IIIT-Hyderabad Versus all IITs—the Lone Unforgettable Battle of Computer Science

International Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad, or IIIT-H, was in news recently for charging IT companies planning to hire candidates from the campus. IT firms had to shell out 8 % of the total annual package received by the candidate. And despite a few exemptions of Indian firms, 28 top IT firms from across the globe not only paid the fee, but also hired 105 best candidates from the campus. This shows growing prominence of IIIT-H in India.

This growing prominence of IIIT-H in India is being questioned and drawing inevitable comparisons with none other than IITs. All right! That has become a sort of trend now. Any institution’s mounting popularity will be put to test or, obviously, compared with IITs. But what’s the truth here, in this case specifically?

“Is IIIT-H better than IITs in computer science?”is a long debated question that pops out every time IIIT-H is mentioned in any discussion. The answer however eludes those seeking for one desperately.

When we talk about computer science specifically, IIIT-H obviously wins the battle. However, declaring IIIT-H better than IITs in computer science will not be entirely true. Keeping our discussion unbiased, we realize that the answer to the question, whether IIIT-H is better than IITs or not in computer science, depends a lot on various factors.

There is no doubt that IIIT-H is really good in computer science. But there are IITs with lots of departmentsin computer science and huge benefits of having those departments in the stream. If you really wish to learn good computer science then obviously IIIT-H is your best bet but what if your interest in computer science drops midway? With lots of department in computer science in any IIT, you can switch to other department or branch of your choice. Well, as an engineer, it is really important to experience and explore other options to make your learning stronger.

With an intensive computer science curriculum, IIIT-H focuses more on coding skills. This is not the case with IITs. They just introduce computer science to you the way it is. In fact, students might learn about machine learning and advanced algorithmsduring their 3^rd or 4^th year in IITs. But in IIIT-H, you might have an opportunity to learn about them in 2^nd year itself. This directly translates into better internship and research opportunities at early stages.

IIIT-H brags a hardcore coding environment in the campus. Students take part in competition and perform exceptionally well. But that does not necessarily mean that IITs are far behind. They do well too. In fact, IITs pays more attention to the college curriculum. Its environment is more about college curriculum. Both are highly competitive in this particular sense.
If we try to judge the better of the two from the perspective of internships, then, again, there is a lot of disparity. When it comes to good job and internship offers then IIIT-H is really better than IIT-Guwahati, IIT-Roorkee, and other newer IITs. However, other IITs like IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kharagpur, and IIT-Madras are far better than IITs. In fact, IIIT-H can’t even compete with them.

Global firms constantly search for excellent coders. They are not really interested in your coursework at all. So in that sense, IIIT-H performs better than newer IITs.

IITs give you their tag to you but you can’t live your entirely on that tag. Your skills will be tested once you will step out in the real brutal world. If you are damn serious about doing computer science anyway and haven’t got one in one of IITs of your choice, then opting for the stream in IIIT-H is a better option.

Finally, the answer to the question—Is IIIT-H better than IITs in computer science?—dependsentirely upon your requirements and other factors. Both institutions are great and have made the country proud. You must evaluate your needs before you make any decision.