more-in Impressive placement records and quality of a few departments improved the overall admission performance of the National Institute of Technology - Calicut ( NIT-C) this academic year. The opening rankings of the most preferred branches, including computer science, in the General Category, both for the home State and all-India quota have gone up this time. “For computer science, the opening rank was 1,592, while last year it was 3,094,” K.A. Abdul Nazeer, chairman, undergraduate admissions, NIT-C, told The Hindu on Friday. Even in least preferred branches such as biotechnology, the opening rank saw a quantum jump to 11,366 this year from 17,171 in the previous year. “Nowadays, students and parents look at the placement record at institutes and the functioning of departments rather than going by the ranking of engineering colleges alone,” Dr. Nazeer said. Overall, the performance of students from Kerala, who get 50% quota in NIT-C, was also better than that of last year. Only three seats, two for chemical engineering and one for production engineering, out of the total 958 remained vacant when admission was closed after seven rounds and two special rounds, he added. The opening rankings for various branches are: electronics - 4,583 (5,690 last year); electrical - 6,387 (9,525 last year); mechanical - 4,808 (5,978 last year), and civil engineering - 12,804 (15,748 last year). Without a doubt, the placement factor had helped NIT-C bring in academically brilliant students. Over 75% of students were hired by 134 companies, and the average compensation went up to ?8.5 lakh this year. T.K. Suresh Babu, head of Training and Placement Cell for 2017-18, NIT-C, said all students of the B.Tech Computer Science had got placements, and the average annual salary offered was ?12.5 lakh. Three students were offered the highest salary of ?40 lakh each. “Computer science has market demand across India. Normally, product-based companies prefer B.Tech students, while service-based companies prefer other graduates to minimise cost. Students give preference to the institute and subject when choosing a college and not the geographical location,” Dr. Suresh Babu said.

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