My Experience with IIT Indore UG Inbound Program 2025 (Final Semester at IIT Indore)

IIT Indore is one of the most prestigious institutes in India for Science and Technology. What many students from Madhya Pradesh don’t know is that IIT Indore offers a special UG Inbound Program for meritorious students of the state. Through this program, selected students from government engineering colleges of Madhya Pradesh get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to study their final semester at IIT Indore itself.

Let me share everything about the program, including eligibility, selection process, and my personal journey — from filling the form to actually living at IIT Indore for my 8th semester.

🎓 Eligible College

Only 5 Government Engineering Colleges of Madhya Pradesh are eligible for the UG Inbound Program:

1. Rewa Engineering College (REC Rewa) 2. Jabalpur Engineering College (JEC Jabalpur) 3. Ujjain Engineering College (UEC Ujjain) 4. Indira Gandhi Engineering College (IGEC Sagar) 5. UIT RGPV, Bhopal

👉 No private or other government colleges are eligible.

📝 Selection Process

There are 3 rounds to get into IIT Indore UG Inbound Program:

1. CGPA-based Shortlisting

• HODs of the respective colleges circulate a Google Form link in college WhatsApp groups.
• Students fill the form.
• Based on CGPA, top 50–60 students across MP (per branch) are shortlisted for the CBT round.

2. CBT (Computer Based Test)

• Conducted in the computer labs of the respective colleges under supervision of teachers.
• Pattern: 25 Questions | 50 Marks | 60 Minutes +2 for correct, -1/3 for incorrect
• Mostly GATE syllabus & PYQs
• Platform: Google-form like dashboard.
• Strict proctoring: if you switch windows, you get kicked out immediately.

👉 After CBT, around top 25 students per branch are shortlisted for the Interview.

3. Interview

• Conducted online (Google Meet).
• Each student is given a time slot.
• Panel of 6–7 IIT Indore professors.
• Questions are mostly: They ask you your interest subjects and ask questions from them (I said Computer Networks and OS so they asked me CN questions for like straight 5 mins and I answered all of them. The Questions were from the Routing Types, Routing Table, Count to Infinity Problem etc.)
• You are suggested to prepare 3–4 subjects of your interest, which you can answer anything. If you have prepared those subjects from GATE POV, then you can easily answer their questions.
• Then they ask you about your projects, your domain (like Development, ML, what technology you are working at, etc.) then they asked questions from that Technology/Project, the logic that Project. In my case I mentioned ML and my project was also in ML, so they asked me the logic behind my ML project: Calorie Burn Prediction System, the logic that was used, what regression model I used, why only that why not some other, how that regression model works and I answered it). They asked more questions from ML as I mentioned my interest as ML (Linear vs Logistic Regression, Decision Trees). Although I was able to answer some of them and missed few.

Even though I couldn’t answer some ML questions, I confidently answered all my core CS subjects, which helped a lot.

🎯 Your Selection — The Interview Decides Everything

• The final selection for the IIT Indore UG Inbound Program mainly depends on your interview performance — and more importantly, on how well your interest area aligns with that of the professors interviewing you.
• During the interview, if your answers and interests match a professor’s research domain, they may recommend your name for selection. But if there’s no match, even a good performance might not guarantee a spot. That’s the key — it’s all about alignment.
• For example, in my case, I answered Computer Networks questions continuously throughout my interview, and I was selected by Prof. Neminath Hubbali Sir, who is a Computer Networks Professor at IIT Indore and I was working under him at IITI.
• Same with the other selected students, all are selected by the professors whose research area matches with your interest, what you answer well in the interview, you need to be clear. IIT Indore has to select up to 10 students but still they selected only 6 because they found only 6 students to be having the same interest area as of theirs.

Each student is recommended by a professor and then when you’ll reach IITI your major project will be under that professor who recommended you and you’ll choose your subjects based on their recommendations and your coordination.

