I scored 806 in GATE CSE 2018 and got rank 176.
I applied to IITD(MTech and MS both), IITK(MTech), IITB(TA and RA both), IITKgp, IITM and IISC.

IITKgp, IITM and IITB(TA) offer direct admissions. I received an offer from IITKgp in the 2nd round of COAP and I chose to Retain and Wait. I did not participate in the 4th round to find out if I received an offer from IITM. No offer from IITB(TA).

I received Interview calls from IITD(both MTech and MS, cutoff 800 for both GEN source), IITK(MTech cutoff 725 GEN source), IITB(RA). I did not receive any interview calls from IISC even though the cutoff was 800 source.

IITK Onsite Experience (Admissions Website with all info)
The onsite exams for MTech consisted of-

  1. Written Test (Syllabus)
  2. Programming Test (Syllabus)

For MS, there was an additional Interview round scheduled on the next day.
There is a detailed GO post listing the questions of the Written test and the Programming test. Also a post for MS Interview experience.
I prepared the Theory Section for the written test, although it is advisable to prepare for Systems, since it has only 6 topics(compared to 11 for Theory) and they are exclusively from the GATE Syllabus. I think my written test went well, but I do not remember any of the questions. Both sections had some common questions from Algorithms, Data Structures, Logic, Math.

The Programming test was way too easy this year. I was able to finish it in half an hour, where the alloted time was two hours. But do not expect the programming test to be this easy next year. There is no fixed pattern whatsoever in case of Onsite exams. Until last year, Onsites for MTech included an Interview as well, but this time that was not the case.
Overall I was confident that my Onsite exams went well.

Results came out on 23rd May, and around 77 people were offered MTech admissions and 20 or so were offered MS admssions. For exact numbers visit the results section of the IITK PG admissions site.
I was waitlisted at the 2nd position in the General Category.

After COAP Round-2 ended on 9th June, my name was shifted from the waitlist and I was offered admission for MTech at IITK. 2 other General Category students got shifted from the waitlist alongwith 2 OBC and 2 SC/ST category students, for a total of 7. Follow this link for information on further rounds.

Edit: IITK MTech Last Waitlist Number 2018-
1. GEN- 15
2. OBC- 9
3. SC- 7

IITD Interview Experience
The interviews for MS and MTech at IITD were scheduled on 23rd and 24th May. My interview was scheduled on 23rd May. Prof. Sarangi told us that this year the intake for MS and MTech will be less than last year. Needless to say the anxiety level in the room rose manifold.
The Interview started with them (3 Professors) asking me a few things about myself. Then they moved on to the questions-

  1. Proof of Correctness of Kruskal's Algorithm
  2. Proof of "Divisibility by 3 test"
  3. They provided a Code and asked to find errors.
  4. Asked Binary Search Recursive Code, and questions on that.

Please note that while preparing for interviews at IIT's, it is important to focus on the Basics and Technical aspects rather than having an intuition of how things work. For Example, having a general idea of the algorithms will not take you very far in the interviews, What they need is Proof of Correctness, Time Complexity derivations and other relevant stuff. Focus more on knowing Why and How an Algorithm works, taking into consideration all the data structures used.

IITD released their offers for MCS(code for MTech) in the 3rd round of COAP(source at the end there is a list of offers released in each round). Around 40 people have been offered admissions in MTech at IITD, 0 MSR offers(source). I received the offer letter for MCS(MTech) at IITD after COAP 2nd round ended on 9th June.

I did not attend IITB(RA) interviews scheduled on 17th May, since I wanted to complete my Masters in 2 years.

Overall I had to choose between IITD, IITK and IITKgp for MTech Admission. These were the offers I received in the 3rd Round of COAP on 16th June-



Final Decision - IITD MTech

posted Jun 16, 2018 edited Jul 9, 2018 by
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