's Closing Rank.

The Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JOSAA) offers you the 2017 opening and closing ranks of all the programs available at all the IITs. You can check them category-wise, institute-wise, and program-wise. This will help you determine in which IITs you stand a chance of getting an admission based on your JEE Advanced rank.

For example, for a General category student who wants to take admission in the Computer Science Engineering program at IIT Delhi, the rank range should be between AIR #3 and AIR #104.

2. Which Engineering Branch should I join?

AICTE recognizes over 200 branches of engineering that are categorized into 34 major engineering branches. Many students consult their friends, parents, teachers, and relatives about which branch suits them best but not everyone has the required knowledge and experience to help you come up with the right branch for you.

While it might be sagacious to say that you should select a branch that matches your work interest and future career goals, you might want to join a branch that attracts the highest salary packages or may want to choose a stream that is high in demand in the country you want to settle in. You may consult an ex-IITian who offers academic support to IIT aspirants like you for the engineering branch most suitable for you.

3. Which IIT is best in the Branch I want to select?

If your rank allows you to choose from more than one IIT in the engineering branch you would like to join, choose the one that is better known for your favorite engineering stream.

Now, this can be a difficult step in your research process. There are simply so many magazines and websites that rank IITs and other premier engineering colleges in India in their own respective ways – and you have no way of knowing which one is correct and which one is just a guesswork of some writer who doesn’t know ABC of engineering.

An assignment help expert offering academic support to MBA students in the US said that he uses many shortcuts to contain meaningful research for his clients in record time. He shared a neat little trick for IIT aspirants to know the best-ranked IIT for their chosen engineering branch quickly and efficiently:

●      Go to the JOSAA website’s 2017 ranking page mentioned above, and tick off the NITs, GFTIs, and IIITs one by one (in the left column).

●      Choose the program you want to join (look at the right-hand top corner to make your selection).

●      Now, copy the results into a spreadsheet. I prefer Excel but you can choose the software of your choice.

●      Place the filter on the Opening and Closing Ranks and sort any one of them from low to high. You’ll notice that if the Opening Rank of an institute is low, its Closing Rank will be low too.

●      The institutes with the lowest opening and closing ranks will be the highest ranked IITs for the program of your choice.

4. What is the infrastructure available in your targeted IIT?

Shiksha has a very interesting search tool for colleges. Choose ‘IIT’ in the college tab, and then, choose ‘Engineering’ stream in the left-hand column. You may then choose the course and the specialization you want to go for.

You can see the facilities available in each of the IITs offering the course you’ve chosen right away.

You can even compare the institutes on this website and download their brochures for more details.

You may also want to visit the official websites of your targeted IITs to see the concurrent details about the infrastructure they have.

5. Which IIT branches attract the highest salary packages?

Most of the old IITs publish their placement statistics every year. For example, you can see the 2017 placement stats for IIT Delhi. Newspapers, magazines, and websites also publish the highest salary packages or placement details of different institutes each year. You may want to keep an eye on such reports to decide which IIT can be the best launch pad for you four years from now.

6. Which recruiters visit the campus of your targeted IITs?

If you have a dream company or dream job in mind, you might also want to pay special attention to the stories about recruiters who visit the IITs. For example, the story in Economic Times published in 2016 emphasized how Japanese recruiters and startups are beelining to get the IIT talent onboard.

7. Know your Professors

H C Verma, the acclaimed author of ‘Concepts of Physics’ which you must have reading your IIT JEE preparation, retired just last year from IIT Kanpur. You might want to take a look at the department at IIT you want to join and see the most renowned professor under which you may get to study soon.

Here’s a list of Mechanical Engineering faculty of IIT Bombay. This research is going to be time-consuming but if you find but one teacher who can inspire you or fire you up, you’ll surely achieve what you deserve.

In the end, remember, that the institute you study in only makes it easier for you to find good job opportunities as a fresher and network with the people in ‘power’ in various industries. You can always carve your own path of success through hard work and determination. So, focus on doing your best and making the best of options available to you.