📩 The Final Selection

• After a few days, the final mail from IIT Indore popped up. I wasn’t expecting my selection since I didn’t answer some ML question, but my friend called me and said Tera Hogya h.
• Me and my 2 more friends were selected from CSE branch from Rewa Engineering College. To my surprise — I was not only selected, but ranked 1st in the list of 6 selected CSE students from MP!

A total of 6 students from CSE were selected, 3 from Rewa Engineering College and 3 From Jabalpur Engineering College, although only 4 of us joined 3 from REC and 1 from JEC (other 2 from JEC prioritized their GATE Preparation or placements).

💰 Fees & Joining

We had to pay ₹40,000 total:

1. Hostel: ₹16,000
2. Mess: ₹16,000
3. Medical: ₹1,500
4. Gymkhana clubs: ₹1,500
5. Security deposit: ₹5,000 (refundable)

👉 No tuition fee at IIT Indore, only pay at your parent institute. We reported on 3rd January (classes began on 6th Jan).

🏫 Academic Life at IIT Indore

• We studied along with IITians, attended the same classes, wrote the same exams, and were graded by IIT Indore Professors.
• In IITs the B.Tech, M.Tech, MS, PhD all sit in the same classroom, study the same syllabus and all give the same exam for the same question paper.
• The Marking of each subject is divided into assignments, projects, mid sem & attendance.The marking scheme is told by the Profressors during the 1st few Classes of that Subject.
• You need to strictly submit all your assignments, projects on time without copying. The assignments are checked by the Turnitin Plisgrism & AI checker. Although Assignments and Projects help us to pass and score Good in that Subject.
• The Labs of IIT Indore are open 24*7 , you can study / use computers all the time. Me and one Mtech guy used to study the Advance Computer Networks in the Neminath Sir’s Lab.
• For Inbound Students, the grades were forwarded to our parent colleges/universities by IIT Indore to prepare final marksheets by our Rgpv University.
• Credits: Our RGPV University scheme required 18 credits in 8th semester so in IITI, the BTech Project consists 8 credits for Inbound Students and each Subject carries 3 Credits So we fulfilled our required 18 Credits by getting 8 credits from our B.Tech Project at IITI and Remaining 10 through subjects (each 3 credits). So we took 4 subjects = 4*3= 12 credits → total 20 credits Fulfilling our 18 credits.
• JEC students being autonomous had 14 only credit requirement for 8th sem, so they Fulfilled it by taking 8 credits from their Btech Project and 6 credis by taking only 2 Subjects Fulfilling their 14 Credits Criteria.
• IITs have Relative Grading systems, if the question paper was made of 70 marks but the topper got 50 then the other students will be graded based out of 50. Means if you got 35 then it will be graded as 35/50 not 35/70. Which gives a better grade.

Subjects Offered in 2025 (8th Sem CSE IIT Indore) May change in future.

• Algebraic Graph Theory
• Machine Learning
• Pattern Recognition
• Service Oriented Systems
• Foundations of Cyber-Physical Systems
• Advanced Computer Networks
• Computer Vision
• Cryptography & Network Security

My subjects: Advanced Computer Networks Computer Vision Service Oriented Systems Rural Development (social elective)

