Well here's a post for the aspirants about the PS System of BITS. The post basically answers the following questions: What is it ,PS vs. internship, PS2 stations, PS and placements/rankings.

Q1.a) What’s this Practice School Program?

A) PS is a Course of BITS - Pilani University, running in all BITS Campuses. It is compulsory for all students.



PS has 2 components PS1 and PS2.PS1 is a 5 unit course and is of 2 months duration, done during the 2 months summer vacations after the 2nd year.PS2 is a 20 unit course and is of 6 months duration, done during the final year of a student. Dual Degree Students get 2 PS2 courses (i.e. their entire 5th year.

 For PS1, companies aren't degree selective. But for PS2, most companies are degree/skills/course selective.

PS1 is exposure-oriented while PS2 is project oriented.

And both are off-campus i.e. you work at the location of the organization's office

Q1.b)Is it applicable to ALL the Campuses?

Yes , and applicable EQUALLY. All PS Stations are open to ALL the students of the Pilani, Goa and in future, Hyderabad Campuses.

The Dubai Campus has a PS system too but their stations are located mainly in the Middle-East, so we shall exclude them for the current discussion.

Criteria for PS2 Station Allotment:

1)Preferences

2)CGPA

3)Branch

4)Projects done

We shall now discuss mainly about PS2.

Q2)So it’s a kind of an internship?

A) Not really. Unlike normal Internships, BITS has made links with the companies and you don't need to apply separately for the companies.

BITS faculty visit PS Stations (i.e. Host Companies) at least 2 times a week. A senior person in the organization (usually the HR/General Manager) oversees the BITSians' work and progress. The student is thus monitored and graded on various parameters. In short BITS has a formal agreement with the company.

In an internship , all your college can do is give you a recommendation letter and certify that you are a bonafide student. But in PS, you go to the company on behalf of BITS.

Because of this excellent PS System , BITSians rarely apply for internships.

Q3)So any fees?

A) Yes , 2 months summer term + Semester fees , approx Rs.34K for Pilani and Rs.38K for Goa.

Q4)Too bad....   :(

A) Not really!

In PS2 , ALL organizations pay stipends. PSU's and Research Instis pay lesser( around Rs. 10K pm or lesser) , but MNCs pay very well( Rs. 15K to 25K pm).

And foreign PS Stations(many more got opened this year) , pay an average of $1500-$2000 pm. Note that this is an above average stipend for a foreign country.

And the cost of living in these countries (mainly US/Europe) is quite high.

BITS is well justified in charging such fees. After all, the faculty members/volunteers etc. have to be paid, their transport arranged and other such logistical work has to be done.

Q5)Name some good companies which are PS Stations. And what about the foreign ones?

A)There are over 150 different organizations which have hosted PS Stations, some have hosted at more than 1 location.

As for seats, Indian PS2 stations can offer 5 – 15 seats for BITSians(combined , for all campuses).Foreign are usually lesser (3-8 )for all. It depends on the org. how many seats it wants to give. This is for 1 semester and it can change semester-wise. In 1 semester approx 400+300 students go for PS2.

There is no shortage of seats for PS2 or PS1.In fact many seats go unfilled because nobody wants to go there.

Let’s group PS2 stations as (along with some good examples):

Most of these stations are in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi. (Except for "Foreign" , :) )

a)Core CS/Information Systems

1)Amazon.com

2)Microsoft Research Labs

3)Symantec R&D

4)Verisign

5)Oracle

6)QualComm

7)SAP Labs

8)BroadComm

9)Sun Microsystems

10)Yahoo

11)VMware

12)HP Labs

Google has been a practice school station but it isn't consistently there every time.(Check older PS2 list)

b)Core EEE/EnI

1)NVidea

2)ST Microelectronics

3)FreeScale Semiconductors

4)CISCO

5)Nokia

6)Motorola

7)Honeywell

8)GE

9)Intel

10)Siemens

11)Texas

12)Cypress Semiconductors

13)DELL

14)ABB

 c)Core Mech/Chemical/Civil

1)Daimler Chrysler Research

2)Dunlop

3)Altair

4)Mahindra

5)TATA Motors

6)TVS

7)Pentiar

8)Bharat Forge

9)GE-John F Welch Technology Center(Bangalore)

