1. What difference does an MS from the US make in a software development career? How does this
compare to a M. Tech from India?
There are usually two to three reasons to go for an MS abroad:
One, if you wish to live and work abroad. This is purely a personal choice. Studying abroad is costly, but
work opportunities abroad are difficult to come by directly after education in India.
Two, high quality research. This is happening in some institutes in India too, but research abroad
happens to be better funded. There are many top ranked institutions that provide access to fantastic
faculty, research labs, and opportunities.
Lastly, better access to jobs in the valley, in MNC’s, career prospects. Graduating from a top 10 CSE
school abroad, you don’t have to take APAC or beat thousands of applicants on written or coding tests to
get interviews at Google and FB. Please don’t be misguided though, you still go through an equally
intense filter of multiple interview rounds, but getting that far is easier as far as I know.
What would be the best approach to pursue the track chosen? Is it possible to work in the industry after
pursuing an MBA?
It is only possible to “postpone” working post MBA if said MBA is pursued in India. IIM’s and indian
B­schools
are a little lax about taking inexperienced candidates (if you rock their entrances and selection
process), however, the general consensus is that MBA’s are wasted on inexperienced candidates.
As for pursuing a chosen track, it really depends on the track itself. If your interest lies purely in the
pursuit and furtherment of a certain track or area of research, consider a PhD.
Transitioning across Career Verticals
For good career, which is important MS,M­Tech
or MBA, for an average student? How to prepare myself
for doing MS.?
Equally good careers come out of MS and MBA’s.The important question is, what is a “good career” for
you. How do you define good? It’s also unfair to compare an MS and an MBA, because both
qualifications are pursued by different minded people at different stages in their careers for different
career goals. Please keep that in mind.
Preparing yourself for an MS is the easier question to answer. If your question is about “getting into
programs”, work hard in you undergrad, pay attention to your subjects. Do some research in a subject or
two and publish some work. Towards your final years, start prepping for the GRE and kill it. 2­3
good
papers, strong recommendations, 8.5+ GPA, and 325+ GRE and a good motivation (which will reflect in
your SOP and essays) will see you comfortably into good programs.
To be good at your MS itself, the above journey will prep you well. Your verbal training on GRE and past
research experience will be very useful during your MS (and writing more papers). Putting some effort
into your grades and acad work will make sure you don’t fall behind in your MS acad work.
Can research earn you money? Is it so that industry research is more beneficial in terms of money than
acdemic research? Can engineering be as innovative in terms of ideas as academic research?
­I’m
not fit to answer this question fully – nevermind though, we’ll get someone who can. Ofcourse
research can earn you money. My guess would be that industrial research may be more lucrative too. I
would say that money alone shouldn’t be your criteria. Good people working in industrial research would
be driven by seeing their ideas being implemented, which is why they may be there.
Engineering can surely be as innovative (and sometimes more innovative) than academic research.
Often practical problems don’t even reach the academic community, and are constantly tackled by

2. high­powered
startups and technology firms world around. In fact, its very common for engineering
teams to publish papers based on their working solutions at Google, FB, LKDN and MSFT. I’m sure this
is the case for other firms too.
Mtech vs MS vs fellowships How do I know whether I should go into research if I've never done
research? Difference in writing high quality apps and portals vs spending time on syllabus. What matters
more?
That is the whole point of trying undergraduate level research – to see if you like it and would like a long
term career in it. There are plenty of opportunities at IIITD. Dr.PK floats out a lot of opportunities for
CERC. Our IA lab takes on many undergraduates. I have never heard of any professor turning away a
good student who might have approached him/her with intent.
What matters more depends on what you want to do. If you’re going to switch careers or do research,
app­making
may not be for you. The same time is better spent on other things. If you want to work for
bleeding edge startups and impress recruiters at placements here, app­making
is going to go a long
way.
As far as syllabus is concerned, my general recommendation is the 80­20
principle. 80% of the results
can come with 20% of the effort. Aspire for a good GPA, sure, but focus on absorbing key ideas and
technology concepts as you go along. Putting another 80% of the effort for 20% extra marks does not
really pay­off
to be honest, and I can say that from experience. After about 8.5 to 9, GPA doesn’t
matter so much. How much you know and how passionate you are about your work will distinguish you
in interviews and applications. Focus on that.
My plan is to do job after B.Tech and then apply for grad school to collect some money. How much
CGPA is required to apply into top 50 grad schools apart from strong reco letters?
