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Is branch change possible?

Yes, branch change is possible after the first year. However, you should never take admission in a branch assuming that you will definitely switch to another one later.

Branch change is a special opportunity available to a small number of students who perform exceptionally well in their first year. Most students remain in their originally allotted branch. Even students with very high CGPAs may not get their desired branch because branch change depends on both merit and seat availability.

How does branch change work?

Branch change is primarily based on:

  • Your first-year CGPA
  • Availability of seats in the target branch
  • Your category
  • Institute branch change rules for that year

Students are generally considered in order of merit (CGPA), and branch allotment is done based on available vacancies and preferences.

What CGPA is required?

There is no fixed CGPA that guarantees a branch change.

For highly demanded branches such as:

  • Computer Science and Engineering (CSE)
  • Information Technology (IT)
  • Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE)
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

students typically need an exceptionally high CGPA.

As a rule of thumb:

  • 9.0+ CGPA keeps you competitive.
  • 9.5+ CGPA is usually what students should aim for if they are seriously targeting top branches.
  • The higher your CGPA, the better your chances.

Where do vacancies come from?

Vacancies are created when students move between branches.

For example:

  1. A Mechanical Engineering student moves to CSE.
  2. The Mechanical Engineering seat becomes vacant.
  3. Another eligible student may move into Mechanical Engineering.
  4. This creates a chain of branch movements.

Because vacancies depend on student movement, the number of available seats changes every year and cannot be predicted in advance.

Does category matter?

Yes.

Branch change is carried out category-wise according to institute rules.

  • There are Open category vacancies and reserved category vacancies.
  • Availability depends on which seats become vacant.
  • Category can affect which vacancies you are eligible for.
  • There is no separate reservation for female students during branch change.
  • There is no separate EWS seat for branch change. (This doesn't make you ineligible fee remission, but there are no seats that are only exclusive to GEN-EWS, they have to compete for OPEN seats)

How many students actually change branches?

Only a small fraction of the batch changes branches every year.

Think of branch change as a luxury available to a few top-performing students, not something that every student can rely on.

If it happens, great.

If it doesn't, you should still be comfortable studying the branch you originally joined.

Previous Years' Branch Change Notices

The best way to understand how branch change works is to look at actual vacancy lists from previous years:

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