10)Mercedes-Benz

d)Banks/Finance/Management Consultancy Firms

1)Morgan Stanley

2)JP Morgan and Chase

3)Goldman Sachs

4)Deloitte

5)Capital One

6)DeShaw

7)Deutshe Bank

8)Boston Analytics

9)Business Objects

e)IT Companies

1)Satyam

2)Accenture

3)Polaris

4)SAP

5)Sierra Atlantic

6)Wipro

f)Educational/Social/Research Instis

1)ISB , Hyderabad

2)UN Social and Economic Commission

3)Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, HYDERABAD

4)Industrial Toxicological Research Centre, LUCKNOW

5)National Stock Exchange

6)NCAER

7)National Physical Laboratory

8)National Remote Sensing Agency , Hyderabad

g)Pharama and Medical

1)Novartis

2)Dr. Reddy's Lab

3)Wockhardt

4)Cadila

5)Ranbaxy

6)GlaxoSmithkline

h)Foriegn

1)Cypress Semiconductors , USA

2)DreamWorks , USA

3)INSEAD Business School ,  France and Singapore

4)Infineon Germany and Singapore

5)Iowa State University

6)Helsinki University

7)Histogenetics , USA

8)Royal Institute of Technology , Sweden

9)CitiBank , UK

.....and many more.

Below the PS2 list for past July-Dec 2008 has been posted. For older lists please visit http://bits360.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10100#10100

Note these lists are not complete. Many new stations open up just before allotment and the list is often not updated.

 The list changes very often as companies opt in/out of the PS2 programme.Currently there are over 220+ PS2 stations and rising.

 Q)Hmm , it seems a lot organizations/companies are very interested in PS2.

A) Yes!Because it offers them a lot of benefits:

1) They get access to BITSian talent relatively easily. Also they are able to popularize their organizations among BITSians

2) Unlike other internships (which are much shorter), PS2 lasts for 6 months (or 1 yr for Dual Degree Students).So org. can get substantial work done.

3) For recruitment(discussed below)

Q)How does PS2 affect Placements?

A)Yes it does. And in a major way!!After training and making the BITSians work for 6 months, the org. wouldn't like to leave them just like that. It’s a major headache to lose trained and talented personnel like that.

So they usually offer a job if the student has worked well/if they have a vacancy. It saves the company time and money to hire them then and there , rather than coming to the campus, holding tests and interviews and selecting on the basis of that.

It is in fact COMMON to get placed through PS.

Last sem, PS Placements have been offered by  Infenion (Singapore),Nokia (Bangalore) , Mercedes(Bang), Cisco(Bang), Cosmic(Bang), Bharat Forge(Pune), Nvidia(Pune), Motorola(Bang), ST Microelectronics(Noida) and many more. Amazon.com(Hyd) offerred 14 lpa  domestic package to a dualite  who had  worked  for 1 yr through PS.Guess that 1 yr work exp helped as Amazon.com doesn't give freshers salaries like that.

In fact students choose PS stations which have a high probability of giving job offers.

There are exceptions (Like educational and research institutions, PSUs etc.), which don't hire through PS2.But students still go to research instis. as they are able to publish a paper under the guidance of an accomplished academician. This greatly helps the research-minded students who wish to go abroad.

Q) How does this affect Placement Statistics?

A) Ironically , it greatly DAMAGES the Placement Stats!!!!!

1)PS2 Placements are NOT recorded as Campus Placements, nor the packages offered. BITS isn't responsible for the job negotiations you do with your PS2 Host Organization.

Once a student is assured of a good job in a good PS2 Station, that student would not bother too much about campus placements, trying only for a back-up job.

2)A lot of companies on the PS2 list rarely come for campus placements to BITS.

In fact, Pilani Campus had just 78 companies for 520 students(to be placed) and Goa Campus just 41(For 198) in 1st sem 2007-08.

These figures are low when compared to the IITs and NITs.

But it must be remembered that PS2 itself is an important means for getting placed. And its list is very impressive.

3)No one really knows much about the PS System and it’s impact.

All people see is Highest/Avg/Lowest Salary offered through Campus Placements.

Average Salary offered for BITS is 4 lpa(for all branches ,all courses).Frankly this average is low for a great insti like BITS.

IT mass recruiters offer pretty much everyone a job at 3.3-4.1 lpa. Core/Foreign/Non Engg. companies each select a few at better salaries(usually 4.5-9 lpa+ domestic ,$40K-$90K for abroad.)So clearly, as IT offers are so many, the average salary offered comes down.

 Offered doesn’t mean accepted.

A student may:

1)Accept a job through Campus Placements.

2)PS or some other off-campus job offer.

3)Go for higher studies in India/Abroad.

4)Start one’s own company.

So, going just by placements can’t give you a complete picture.

Q)Has PS had any impact on the college rankings?

It is most unfortunate that ranking surveys rarely take into account the PS system of BITS Pilani.But then again I don't blame them.

NO OTHER UNIVERSITY IN INDIA has anything close to the PS System.

So I guess the surveys don't/can't have a parameter like "No. of PS Stations".