Good plan! Grad school is broad though, you could have been talking about MBA or MS. Or even arts!
So it’s a little difficult to say. In my view, and 8.5 is good, perhaps 9+ for the top 10. You must
understand and respect that grad school selections don’t work on cutoffs. We need to shed that
mentality and focus on giving them an unrejectable package overall – you! This should come out from
the various aspects of your applications.
Remember: Your GPA is good because you’re good, you’re not good (or bad) because of your
GPA.
Is it possible for a technical background student to work in a design institute and use his/her knowledge
gained from the engineering institute in that field?
Absolutely. Engineering is probably the most versatile degree in our time. You can go into pretty much
any field. NID is best design institute in India as far as I know, and I’m certain there are many more
options abroad, just a few searches away.
Thank you for pointing it out, we should have panellist for design.
1. What are the prospects in Economics & Finance for a CSE student?
Unless you go for higher studies, not much. IIITD has some placements into analyst positions in the
banking and consulting industry, but you must understand that these aren’t the best or most competitive
options our counterparts in IIT’s and IIITH have access to (i.e., Goldman Sachs, Mckinsey, BCG, Bain,
JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, DB, and startups in the domain).
Now coming to higher studies, there is a plethora of courses you can apply to (just to name a few top
ranked ones):
MFinance (pre­experience)
– look at HEC Paris, St. Gallen

3. MFin (post experience) – LBS, Wharton, Princeton
MSCF (masters in Computational Finance) – MIT, CMU, Princeton (this one is specially for engineers,
but is highly technical and leads to lucrative back­office
quant jobs – if that’s your thing)
You can also apply for a masters in Economics, but I’m not sure how helpful it would be unless you wish
to get into research. Also consider that the European hiring market is a little dry – so LSE, Kings /
Imperial College may not be as good.
Economics and Finance isn’t a core focus of the institute – and as of now, it is up to the students to
figure out how to use the knowledge from the courses offered here to their advantage.
2. What are the trade­offs
while choosing Indian Institutes vs Foreign Institutes for Higher Education?
See above. Broadly though, costs, work­locations,
research quality.
3. How should one prepare for applying for HigherEducation ?
Answered above.
4. Is it better to pursue Higher Education right after B'Tech , or a few years of industrial experience is
required/better before that ?
Depends. MS after some experience is a fantastic idea, because you probably have an idea of exactly
what you want from the course / education – and this can help you make the most of it. However, if you
don’t have any good work opportunities after undergrad at all, it may be a good idea to brush up your
skills and gain access to more opportunities through a competitive MS program before stepping into the
industry. No fixed answer, sorry.
5. Is it possible to pursue higher education along with job ?
Yes! In India, I’ve only heard of people doing distance learning courses (which usually ends up being an
MBA, or rather, PGDM). Note: No university in India, IIM’s included, offers a full­time
MBA degree.
They’re all “post graduate diploma programs in management” which are considered MBA equivalent in
the local industry.
Abroad, universities are very flexible about how credit requirements are met. You can take 6 years to get
your MS if you want to, and there are people working in Mountain View who take one to two courses a
semester while working and do just that (you’ll find some responses on Quora).
6. What is the cost/return of higher education in Foreign Universities?
It depends from person to person, but if you’re a hard working high­calibre
student, I think its pretty
good. Researchers get grants, students take up day­jobs,
become teaching assistants, and with
scholarships and internship stipends, I’ve heard of students who finish their MS with a net positive
budget too.
Next, consider the placement prospects. 100K USD for your degree is not much if you will make 100K
USD a year upon graduating. It should be easy for you to repay your educational loans.
Let me remind you that our beloved IIM Ahmedabad PGP costs 15 lakhs, and reports average
placements of 16 lakhs. The only thing that changes in the whole equation, going abroad, is the currency
– you start paying (and earning) in dollars or whatever currency it may be.
I maintain that cost should be a non­factor
in high quality education (good education is priceless ^_^).
However, this becomes a serious consideration if you’re looking at lower ranked institutes with weak

4. placement records or doubt your own ability.
7. What is the application process and preparation required for Higher Education in Indian & Foreign
Institutes ?
Higher Education itself is too broad. I’ve answered this question for MS above. In India, MTech, you
want to write GATE and ace it. Give yourself about 6 months or a year for a serious go at it. I won’t know
too much, but this could be a starting point.
