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Engineering in India vs Abroad: Is it Better to do Engineering in India or Abroad?

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Sumeet Jain
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Engineering Abroad vs India, which one of them is better is the most common question among science graduates nowadays. An Engineering degree should be pursued at an institution that offers a good quality of education and gives you the best career opportunities. While India is home to some best Engineering colleges like IITs, NITs or BITs, an engineering degree abroad offers you a number of perks, such as the best infrastructure, no entrance exams, and endless career possibilities. 

Thus, keeping both countries in mind, most students find it difficult to choose between engineering India vs Abroad. If you, too, are confused between the two, read this blog to learn the difference between engineering in India and abroad and which one is better.

Let’s get started!

Table of Contents

Benefits of Studying Engineering in Abroad vs India

There are a number of key factors that one should take into account before deciding on study options. The most significant feature of studying engineering abroad is the diversified culture and lifestyle it offers. Along with this, the other benefits of pursuing an engineering degree in abroad are:

  • There are a large number of high-quality technical education that offer various engineering specialisations to study. This makes a positive impact on an individual's personal growth, along with contributing a lot to their overall personality development.
  • This is a highly interactive degree that helps students gain professional experiences by doing internships and connections with global minds.
  • By enrolling on engineering colleges abroad students can learn about tackling various problems from different angles.
  • The greatest benefit of studying for an engineering degree abroad is that it can inspire and stimulate students' creativity. So if you are planning to pursue an engineering specialisation abroad, your surroundings will make a huge impact on how you approach your goals.

Read: Aerospace Engineering UK

Now that we know about the benefits of studying an engineering degree, let's take a look at the entrance exam requirements for India and Abroad engineering.

Entrance Exam Requirements for Engineering in India vs Abroad

The entrance exam requirements depend on where you are going to take admission between engineering India vs Abroad.

  • The most common entrance required to study an engineering degree in India is Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and JEE Advanced. Apart from JEE, some of the institutes also conduct separate entrance exams for admission such as BITS, VITEEE, OUCET, WBJEE, etc.
  • Getting higher rankings in JEE will let you get admission to Top NITs and IIITs whereas JEE Advanced is required for admission to IITs.
  • Followed by qualifying in the entrance examination, students are needed to appear in a counselling process to decide which college belongs to their JEE ranks.
  • Just like JEE, standardised tests like Standard Aptitude Test (SAT) are taken to get admission in Engineering Abroad. This is a major difference between the admission requirements of Indian colleges and abroad universities. Some may also accept ACT scores for admission in place of SAT.
  • SAT is much more flexible and considered easier to qualify than JEE Mains in terms of its syllabus, acceptance rate, and the number of applications.

Read: SAT vs JEE

Hence if you are not sure enough whether it is good to do engineering India vs abroad, you can also take admissions to some foreign universities as there it is not mandatory to submit the test scores.

Eligibility Criteria for Engineering in India vs Abroad

The eligibility criteria to be eligible for admission in engineering abroad and in India are slightly the same. However, the main requirements will depend on the university and the program you are applying for. But there are some common standards that are followed by all engineering institutes. For Engineering in India, all the institutions here have the same eligibility criteria.

Here is a brief overview of both abroad and Indian Engineering Institutions.

Engineering Abroad

Engineering India

Have completed high school with good academic records at least 75%.

Cleared the English language proficiency test.

Have a good Standardised test score (if applicable).

Scores 60% to 80% aggregate in main subjects Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

LORs, SOP, Resume and Personal Essay etc.

Must be an Indian citizen

Passed higher secondary education with an aggregate of 60% in core subjects such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, and English.

Passed in Engineering Entrance Exams such as JEE, BITS, VITEEE depending on the college.

Read: Engineering SOP

Cost of Studying Engineering in India vs Abroad

While discussing Engineering in India and abroad, at one point you will definitely search the difference between engineering in India and abroad in terms of the tuition fees and costs. Here we have compared the cost of studying engineering in India vs Abroad.

1.  Tuition Fees

When we talk about the tuition fees of an engineering degree in India vs Abroad, there is a huge difference between the two. Let’s take a look.

  • Studying Engineering in India will cost you somewhere between INR 4,00,000 to INR 10,00,000.
  • Whereas if you are planning to pursue an engineering course from top study abroad destinations like the US, UK, or Australia, the tuition fees can go up to INR 65,00,000 or even more.
  • Engineering in the USA or UK is the costliest and the tuition fees of some top Engineering universities cost you around INR 50,00,000 to INR 85,00,000 or more.
  • Engineering from Canada might cost you less than in other countries.

Therefore, the tuition fees abroad are more expensive than that in India for pursuing Engineering.

2.  Cost of Living

The living expenses of a student is also another aspect of the costs of your engineering degree in between India vs Abroad. Let's take a brief look at the living expenses.

  • The average living costs for a student in India is around INR 20,000 to 30,000 per month.
  • On the other hand, when you are looking to get an Engineering degree Abroad, you will also have to save up to INR 60,000 or more for your living expenses.

Therefore, the cost of living is also more in abroad compared in India. However, by reducing their lifestyle choices one can balance this aspect.

Read: Engineering in Germany

Now you know that the overall cost of studying abroad is more than in India. But so is the return. Let’s check the engineering courses in India vs Abroad.

Engineering in India vs Abroad: Course Structure

The difference between engineering in India and abroad cannot be ignored when you are looking at the course structure of the same. Yo compare which is better engineering in India or abroad, here we have compared the course structure of an engineering India vs abroad:

 Basis of Comparison

 Basis of Comparison

Engineering in India

Engineering Abroad

Course Duration

4 years

3-4 years

Study Duration

Full Time

Full-time, part-time, online

Specialisations

Computer Science Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Information Technology, Automobile Engineering etc

Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering etc

Teaching Method

Focuses mainly on theoretical concepts and less on practical applications.