 Interestingly, BITS scored a low on Industry-Interface in the DataQuest Survey(which gave it 15th rank overall LOL)

This parameter was evaluated on the basis of "No. of Technical Journals published and Industry related Seminars held".

The FOOLS completely ignored the PS System!!!!

Check out the surveys of India Today(98-2004) , Outlook etc. and just see the “Perception of Recruiters” and “Placement ” parameter and notice that BITS has always scored very high(often above some IITs).

This is despite the fact that PS System hasn’t been taken into account.

In the last few years, there has been a boom in the economy and a lot of MNCs have been visiting various campuses in India.But many big ones don’t come to BITS because they hire through PS

Let me quote the recruiter’s perception/placement rankings here(for India Today):

Year: Rank in Placements/Overall Rank

98 : na / 5th

99 : na / 6th

00 : 2nd / 6th

01 : 6th / 4th

02 : 3rd / 3rd

03 : 4th / 5th

04 : 6th / 8th (Disputed)

After that BITS didn’t take part in India Today Survey.

For Outlook ,

06 : 6th/6th

07 : 3rd/6th

It is certain that the PS System has played a huge role in shaping the recruiter’s perception

Hope you guys stop going just by placements stats while choosing a college.

For any queries/clarifications, please ask.Please go down a LOT to see the stations , dunno why there is such a

************************************************************

Source : http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in:12355/FacilityChart07-08.htm

List of Stations (JULY 2007 - DEC 2007)

S No Station

1     Accenture, Bangalore

2     Accenture, Hyderabad

3     Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad

4     Agilent Technologies International Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

5     Agilent Technologies International Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon(Delhi)

6     Agilent Technologies International Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad

7     Alembic Ltd., Baroda

8     Altair Engineering India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

9     ARDC Design Complex - HAL, Bangalore

10    Aricent, Gurgaon(Delhi)

11    Aruba, Bangalore

12    ATS Services Pvt. Ltd., Delhi

13    Avtec Ltd., Hosur

14    Avtec Ltd., Sagore(Nagda)

15    BEA-India R&D Center, Bangalore

16    Behr India Ltd., Pune

17    Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL), Hyderabad

18    Bharat Forge Ltd., Pune

19    Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., Mumbai

20    Birla Museum, Pilani

21    Bisecure Networks Pvt. Ltd., Noida(Delhi)

22    BITS, Pilani - Hyderabad Campus Site, Hyderabad

23    BOC India Ltd., Kolkata

24    Boston Analytics, Mumbai

25    Broadcom India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore

26    Business Objects Software India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

27    CA India Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad

28    Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Ahmedabad

29    Calance Corporation, Gurgaon(Delhi)

30    Capital One Asia Operations, Bangalore

31    CDC Software India (P) Ltd., Bangalore

32    Celstream Technologies, Bangalore

33    Central Bank of India, Mumbai

34    Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow

35    Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute, Pilani

36    Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute(Chennai Centre), Chennai

37    Central Institute for Road Transport, Pune

38    Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai

39    Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad

40    Century Rayon, Kalyan(Mumbai)

41    Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd., Kota

42    CII-Shorabji Godrej Green Business Centre, Hyderabad

43    Cisco Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

44    Citrix R&D India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

45    Cosmic Circuits Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

46    CrimsonLogic India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

47    CSR India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

48    Cypress Semiconductor Tech. India Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad

49    Cypress Semiconductor, San Jose, California, USA

50    Cypress Semiconductors, Bangalore

51    Cypress Semiconductors India Pvt. Ltd., Chennai

52    Daimler Chrysler Research India Ltd., Bangalore

53    Dell International Services, Bangalore

54    Dell International Services India Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad

55    Deloitte, Hyderabad

56    Deloitte, Mumbai

57    Development Consultants Ltd., Mumbai

58    DHI (India) Water & Environment Pvt. Ltd., Delhi

59    Divgi Warner (P) Limited, Pune

60    Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd., Hyderabad

61    Eka Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

62    Fiberlink Software Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

63    Fidelity Business Services India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

64    Fiorano Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

65    Fiorano Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad

66    Freescale Semiconductor India Pvt. Ltd., Noida(Delhi)

67    FROST & SULLIVAN, Chennai

68    Fullerton India Credit Co. Ltd., Mumbai

69    Gabriel India Ltd., Pune

70    GE BE Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

71    GE-John F WelchTechnology Center(GE India Tech. Center), Bangalore

72    General Motors India Ltd., Halol(Baroda)

73    Genesis Microchip (India) Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore

74    Genix Pharma Ltd., Hyderabad

75    Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare R&D, Gurgaon(Delhi)

76    Global Logic India, Noida(Delhi)

77    GMR Group, Hyderabad

78    GMR Group, Sankli (Srikakulam)