So, the 4 year B.Tech in Computer Science is complete from DU. Yes, this is the University of Delhi from where I and a thousand strong more did a B.Tech which, I think is pretty much unheard of. But believe me, it did made a lot of noise about 4 years ago when the then HRD Minister decided to port all the 3 year courses at University of Delhi to 4 year courses in a program called the Four Year Undergraduate Program (FYUP). Adding more mockery to this, B.Tech was also started.
I'm not gonna dwell into those 4 years to explain how the FYUP was rolled back after a regime change and how a protest by a thousand strong made our B.Tech stay and get an AICTE approval.
4 years went by and the inevitable happened which was already expected by almost all the students. No Placements arrived. No IT Companies visited. No Mass Recruiters visited leaving this standalone batch hanging in mid-air.
I decided to pursue a 6-month Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Computing (PGDAC) from CDAC (Center for development of advanced computing). I heard of this from my mother after she came to know of someone who also studied from CDAC. It also provides M.Tech program for 2 years with tie-up with regional universities like IP university in Delhi. But since, a job was the priority, I gave the entrance exam called C-CAT to get admission to the training centers and other private institutes affiliated to CDAC. I gave the exam at CDAC-Noida. The exam was computer based with an option for students to bring their own laptops.
The exam is pretty simple for the CS students who have also given some other entrance exams like CAT or GATE. The C-CAT exam for CDAC is held twice in 12 months for 2 batches a year. One in June (for august admissions), other in December(for February admissions).
The syllabus for the 3 sections A,B,C are given below. Each section is of 1 Hour and section A is compulsory for admission to any course. Depending upon your choice of course, you will have to give exam for either Section A only, Section A+B or Section A+B+C. More detailed information can be found in the Admission Booklet.
Syllabus :
I'm not gonna dwell into those 4 years to explain how the FYUP was rolled back after a regime change and how a protest by a thousand strong made our B.Tech stay and get an AICTE approval.
4 years went by and the inevitable happened which was already expected by almost all the students. No Placements arrived. No IT Companies visited. No Mass Recruiters visited leaving this standalone batch hanging in mid-air.
I decided to pursue a 6-month Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Computing (PGDAC) from CDAC (Center for development of advanced computing). I heard of this from my mother after she came to know of someone who also studied from CDAC. It also provides M.Tech program for 2 years with tie-up with regional universities like IP university in Delhi. But since, a job was the priority, I gave the entrance exam called C-CAT to get admission to the training centers and other private institutes affiliated to CDAC. I gave the exam at CDAC-Noida. The exam was computer based with an option for students to bring their own laptops.
The exam is pretty simple for the CS students who have also given some other entrance exams like CAT or GATE. The C-CAT exam for CDAC is held twice in 12 months for 2 batches a year. One in June (for august admissions), other in December(for February admissions).
The syllabus for the 3 sections A,B,C are given below. Each section is of 1 Hour and section A is compulsory for admission to any course. Depending upon your choice of course, you will have to give exam for either Section A only, Section A+B or Section A+B+C. More detailed information can be found in the Admission Booklet.
Syllabus :
- Section A English, Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning
- Section B Computer Fundamentals, C Programming, Data Structures, Data Communication & Networking, Object Oriented Programming Concepts, Operating Systems
- Section C Computer Architecture, Digital Electronics, Microprocessors
Note: Each Section has 50 Question
So that makes it 50 Questions for 60 minutes.
Since I was opting for their flagship program PGDAC, I gave Section A+B on 25 June 2017 at their CDAC Noida center. The exam started an hour and a half late due to some server problems. Since the exam is computer based, all you have to is open a browser (preferably Mozilla Firefox) on their system and go to the URL provided at that time. Login with the details on your Admit Card, carefully read instructions and wait for invigilators' go. After each section, a break for 10-15 minutes will be provided. The aptitude part is pretty easy but can take time so brush up your skills. The computer science part is easy, only if you remember everything you studied in those 4 years and remember the concepts to the detail.
Only a few questions (5-7) out of 50 for Section B will be straightforward. Rest will require some thinking to do. Overall, you can complete this part easily before time and still go through all the questions once before submission.
I attempted around 32 questions in section A, mostly with confidence when the time ran out and around 40 questions in section B. The results came : I got rank 786 for section A and 576 for Section A+B. That means my rank that mattered for the admissions was 576 among all those who gave section A+B exam.
From what I searched on the net about CDAC, the city Pune will be frequently discussed as the CDAC Headquarters are located in Pune itself along with other top institutes for PG Diploma like Sunbeam, while other centers like Noida, Mohali etc don't find a mention anywhere. Bangalore and Mumbai are also above average if I go by the information available on the web and take them at face value.
With rank 576, going through the 480 seat strong top 2 institutes - CDAC Pune and Sunbeam Pune seemed probable as each and every student ranked better than me won't select the same PGDAC course or same center in their preferences. As it turns out, i am allotted sunbeam Pune. That means now I am inside the 480 odd students opting for CDAC from either CDAC pune or Sunbeam. My chances for CDAC pune seem improbable but not impossible as I wait for the 2nd round of seat allocation in a few days. The CDAC Pune chapter seems final now as I prepare myself to live alone for a 6 months (or more....) which I haven't till yet but ultimately, it had to happen at some point.
CDAC Pune or Sunbeam Pune don't Hostel facilities available but they have tie-ups with independent PGs and accommodations. I found a list with the contacts of the PGs online for Sunbeam Pune here.
But I don't think the choice of room to sleep will matter as most of our time will be spent at the centers only.
I have to report to the center on 16th August while the session starts the next day. Going through the Sunbeam website, I went though a notice for the Sunbeam Karad students (Near Pune) which gave some instructions before the start of the session. Some of them are :
- Formals for Mondays and Thursdays
- An assignment in C language and Data structures to be submitted before the session starts.
This really prepares one of what's to come in the next 6 months. Since I am also admitted to Sunbeam, the instructions will be more or less same. So, I better start brushing up the concepts now itself.
I will keep updating this blog with more insights in the coming months ( If I find time :) )
