This is the most common question which occurs during the admission process. This is due to the fact that while filling the admission form, there are many options available in the drop-down menu. The question or doubt is "Should I apply to the same Branch as that of my GATE paper or should I also apply to the other branches/department?"
Many students while filling the M.Tech application forms, select only Aerospace Branch or Aerospace Specialization and ignore the other options available.
This is due to the fact that we as a students have a DREAM & INTEREST only in a particular branch/department/field and have a strong DESIRE to pursue post-graduation studies & career in the same field.
Simultaneously, we also underestimate the value of the Research based Programmes in India and compare it with regular course based M.Tech Programme from Placement point of view & duration.
To get the basic difference between these Programmes, please read my previous blog on
Now let’s try to understand the current scenario & some rough calculation for M.Tech admission at Aerospace Department @IIT/IISc. The total number of seats across IITK, IITKGP, IITB, IITM & IISc in Aerospace department for M.Tech Programme is roughly about 160 only.
50% is for reservation category. So only 80 seats are available for General category. Out of 80 seats, the past statistics have shown that around 15-20% seats are reserved for GATE ME candidates with Mechanical Engineering background while 10-15% seats are reserved for GATE CE/EE/CH/IN candidates. So roughly, only about 52-56 seats are available for students with BE/B.Tech Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering & GATE AE.
There is a high probability that some of the top rankers might be interested in Research based course Programmes such as MS & Direct PhD. So a General Category student upto AIR 80 can expect admission to Aerospace Department (till the end of the admission process and written test @IITK).
Candidate within AIR 40 can expect sure shot direct M.Tech admission to Aerospace Department if he/she had applied to all 4 IIT’s & IISc.
The Big Question is,
What about candidates who secured rank beyond 80. Say around AIR 120, 150 or 200.
Does this mean that a candidate with AIR 200 doesn’t have any opportunity of studying at IIT??
Is competition is really soo tough to get admission for M.Tech ??
Should You take 1 year-drop and prepare again for GATE AE again. Get into top 80 and relax?
Note: even getting into top 80 does not give assurance that you will surely get admission in M.Tech Aerospace Engineering.
So to get into Aerospace Department @IIT, is this is the only way?
Get into top 40 and pursue M.Tech !
What if I say that the candidates from AIR 80 to AIR 250 in GATE AE paper also possess an equal opportunities to secure admission at IIT.
One way is to apply for MS & D.Phd @Aerospace Department and perform outstandingly during interview (after getting shortlisted & clearing written test).
The other way is to apply to other departments such as Mechanical, Applied Mechanics, Ocean Engineering, Engineering Design, Industrial Mathematics, Industrial Design, Climate Science, Energy, Environmental Departments etc. also for M.Tech, MS & D.PhD Programmes.
I personally feel that getting into IIT is much more important than getting into a particular branch or department of IIT.
Frankly speaking, once you are in IIT, you will find many people/students in the same course from different academic background and discipline.
I would like to bring a point that irrespective of department or branch, learning engineering techniques is much more important. Branch & departments are just the applications of the same engineering techniques. Just like how Aerospace/Automobile are specialized branch of Mechanical Engineering.
Here are some Non-Aerospace Department domain which can be related or connected to the Aerospace field also.
If you do Post-Gradation in Climate Science you will learn CFD, scientific & parallel computing, heat transfer, atmosphere stability, heat transfer, and computation methodology for properties evaluation of air/gaseous medium, simulations & mathematical modelling and many more subjects which can be related to Aerospace domain too.
Post-Graduation in Industrial design includes the basic concepts of designing principles, FEM, vibrations, Fracture Mechanics, Fatigue strength evaluation etc. which are common for every mechanical engineering field.
Post-Gradation in Applied Mechanics includes subjects such as Computational Fluid Dynamics, Boundary Layer, combustion, transport phenomena in reacting flows, gas dynamics, physical gas dynamics, nano-fluids, rarefied gas dynamics, solid mechanics, structural & solid mechanics, mechanics of materials at nano-scale (which is useful for composite materials), energy harvesters, fracture mechanics etc. All these above topics/research area.
Post-Gradation in Ocean Engineering includes subjects like hydrodynamics, heat transfer, design principles, computations of heat transfer, marine structures, studies of IC & gas turbine engines, combustion of fuel in the engines, fluid mechanics etc. are also related to the Aerospace domain.
I am trying to make my point clear that fundamentals & physics of the subjects or study remains the same. Only based on applications, theories are modified and applied accordingly.
At IIT, some subjects can be credited from other departments also. So you can study the subjects offered by Aerospace Department as elective subjects which can be useful for your M.Tech Project.
Even from placement point of view, pure Aerospace domain companies like Airbus, Boeing, GE etc. does not always hire candidate from Aerospace Department only. They also hire candidates across discipline, branches and departments. You can check the placement website of IIT-Madras for the same.
At the end of the Post-Graduation what really matters is
‘How well you have been able to enhance your technical skill & knowledge and your approach towards solving any problem’,
‘How good you have been at your research or M.Yech/MS project’
‘How good you have improved or enhanced your problem solving abilities & capabilities’
So I suggest to apply to all available option, try to get exposure in other domains too and at the end when you secure admission in non-Aerospace Department, think twice before joining.
There can be many other factors which may influence your decision. But constraining yourself to Aerospace Domain in the beginning itself, narrows down your chances of admission at IIT’s as well as restrict your future opportunities.
At the end of the day You can say to yourself that ‘Atleast I tried my level best to get into IIT’.
The line 'around 15-20% seats are reserved for GATE ME candidates with Mechanical Engineering background while 10-15% seats are reserved for GATE CE/EE/CH/IN candidates' is a bit over optimistic in my opinion. In reality, more than 50% seats can be taken up by candidates from other fields. Also, if you have any previous research experience, you can write to a professor and get an admit with a lower GATE rank (as high as 160 with general category). The downside being you cannot change the supervisor later without too much difficulty.
ReplyDeleteThank you Nilesh for your comment. I Hope this will help others
DeleteAlso, you can apply to institutes outside of the IIT domain if you are not particular about AE and are open to pursue a PhD later. However, the job recruitment processes in India are messed up and your CV might not be considered at all, no matter how good a candidate you are. Some jobs require the candidate to possess a bechelors from an IIT, but its too late to correct that now.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nilesh for your advise to many young minds
DeleteWhat if gate is not qualified but want a career in aerospace, can it be possible for a lower middle class person
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking this important question. Its a two fold question. 1) want a career in aerospace domain. 2) want to pursue post graduation studies.
DeleteAnswer1) career in aerospace is possible by getting a job in aerospace industry on the basis of B.Tech/BE. But for promotion later in career, you would need Post-Graduation degree.
Answer 2) Get a post graduation degree from reputed institute/University and then get a job in aerospace industry. This will help you later in your career for promotion as well as you would get better opportunities right after PG compared to B.Tech/BE. And to get admission in best institute in India, you need to clear GATE exam.
If you are not qualified in gate, still you can get into BIT mesra for M.Tech Aerodynamics/Rocket Propulsion but getting a job right after in aerospace industry is bit difficult (not impossible).
In my opinion, its better to invest in enducated at young age then struggling later. So I suggest everyone to go for Post-Graduation studies after B.Tech and then make a choice of joining Industry or PhD