It’s easy to assume every IIT is just as hard to get into—but if you look closer, the numbers tell a different story. The cutthroat competition, shifting trends, and hard-to-swallow truths make for a wild ride if you’re gunning for the top spot. More people than ever are putting all their chips on a handful of campuses, and the race is nothing short of brutal. Forget what you’ve heard at coaching centers or social media; there are layers here most folks never see.
First thing—getting into any IIT is an Everest climb, but not all peaks are the same height. The process is about the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced, which sifts more than 180,000 eligible students (as of 2025) to a final few who can truly choose their campus and branch. Not all IITs are coveted with the same hunger; reputation, campus life, alumni network, placement stats, and even the city’s vibe shape the choices students make.
IIT Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kanpur, and Kharagpur form the fabled ‘Top 5.’ Each holds a unique place. Still, if you stack up students’ first choices and analyze closing ranks, IIT Bombay normally grabs the crown for being the toughest.
Why? The closing rank for IIT Bombay’s Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) is off the charts compared to others. In JEE Advanced 2024, the last rank admitted to IIT Bombay CSE was AIR 68. For IIT Delhi CSE, it was around AIR 105, while IIT Madras admitted up to AIR 165. Don’t just take my word for it—check this out:
| IIT | CSE Closing Rank (2024) |
|---|---|
| IIT Bombay | 68 |
| IIT Delhi | 105 |
| IIT Madras | 165 |
| IIT Kanpur | 240 |
| IIT Kharagpur | 280 |
Even as the number of IITs has grown—over 22 as of 2025—the Big Five still attract the lion’s share of toppers. There’s a self-reinforcing cycle here: toppers prefer them for brand value, top companies chase their grads, and future applicants aspire even harder. Placement package rumors don’t hurt, either. In fact, the highest package reported for IIT Bombay in 2024 was Rs. 3.7 crore—a headline that leaves every parent starry-eyed.
But it isn’t just CSE. Other departments have massive pressure too, just not to the same stratospheric degree. Students lucky enough to score sub-500 ranks usually get their pick, but the moment you slide past AIR 1000, the odds turn against you for anything mainstream in Bombay or Delhi. That’s why the fight is so intense—not for an IIT seat in general, but a seat in the course you actually want, at the place you want most.
For the uninitiated: there’s counseling via JoSAA (Joint Seat Allocation Authority), and you can literally feel the tension when the allotment results pop out. One student’s dream seat is another’s fallback plan. It’s a slot machine with your entire future riding on it.
A quick tip—if you’re after prestige, look beyond the surface. Departments like Engineering Physics or Mathematics & Computing may be slightly more accessible, but they still offer crazy good opportunities after graduation. Branch change is theoretically possible in the first year if you knock your academic socks off, but don’t count on it as an easy backdoor—barely 2-3% manage it.
Numbers may sound sterile, but ask any student who’s lived through it—every rank has a backstory. Picture this: it’s June, you’re awake at 2 a.m. scrolling obsessively through college predictor tools, cross-checking with last year’s cutoff lists, texting batchmates from your coaching institute, and fighting the urge to redo every decision.
A lot of the drama comes down to information—so much is swirling around, but nobody really knows how ‘safe’ their choices actually are. Some top rankers ignore ‘traditional’ CSE and pick unconventional branches like Data Science, Electrical or even Interdisciplinary programs—because they’re watching placement trends change, looking two steps ahead.
Here’s an interesting fact: about 40% of the top 500 JEE Advanced rankers now list IIT Bombay CSE as their first-choice branch. This surge wasn’t always this pronounced. Ten years ago, the numbers were way more evenly split between Madras, Delhi, and Bombay. Students today stalk campus festival crowd videos, YouTube alumni interviews, and shadow Instagram influencers in their target IIT before ever setting foot there. Culture is just as big a deal as academics.
Let’s not forget the geography angle. Students from North India often lean toward IIT Delhi or Kanpur due to home proximity, while South Indian toppers eye IIT Madras. Kharagpur attracts those charmed by its massive green campus and unique programs. Yet, when it comes down to the highest marks, choices seem to cluster around Bombay and Delhi, with Madras on their heels.
There are always rare stories: a 2024 AIR 17 who chose Electrical at IIT Delhi over Bombay CSE for personal reasons, or the student with AIR 63 going for Mechanical at Bombay over tech fields. Sometimes family, personal research, or life priorities make people swim against the current. But the trend is still clear—CSE at IIT Bombay is the big-ticket item, surrounded by more buzz than any other seat in the country.
Let’s bust a myth or two right here. First, it’s not ‘harder’ to get into a new IIT. The cutoffs for these campuses—like IIT Hyderabad, IIT Indore, or IIT Gandhinagar—are often thousands of ranks lower than even the last seat at one of the original IITs for traditional branches. It’s about perceived value more than seat numbers. And yes, some of the newer IITs have stellar faculty and hotshot research going on, but the placement stats and alumni network of the legacy IITs still tip the scale for most applicants. There’s a common misconception that if you’re not getting CSE at Bombay, it isn’t worth it. False. In fact, plenty of grads from Mechanical at Kanpur or Electrical at Kharagpur end up with careers just as impressive as Bombay CSE alumni. What matters more is what you do with your degree, your networking, and your internships. Another persistent rumor is that girls have an ‘easier’ time entering IITs because of the supernumerary quota—while this did slightly relax cutoffs for women in certain branches, you actually need to be at the top of your game to grab a seat in popular programs. In 2024, the cutoff difference for girls in CSE at Bombay was barely single digits compared to boys. What’s shifting in 2025? Data Science and AI programs are rising fast in preference. There’s a visible uptick in students eyeing interdisciplinary specializations. Some are bypassing the top-end CSE seats for a shot at these next-gen programs, betting big on future opportunities in AI-heavy fields. But even these innovations can’t dent the traditional demand for CSE by much—yet.
If you’ve read this far, you already know hardest IIT to get into isn’t as simple as it sounds, and a single rank can change everything. Here’s what people often miss while planning their JEE strategy:
At the end of the day, the toughest IIT to enter—by every real metric—is IIT Bombay. The numbers, the legends, and student choices all point to it. But the game is bigger than a name. If you’re in this mad dash, aim for the best but give yourself room to discover what matters most for your own journey. The competition is wild, the pressure is fierce, but cracking the code is possible if you know what you want—and why you want it. That’s the difference between surviving the process and owning it.
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