🍴 Hostel Life

• There’re 4 Hostels in IIT Indore, CV Raman, Vikram Sarabhai, Homi Jahangir (For PhD, Inbound students both Male & Female & Guets) and One Girls Hostel also). Inside the HJB Hostel , Some Units in the Ground Floor are reserved for the Girls and are secured by security Guard 24*7. Inbound Students are allotted the HJB Hostel.
• Hostels were modern, double occupancy, with 2 lifts inneach hostel, smart fans inside each room, RO water inside Common Kitchens, Water cooler at each Floor, hot/cold water taps in washrooms, Common washing machine Area, common gym in each Hostel, carrom/TT/TV, badminton courts inside each Hostel.
• Hostel Units were like 5BHK flats with common hall, kitchen, and balcony. We stayed in PhD hostels, not B.Tech hostels.
• Each Hostel Has a Badminton Court in the between surrounded by Huge walls of the hostel building which prevents SpeedyAir to hinder the Game.
• Washing Area : Each Hostel Has a Washing Area, which Has 6 Fully Automatic washing machines. It’s a Pay and Use service, you can pay 35rs for a 7 Kg 40 min wash, the clothes comes out after they are washed Rinsed and Dried. You can put your cloths into the washing machine while going to the mess and when you’ll return you’ll get them washed & dried, just put them over the rope for more drying.
• Each Hostel Unit Has a Wifi repeater, providing a ~150 Mbps speed enough for you.

🍔🛍️ Mess Food & Outlets Inside IIT Indore

• 3 messes: Gauri Mess, K-Star, Kanka. Each mess had veg, non-veg, and Jain food counters. Breakfast: always fresh (milk, fruits, eggs, etc.) Lunch included drinks, dinner had sweets. CSE HOD & Profressors also eat at the same Mess.Paneer dishes & Non-veg is available on extra payment.
• There are Late night Canteens inside the Mess, which offers Paneer Parathas, Aloo Parathas, and non veg food that is prepared separately also. We used to go with our Inbound Friends at 2 am for Aloo Parathas.
• There is Also an Amul Outlet inside the Campus where you can Purchase all Amul Icecreams, Lassi ( my fav ) , chaacha , Burgers, Pizza, Fries etc. It is also open Late Nights.
• There’s a Dominos Outlet also inside the Campus, which is the hub of Birthday Party Celebrations and offers all the Different varieties of Pizza available in the Dominos.
• There’s a Nescafe Outlet also behind POD 1D, which also offers cold & Hot Coffee, Maggi, Pasta, and much more in Fast Food.
• There’s a DailyNeeds Shop inside the GauriMess Building, which is also open at late night and we can purchase cold drinks, Icecream, Bedsheets, Maggi Packets, And all Daily Life related things from Groceries to Bathroom Soaps & Mugs.
• There’s a La Fresko Shop near the Library, which also famous for Selling Various IIT Tshirts, IIT Caps, IIT water Bottles, IIT Watermarked Stationary and more Personal grooming things.
• Outside La Fresko, there’s a Fruit and Vegetables Outlet Also, where we can Purchase Fresh Fruits & Vegetables.
• In the Same Building of La Fresko, In the 1st Floor there’s a Barber Shop also, where you need to come and take appointment because that’s the only Hair and Grooming Shop for Boys inside the IITI Campus. Don’t worry he calls you when your slot comes, you don’t need to wait at the shop you can just write your contact Details in his diary and he’ll call you when your slot comes.
• In the Swadhyay Building, there’s a Ravachi Which is a Printout Factory and Stationary Shop. You can purchase Sports Equipments from there also,

Initially we were defaulted to Gauri mess, then we switched to K-Star using mess Form option that opens every month but you need to wait until you get the @iiti[dot]ac[dot]in email IDs (generated after 1 month from Academic Office)

🎉 Campus Life

• Facilities: Gym, sports complex, cricket ground, volleyball court, swimming pool. The best pari is the *247 Open Huge Swadhyay (Library) **which is fully filled during Mid & End Sems, hospital (free under fees), and student clubs included. I used to study my Advanced Computer Networks at nights inside Swadhyay before my End Sems.
• Holi Celebration that was full of Mud DJ and kapde faad holi.
• Fluxus 2025 (IIT Indore’s cultural fest): Day 1: Talks (Gajendra Purohit, IIT profs, etc.) Day 2: Science exhibition, cultural events, DJ Night Day 3: Sonu Nigam live performance 🎶

📚 IITians of IIT Indore

• The BTech Students of IIT Indore also helped us in every phase. Initially when we were not registered in the courses, they forwarded us every mail regarding our Classes , Campus Events and all.
• IIT Indore doesn’t register the e-mails of Inbound students in Allstudents email group, so we didn’t receive any mail apart from our classes and Hostel emails. So our BTech friends of IIT Indore used to forward us all the mails that were supposed to be for us too. They are friendly and supportive. Please don’t hesitate to ask them for help.

