I am a student at IIT Ropar and thus I am qualified to answer this question-

• Location- Ropar is just an hour’s drive from Chandigarh. It is well-connected to major cities like Jalandhar, Shimla, Delhi, and Chandigarh. The Tricity area is

quite developed and Mohali has its international airport. Ropar itself is a very calm and peaceful city. The campus is located at the foothills of Shivalik on the banks of the Sutlej River.

• Academics- The academics at IIT Ropar is at par with the old IITs, but it has been designed by experts to lay greater emphasis on practical learning and labs than the old IITs. One of the major highlights of the IIT Ropar curriculum is the provision of allowing Minors, Honors or Concentration alongside the main B.Tech degree. This provision is not present in the old IITs. An example is that you can do a B.Tech in Mechanical with a Minor in CS.

• Faculty- The faculty at IIT Ropar is well qualified and the selection procedure is at par with the old IITs. The professors are alums of IITs and other institutions in the US. The teacher-student ratio is 1:10, which is quite good. IIT Ropar organizes workshops, guest lectures by experienced professors from prestigious institutions.

In terms of research citations, IIT Ropar ranks higher than most IITs, including the old ones.

• Placements- For 2023 B.Tech placements, the highest package stood at INR 55 LPA for CSE, 55 LPA for Electrical, and 42 LPA for Mechanical. Core companies visit less for placements in comparison to non core companies. Google, Amazon and Ericsson were the top recruiters for the 2023 B.Tech placements.

• Campus and Student Life- IIT Ropar now has its own permanent campus with state-of-the-art infrastructure. The Lecture Halls, Hostels (both boys and girls), Dining Hall, Utility Block, and Sports fields are all newly built. The campus is beautiful and spread across 500 acres. Student life is eventful and there are numerous clubs and societies through which you can enhance your personality. 

I chose IIT Ropar Electrical branch over mediocre branches at old IITs and CSE at newer ones. I am quite happy with my decision and do not regret it in the least. 

My cousin hailed from a middle-class family and cleared BITSAT in one go. His father somehow managed to pay the fees for the first semester.

After joining he approached the SBI stall and found out about the educational loans they were offering. Ever since then whenever he received a fee demand form, he submitted it to the bank that took care of his entire college fee including food and accommodation. He did not have to spend any money except for his personal expenses. The scholarships are given solely on the basis of merit here. 

However, BITS Pilani fees face a hike every year so I don’t think the ROI of non-CS branches is worth being considered by middle-class families. 

St Joseph’s College is widely known for its premium education, top-notch infrastructure, and dedicated faculty pool. It attracts the best crowd and has given birth to many successful people that have made huge contributions in diverse fields such as politics, business, government jobs, journalism, etc 

Here are a few highlights of the vibrant campus life here

• The teachers are experts in their respective field, and focus on holistic development of the students and not only academics. 
• There are more than 45 societies that promote career counseling or literary activities. These societies strongly focus on the personality development of the students.
• The college enjoys a good location as it is situated in the heart of Bangalore city.
• The infrastructure is state-of-the-art with fully air-conditioned and huge classrooms 
• The cafe serves delicious food at low prices.
• The college has its own gymnasium and other sports facilities like football, tennis, badminton, squash, table tennis, shooting, etc.
• The exchange program provides a lot of exposure and experience to the students as you get to interact with a wide range of people and expand your knowledge base.
• The excellent academics here prepares the students for competitive exams too.
• As for the placements, students sit for placements from the 3rd year. Some major recruiters include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Deloitte, IBM, Dell, Google, JP Morgan, and many more. The packages vary from 50k - 11 according to the company. 

So it’s safe to say that St Joseph's College provides an excellent environment for the all-round development of an Individual by blending academics and extracurricular activities perfectly.