For MBA, abroad, you want to work in a good company for 3­4
years. Have stellar grades during
undergrad. Network, be a good employee, and get solid recommendations. Your employee review
should be good, SOP solid, and aim for atleast a 700+ GMAT (which can be taken within 5 years of
applying – so do this when and if you’re free, its hard to do it while you’re working).
In India, PGDM, you must write CAT. Training programs start a year in advance, i.e., August/November
of your 3rd year if you’re writing it in your final year), but it is honestly possible to do well with about 2­3
months of dedicated self­prep
too. There are several other exams like XAT and such for other B­schools
in India. You’ll have to look them up. Usually, your scores and grades land you an interview call, GD, PI,
which takes you in. You’ve to start filling out applications nearing the end of your fourth year. It is
possible to do this after some work experience too – your entry chances go up.
8. What are the scholarships / opportunities available and how to avail them?
I’m sorry, this question is simply far too broad. I’m tempted to say, the world is your oyster.
9. Trade­Offs
between M'Tech and MBA ?
Do not compare the two. Ask yourself what you want to do and/or be. See my answer above.
10. What are the research prospects in India ?
Research fields in algorithms??and career options in those fields?? How one can prepare to pursue
such careers?? What are the minimum requirements to get a good MS abroad??
1. What is the key difference between research and non­research
oriented jobs?
2. If interested in research is it better to go to industry or to academic institution ?
Thanks for these questions. Hopefully a session with a PhD student or faculty member would answer
some of these.
How to enter in finance sector from technological domain ?
Do look at the question on Economics and Finance. The financial sector runs on prestige (people like to
trust IIM and IITians and MITians with their money) and breaking into it is difficult. However, real
opportunities become available to you after B school or Finance degrees from good institutions. Look
at CFA, and CA too, if you’re interested. Mr. Abhishek Mani, who’s teaching FoF here, can guide you.
Contact anyone who took his course for his number/email. He has taught at IITs before and helped
technical students get into financial sector – in the Indian context. As a matter of fact, it may be helpful to
have him do a short session on this.
Q1 . How can we prepare for competitve exams like GRE , GATE or Civil services along with the tough
schedule we have in college ?
Usually, by your third and fourth year, you get used to the admittedly tough schedule and learn to
manage your time around it.

5. One thing is for sure, you have to stop wasting time and make some difficult decisions and sacrifices. I
gave up vacationing (however, there are some seniors who did travel a lot and did very well for
themselves *Raghav Anand* *cough cough*). But you can’t have everything in life. A lot of it is simply
realizing the value of time. Hours of time spent playing computer games, whiling around/hanging out,
aimlessly browsing/facebooking – when that stops, you suddenly have about 2­3
extra hours in your day.
Then there are small college life experiences – cutting sleep near deadlines, earliest deadline first. If I’ve
a competitive exam to write, I take advantage of working in a team – work extra hard now and then take
things a little easy during my exam (so my team can cover for me), whilst still being fair.
Lastly, there’s discipline. Work life is relentless, 3 weeks of vacation a year, and every other day would
be exactly the same, working 9 hours a day. There will come a day when you’ll do that and manage a
family, household, your taxes, relationships and more. Your experience here prepares you for that.
Q2 . Is becoming an entrepreneur a viable option in real life as if i invest 10 years in my startup and then
it doesn't work , wouldn't that make me repent that i have wasted 10 years of my life ?
You’ll repent that the startup didn’t work out (it would have been nice if it did), but have you wasted 10
years of your life? Really? The only way to waste 10 years of life is to sit on your butt and not do
anything or have any goal. You’d have learnt a lot, made a huge network, and would have made the
chances of your next startup succeeding much higher.
Also, its not as if 10 years go by and you suddenly realize you’ve failed. You have an idea of how you’re
going along the way, and smart people abandon a sinking ship much sooner. Our Principles of
Corporate Finance professor last semester, joined ISB after his 2 year old startup failed. Came out of
ISB, started up again, and is going pretty strong.
Q3. Same as Q2 but this time with research ?
Great question. Hopefully a panellist can resolve this.
Is MS a better option for sustaining in industry and for better job satisfaction?
I’ve asked this question at my workplace, and answer it to a limited extent, but we’ll take this up during
sessions too. So its not an MS that helps you sustain in industry and extract maximum satisfaction out of
your job, its learning. Technology is a domain in which you constantly need to keep updating yourself.
Whether you do that through an MS or without, it’ll help you. Mind you, you can learn a lot without the
formal structure of an MS program as well.