📚 Exams at IIT Indore

• Midsem (30 marks) + Endsem (70 marks). Mid & End cover non-overlapping syllabus (post-mid only for endsem). Exams are application-based, not theory-mugging.
• Biggest challenge: no gaps between exams, sometimes 2 exams in one day (It happened to me with ACN & SOS I gave the Advance Computer Networks & Service Oriented Systems Mid sem & End Sem Exams on Same day, just 2 hours gap between Same Day Exams). IIT Indore makes you ready to handle all pressure.

After endsem, we had Major Project Presentations in front of 4–5 professors. Then came project file submissions.

📊 Placement Opportunities — The Reality You Should Know

• One important thing every aspirant should know UG Inbound students are not eligible for IIT Indore’s official placement drives. By the time you reach there, most of the IITI students are already placed in top multinational companies like Google, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, Atlassian, Zomato, and many more.
• But don’t let this discourage you. ✨Even though you won’t sit for IIT Indore’s placements, what you’ll gain during your semester there is far more valuable — exposure, technical depth, confidence, and a true research culture. You’ll learn how students at a premier institute think, how they approach problems, and how they build projects that stand out. That environment alone will push you to level up.
• So while you’re at IIT Indore, keep preparing for your parent college placements and explore off-campus opportunities as well — be it through internships, coding contests, hackathons, or direct company drives.
• Think of your time at IIT Indore as a launchpad, not a destination. The knowledge, connections, and experiences you gain there will make you much stronger when it’s your turn to step into the placement season. 🚀

🌟 Final Goodbye

On 21st May, I left IIT Indore after finishing exams, project, and presentations. It was an emotional moment — carrying countless memories, friendships, and an invaluable experience of living and studying at an IIT.

• We Got our IIT Indore Certificate in the month of July 2025
• In Our Marksheet of 8th semester, it is mentioned that we studied 8th semester from IIT Indore
• The Degree and Marksheets of Inbound Students of RGPV becomes delayed because of the procedures but I got my Marksheet for 8th semester, Provisional Degree and Migration Certificate On 4th October 2025.

🔑 Key Takeaways

1. Only 5 MP govt colleges are eligible.
2. 3-stage selection: CGPA → CBT → Interview.
3. You don’t pay tuition at IIT Indore, only hostel + mess fees.
4. Academics are intense but practical, unlike many parent colleges.
5. Hostel/mess facilities are top-notch.
6. Placements: You are not eligible for IIT Indore placements, must rely on parent college or off-campus.
7. Experience of a lifetime — studying with IITians, learning from top professors, living the IIT campus life.

✅ This was my journey — from doubting myself after the interview, to being Rank 1 in CSE UG Inbound 2025 Batch selection, to finally spending an unforgettable semester at IIT Indore.

• It’s the dream of every Engineering aspirant to land into an IIT and UG Inbound program made this dream come true for us.
• Although we came to IIT Indore for just one semester, the experience we gained here was truly meaningful and full of learning.
• Even though our time here was short, it gave us the kind of exposure, learnings, and experiences that will stay with us forever.

Overall, IIT Indore gave me much more than just academic knowledge. It helped shape who I am today — more confident, responsible, and ready for future challenges.

Thanks for reading. All the Best for your upcoming Journey. If you are preparing for UG Inbound Exam / Interview and want any suggestions from me, you can reach me at jainsahabakshatjain@gmail.com . Just Drop me a email and put the subject at UG Inbound Program with your Contact Details, I’ll ping you at your WhatsApp.