Provides an in-depth theoretical and practical oriented understanding of the subjects.

Read: Engineering in UK

Placements after Engineering in India vs Abroad

If you are in a dilemma, which is better Engineering in India or Engineering Abroad? The placements and salary prospects might help you a lot in deciding between India vs Abroad. Here we have compared the placements offered to Engineering students in India vs Abroad.

  • You will find it much easier to get jobs if you have completed your engineering from Top Engineering Colleges such as IITs, BITs or Jadavpur University. Having a good academic achievement, internships, and an excellent profile will get you several job opportunities during placements.
  • The general placement process of Indian Engineering Institutions is that companies first take an aptitude test, interview and send an offer letter to the deserving candidates.
  • However, abroad the main challenge of getting jobs after completing engineering is that you cannot simply get a job offer, you have to focus a lot on enhancing your skills, networking, internships, extra courses etc and go to and will have to travel an extra step to get a suitable job.

Read: Civil Engineering Courses in New Zealand

Now let's see the difference between the two in terms of salary perspectives.

Salary after Engineering in India vs Abroad

Depending on your technical skills, disciplines, specialisations, academic records, internships l and how you have performed in your interview process as well as in the aptitude round, your salaries after Engineering in India vs Abroad will be as follows.

  • You can get a job that pays you between INR 4,00,000 to INR 8,00,000 after completing an Engineering from India.
  • If you have been hired for an entry-level job in India you can get around INR 3.5 Lakhs to 6 lakhs per annum.
  • Graduates of IITs, NITs or BITs etc can expect an average salary package of INR 8,00,000 to INR 15,00,000 per year depending on your specialisations.
  • Job prospects after Engineering Abroad give you much more salary than in India.
  • If you have completed your graduation from top-ranked engineering universities, you can get a job with a salary as high as INR 35,00,000 per year.
  • Even graduates of some other universities can get you a pay package of INR 14,00,000 to 23,00,000 per annum.

With this, we can say that from the salary point of view an Engineering from abroad is much better than from India. Now let's take an overview of the costs of studying an engineering degree from abroad vs India.

Read: Engineering Colleges Abroad

Next, let’s check the engineering colleges out of India.

Top Engineering Colleges for Engineering in India vs Abroad

The next factor that can answer your questions about whether it is better to study Engineering in India or abroad is the list of some top engineering colleges.

First, take a look at the top engineering colleges out of India with their QS World University Rankings 2023 and see which is better engineering in India or abroad.

University Name

QS Rankings 2023

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

1

University of Cambridge, UK

2

Stanford University, USA

3

University of Oxford, UK

4

Imperial College London, UK

6

ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Singapore

9

National University of Singapore

11

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

19

University of California, Berkeley USA

27

Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

61

Now, you know how to pursue BTech from foreign. Next, let's see the top 5 universities for Engineering degree abroad.

Country

University Name

USA

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Stanford University

University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

Harvard University

California Institute of Technology

UK

 

University of Cambridge

University of Oxford

Imperial College London

The University of Manchester

The University of Edinburgh

Canada

 

University of Toronto

University of British Columbia

University of Waterloo

McGill University

Université de Montréal

Australia

 

The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)

The University of Melbourne

Monash University

The University of Sydney

The Australian National University

Germany

 

Technical University of Munich

RWTH Aachen University

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin)

KIT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Technische Universität Dresden

Read: Scholarships for Engineering Abroad

These are some of the best universities for Engineering in India vs Abroad or to pursue BTech from foreign. Now let's see some of the pros and cons of an engineering degree in India or Abroad.

Pros and Cons of Engineering in India vs Abroad

To conclude our entire discussion, let's take a glance at the pros and cons of studying engineering from India and abroad. This will help you decide whether or not to study engineering from abroad.

1.  Engineering India Pros:

  • Affordable tuition fees and living costs compared to engineering abroad.
  • Familiar study environment and easier to adjust.
  • Application process and placements are somewhat easier if from top colleges.

2.  Engineering India Cons:

  • Theoretical Studies do not properly focus on practical applications.
  • Average salary after graduation is much less and the job offers are also limited.
  • Higher Competition in Taking admission
  • Do not focus on skill development.

Next, let’s check the engineering from abroad pros and cons.

1.  Engineering Abroad Pros:

  • Highest Salary Package than in India.
  • Best Quality of Education.
  • Global Exposures.
  • Diversified Engineering Environment.
  • Wide range of specialisations to study.

2.  Engineering Abroad Cons:

  • Very high tuition fees and the cost of living.
  • You may find it difficult to adjust to the classroom environment.
  • Admissions process is quite lengthy and needs extensive requirements.
  • Competitive admission, needs some extra documents.

Suggested: Study Engineering Abroad

Now that we have reached the end, we can say that there are no ideal destinations for studying engineering abroad vs India. Simply, you have to put your all efforts to extract better opportunities available before you. Engineering is the most competitive course that has been chosen by a number of students every year. The dilemma of choosing which is better engineering in India or abroad is a common issue.

Now that after reading this blog, we expect that you get all your queries answered. However, if you still have some questions and want expert assistance from our counsellors, choose Yocket premium services.

Also Read:

Mechanical Engineering UK

SOP for Industrial Engineering

Engineering Management USA

MS in Software Engineering

 

Frequently Asked Questions about Engineering in India or Abroad

Is it better to do Engineering Abroad than India?

Which is the best country for engineering abroad?

Is an Engineering from India valid abroad?

Which is cheaper, Engineering abroad vs India?

Is it better to do Engineering in India vs Abroad?

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