BITS Pilani CSE vs NIT vs state college—is BITS worth the fees?

One critical factor: BITS offers merit scholarships and fee waivers if your marks are very strong. Have you applied for scholarships? Also, BITS DSA (special admit) sometimes comes with financial aid. Regarding DTU—it's a fantastic college with great placements, but BITS and NIT Rourkee have slightly wider recruiting (e.g., top finance and consulting firms prefer them). If fees are a real hardship, DTU is absolutely a solid choice; if you can manage a modest loan, BITS ROI is better in the long run.

I graduated from BITS Pilani in 2019 (Electronics, not CSE, but similar cohort). Here's my honest take: BITS fees are steep, but the placement quality and salary hikes are genuinely better on average—our 2019 batch saw median ₹16–18 LPA, many tech companies paid ₹20+ LPA for CS grads. That said, NIT Rourkee CSE is also excellent and lands strong placements at ₹12–15 LPA median. The real difference is internship quality, alumni network, and campus infrastructure at BITS. If your family can afford it without major strain, BITS edges ahead. If it means loans or sacrifices, NIT is absolutely respectable.

I'm a BITS second-year CSE student, and I can tell you the coding culture and peer quality here is intense—lots of folks doing competitive programming, open-source, internships at top companies by sophomore year. That said, NIT Rourkee has equally smart people. The fee difference buys you better hostel facilities, smaller class sizes, and arguably better placements, but it's not a guarantee of a better life. Talk to current students at all three on their alumni groups; that'll give you a clearer picture than our opinions!

Thanks so much everyone—this really helps. So it sounds like BITS is worth it if we can manage the fees without too much strain, but NIT Rourkee is a genuinely solid fallback. I'll definitely reach out to current students and check if BITS scholarships are an option for me.