What else will an MS do for you? If you’re not a fresher, you’re not really looking for post­MS
placements
(and are likely to return to the same or similar job after graduating). At senior levels, recruitment happens
based on your experience and area of expertise, and small little credentials like “MS” and “GPA” start
mattering lesser and lesser in the long run.
Who should/shouldn't do MS/M.Tech?
Difference between them is answered above.If you’re a B school aspirant or a career switcher, an MS
will have little to offer you. If you want to startup, depending on your existing expertise and connections,
you may gain or lose from an MS/MTech.
What is the exact difference between them?
Answered.

6. Why is an internship important after the 3rd year? What difference does it make?
An internship is always important, it gives you on­the­job
training and experience and convinces
potential recruiters of your employability and ability to handle practical problems. You learn arguably
more than you do in your degree itself. Good internships often turn into pre­placement
offers.
3rd year internships are emphasized probably because its your latest contact with industry
pre­placements,
you definitely should have done at least one internship by now (it really helps, and not
having done any will be a setback in today’s job market). Internships during first and second year are
great too, but you may lack the technical know how to make the most of the internship and be of any real
value to the employer. First year specially, it may be a waste of time – even if you are able to land one.
When is it better to startup ­during
college or after some work experience? What factors should one take
into consideration before making this decision?
There’s no right answer to this question, people have differing views. I for one think one should startup
after some work experience, simply because you have an understanding of the world and business, exit
opportunities if your startup fails, a little more wisdom, a better network and some personal finances
(wow, that’s a lot of reasons, isn’t it?).
Another downside about starting up during school is that it can and will interfere with your academics. If
it gets in the way of you and your degree (or a decent performance in your degree), this would hurt your
options outside of starting up for a long time to come.
However, there may be advantages to starting up while still in school. Access to institute resources – like
incredible faculty, infrastructure, and support. You have a great network and can rally your co­students
into starting the next big thing. Also, some people say you’re young and without family, so you’ve got
nothing to lose in college. Its perspective. No fixed answer.
How much it is joyful to work in industry? Is it possible that an engineer can work in a development
company for a long time?
People do it their whole lives too – work in development. People become principal engineers and
principal staff engineers and system’s architects, there is some form of a career ladder in core
engineering too. Unfortunately, if you’re not managing people and beginning to assume roles of
business and managerial leadership of your company, compensation and rank does not keep up which
is why people might switch out.
However, this is changing. Modern companies like LKDN, FB, Google and so on pay their senior
engineering staff beautifully.
Whether it is joyful for you is for you to decide. I met all kinds of people at LinkedIn, senior employees
who hated dealing with people and preferred to put their big headphones on and just code away for 10
hours a day locked in their glass cublices – brilliant, highly productive and valuble senior technology
experts in the company. I met managers who were running between meetings constantly, making
corporate strategy and leading teams. Both commanded similar respect in the organization and were
happy, probably because they chose to advance their career the way they did.
What are the job opportunities for the ECE students regarding their domain?
Thank you, we need some guidance from seniors with an ECE background too.
What are advantages of doing MBA after B.Tech.? What are streams of MBA which will have good job
prospects?

7. All streams of an MBA have good job prospects (otherwise they won’t be offered). Advantages can be
several, depending on what you’re looking for: Network for your startup, network generally, switch
careers (into finance or something else), pick up business skills for your startup – or get funded, advance
to managerial positions in your technology firm, open doors to managerial positions in companies, higher
pay, access to jobs in a different country/location/sector. The benefits are manifold, it depends on what
you’re looking for.
What path/plan should one make to fulfill interest of Higher Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship
altogether keeping cost minimum?
We’ll have someone answer this, but you really want to crack a good scholarship, excel in your studies
and go for higher education (You’ll do research in MS anyway). You can start looking at
entrepreneurship ideas and building a network along the way.
Is getting a good internship necessary to badge a good job in the industry during placements ? Also , are
semester­long
internships much better than summer internships in terms of the boast in placements ?
Its not necessary. If you’re a coding God no one can really stop from you cracking interviews on campus
or getting noticed through the very many coding competitions. If you spent time doing some relevant
research, for instance, it won’t be a disadvantage.
Uh… in terms of the boast in placements, I think what you did in your internships will matter a lot more
than the logistics of when and how you did the internship. Focus on that.
If I go to industry for work, can I apply for an MS after few years of working?
Absolutely. You’ve good chances too, if your employers/recommenders are happy with you and you’ve a
respectable GRE score.
