So if you are a CSE student, you have 3 specialisations to apply for. Intelligent Systems(mostly ML based),Systems Engineering and Theoretical Computer Science.
My GATE CSE Rank was 1823 with score 632.( The score was on the upper lot of the pack with many believing this score fetches an MTech seat directly still i wanted to do research more than internships.)
The interviews were on 10th May 2024,8:30 am in the North Campus.Travel and rest of the information will be given in the end of the blog.
The mail mentioned only interviews but they conducted written test once we reached( Don't worry the questions were not even GATE level, just knowing the abstract of each subjects is enough)(Questions were from every GATE CSE subject + ML )
There were 3 panels,one for each specialisation.You can apply and appear of any number of specialisations.
(Wont be putting Sys Eng and TCS interview questions as they were different for almost everyone(checking problem solving skills) but will share what you need to do at the end in the tips section)
Intelligent systems Interview:-
The interviews were in professor's cabin with almost the entire team of 7-8 teachers in it.Only 3-4 asked questions.
Can't really elaborate each questions exactly but will try my best.
P1:- Welcome, introduce yourself to the panel?
Me:- Introduced.
P2:- Which college if mentioned,Was it Government or Private?
Me:- Answered
P2:- You have a research paper on Cryptography why not do Theoreticial Computer Science instead(I had 2 papers,one on Blockchain and another on Cryptography but these weren't just a part of my interest)
Me:- Explained (The faculty P2 was very quick to ask questions.Many a times she ask next question even before i answered my first question which was a bit annoying though she was still helpful)
P2:- Ok ok, so you said you want to specialise in ML(i said that in my introduction). Have you done any projects or courses?
Me:- No maam i don't have a project as I started doing ML post my GATE 2024 but I have taken Andrew Ng course on coursera.
P2:- Have you completed the course?
Me:- No maam not the Deep Learning part but I know most of the algorithms.
P2:- Tell me any supervised algorithms?
Me:- SV....
P2:-(As quick as she was even before me answer) Do you know SVM?
Me:- Yes maam
P2:- What do you do in SVM?
Me:- Explained
P2:- What is a hyperplane.
Me:- Explained but they didn't understand it at first.
(After a bit of back and forth rapid questions from professors, maybe they understood)
P1:- Asked me how its done(show to board)
Me:- Explained P3:- Asked why parallel planes are used.
Me:- Explained maybe a bit hesitant
P4:- What is the condition . how do we understand that this is out hyperplane.
Me:- Explained Margin(hard margin equation)
P4:- Asked what is d
Me:- Explained
P4:- He asked something which I didn't understand but it was something related to the derivation of margin formula.
Me:- Explained entire derivation of d
P1:- what is that operation (dot production)
Me;- Projection Explained
P2:- what is that w
me:- vector perpendicular to the hyperplane.
P2:- what is mod of w .
Me:- (this was a chink in my armor maybe a bit) I told them it was magnitude but maybe they didn't hear it as the sound was not confident(3-4 time i said then the professor said yes in asking about that)
P3:- So do you know Hinge loss
Me:- Explained soft margin
P1:- Asked me something about constraints and how hing loss value is calculated.
Me:- Answered but caught me somewhere in the pool of questions.
(not satisfied with the magnitude)
P2:- how is magnitude calculated?
Me:- ( Me literally thinking about magnitude concept in the lobby before the interview. It was something which i avoided looking as it was a simple concept from your JEE Preparation but that thing caught me at the moment) I made some underoot sign but tried doing some subtraction and cracked.
P1:- Ok think about this outside your interview is over.
(while i was about to close the door)
Some professor:- Have you applied anywhere else(i thought they meant another IIT but they were asking about Sys and TCS dept)
Me:- told other iit names and made a clown of myself then told yes i have other interviews as well.(This question gives me hope that they've liked what they've seen)
Believe me the length looks big but the interview was not more than 15-20 minutes.
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Some tips for Intelligent Systems :- (Subjects:- Only ML,for safe side study Algo and Maths as well would be enough)
1. Intelligent Systems faculty was slightly helpful not much but they support whatever attempt you are making. They want to see how you approach the problem be it a question or rapid firings done(as in my case). Though the interviews were a bit tedious for everyone .
2. The interview is mostly if not entirely ML based as I asked the rest who had interviews. If you BE project has ML you are bombarded with those questions else some ML algorithm. As you can see they asked only one algorithm but went a touched each and every concept. Same happened to almost everyone.
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Some tips for Systems Engineering and TCS :- (Not a big panel like IS (max 2-3 faculty members))
1. The general notion of these interviews were 1. Obviously knowledge of required domain but the major thing they were looking for is interest( People want to go for AI and ML and are not interested in other domains hence the first thing they were looking for is interest)
2. For Systems Engineering, you need to have knowledge of Algorithms, Maths, COA,OS ,(Maybe CN mostly they haven't asked question). Algorithms,Maths for any interview are a must but one of COA, OS was definitely needed for this interview. Again having domain interest is important.
3. For TCS, again they were looking for interest in the domain. Knowledge of Algorithms, Maths and TOC (again maybe Compiler Deign) was enough. Since this domain it more theoretical and algorithms based hence the questions were in depth of the domain not something out of this world but the question level of Algorithms would be higher in this interview.
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Now some Interview Tips but in General IIT Mandi tips:-
1. The place is as almost all IITs are,very secluded but the Himalayan region makes it even more difficult to reach out.
2. We were provided accomodations in campus but the cost was as high as 1500 but other departments hadn't provided accomodation for interview students .
3. The mail had mentioned bus services are provided by IIT Mandi from Mandi city(12 km away) but there were booking for campus students and teachers and if the bus is pre-booked they might deboard you anywhere in the middle of the road(you cant book without a student login)(secluded place hence you might be in trouble)(Happened to a bunch of people). Hence having your own vehicle is better as cabs and rickshaws cost you anywhere from 700-1500.
4. State buses are there but they are limited and timings might not fit your interview schedule and specially in evening last bus was at 5:30 and the last interview was ended at 7:30-8 pm.(Not well managed by the college)
Hence prefer to travel via your own vehicle and don't worry thinking if there are so many problems now what will happen after we join.
As I mentioned, There are buses with pre booking for students so there won't be any issue for you as student to be there.