Did an MS help us? What all required to do MS?
Answered.
Does doing an MS/M. Tech. open new job profiles to you?
Yes. You can specialize.
Would having a PhD hurt one's prospects in certain industries and job profiles (i.e. would organisations
prefer a B. Tech.)?
It most definitely does. This is because some companies are looking for freshers. A typical PhD would
be in his or her late twenties – at which time, pay composition/expectation is very different. Also,
competing BTechs would have already have 5­6
years of solid industry experience. I think its highly
unadvisable to do a PhD unless you love the domain you’re studying and/or want to get into
academia/research.
How hard is it to go back to school after a few years in the industry, in terms of internal(unwillingness to
leave lucrative position,etc.) and external(easier to get recommendations, grad schools prefer fresh
graduates) factors?
Grad schools don’t have any particular preference for fresh graduates. They like students who will do
well in the course and those who would add a lot to the incoming group of students. However, if you’re
really very old, then it may work against you – they don’t want a misfit into the program either.

8. A lot of people are unable to go back to education after some time in the industry, but usually that’s due
to their own inertia of not finding time to write GRE/GMAT, get recommendations and write their essays.
Work life throws a lot at you, the hours are long, some people start families, and it gets difficult to
balance these things. People tend to get away from the “learning” mindset.
If one is absolutely sure that they eventually want to pursue higher studies and takes an industrial job
after graduation, are those job years a waste, i.e. is it inadvisable then to delay grad school?
I think so, but it depends on the job you’re looking at. If you’re going work for Xerox Research, for
instance, or going into a good job in general, a whole lot of learning awaits you. Also, there’s no reason
to believe you wont or cant go for higher studies after working – many people do this, and too many, this
is a preferred option, as long as you’re willing to make the effort of applying.
Are outstanding loans after a Master's usually a big enough factor to deter one pursuing a PhD right
after graduation?
Yes, I’ve read lots of people who express such concerns on Quora. However, there are workarounds,
remember – you get paid to pursue a PhD (unless it is sponsored). With grants and stipends for teaching
assistantship and internships, this is not as daunting as people make it out to be. However, having debt
always sucks – and can play on one’s mind heavily.
If one is absolutely sure of going for a Doctoral, should they bother with a Master's first or go directly into
a PhD program?
You can go directly for a PhD. However, a strong masters thesis from a reputable institution would
increase your chances of getting into a very good doctorate program. Also, the former is easier to get
into. Its fairly difficult to get directly into a PhD program. Speak to Nishant Sharma from 2011, and
Prateekshit Pandey in the Senate for more info on this.
What benefits are there to opt for civil services after putting 4 years in the B.Tech field.
Well, they say engineering subjects are more scoring in the UPSC exams. I don’t have the details, but
apparently a new format makes life much easier for engineering undergrad aspirants. Other than that,
studying political science, economics, and sociology would have been more helpful in not only the
interview and selection process but also the administrative jobs that await (and would have saved you a
year).
What to select if you have a good job at hand and when you also wish to pursue masters
Thanks! Good question. I’ve faced this dilemma too. The general advice is that jobs are much harder to
get than good education (which is reasonable, think about this, in one case, someone is paying you – on
the other, you’re convincing someone to take your money). Remember, even Stanford/MIT grads have
to work hard to crack a job at companies like Facebook, Microsoft, Google and so on. There are other
things to consider though – if the idea of higher education is very dear to you, if you want to work
abroad, and so on.
Also remember that you can always apply to top masters programs after working for a few years (and it
will not hurt your application in any way whatsoever). After MS though, you’ll still have to crack your
interviews to get back into the same job (your question does not suggest you have an admit from a top
school yet).
What is scope of doing PHD after s short stint in industry ?

9. Ample! Please speak to Venkatesh Vinayakrao – he has joined us for a PhD after a fairly long and
successful stint in the industry.
1. Is it advisable to directly go for a PhD after B.Tech (instead of completing an M.Tech and then going
for it)? 2. Any tips for pursuing an M.Tech from abroad?
Addressed above.
3. Is USA the only option? What about Australia, UK, etc.?
For engineering, do not overlook Germany! Australia and UK are good options too – just that I haven’t
heard of them being the most competitive or hardest to get into. I’m also a little sceptical about job
opportunities for Indians in the UK – recently their immigrations office made strict policies about sending
Indian students back after their education – you may want to look that up.
4. How can I start working towards higher studies from now? I am currently in my fourth semester
(second year).
Answered.