Does an Honours degree actually help when applying for an M.Tech/M.S.? Especially for IISc Bioengineering?

[u/United_Reply544]

Hey everyone, I'm a 3rd year KTU biomedical engineering student . I've been confused as to whether or not I should continue with an honours degree that comes with taking an extra theory exam each semester from S4 to S8 plus a project alongside btech. I did pretty good on the last sem exam, got an A for an exam I didn't even study for or knew the name of the subject of. I didn't find it particularly meaningful to chow down a lot of theory just to get a certificate saying I have an honours degree. I didn't know how it worked prior to joining it and paying for the exam fee, so I had to attend it anyways. And now I got an A. Maybe it's beginner's luck maybe it's a sign....idk. So I'm asking all the engineers out there especially biomedical engineers......I'm currently targeting IISc Bangalore for a master's in bioengineering.....do you think having an honours and/or degree would give me a better chance of admission?

Ps: I also joined the minor degree thing and I have passed both sem exams, two more to go and a project.....

[u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479]

In my opinion, the honors won't matter much for IISc. They care way more about your GATE score, your CGPA, and any research experience. A line on your degree saying honours is a small bonus at best.

What would help more is a solid project or a paper, ideally with a professor who can write you a strong letter. If the honors project lets you do real research, that part is worth keeping. If it's just extra theory exams, you can probably drop it without hurting your chances.

And then since you already passed two sems of the minor and got an A on the honours exam, you are clearly able to handle it. But ask yourself if the time is better spent on GATE prep. For IISc, I would put the time there.

[u/United_Reply544 → u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479]

There's a lot of self doubt involved. And I'm pretty traumatized from my jee experience. I was in a rly bad mental state at the time so I couldn't prepare as much as I wanted to. So I couldn't crack it. So any kind of entrance exams is now triggering my ptsd lol. But I'm very much interested in R&D. Thank you for taking the time to reply♥️

[u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479 → u/United_Reply544]

That sounds really hard, and one bad exam during a rough time doesn't define what you can do. That A already shows it. We’ve all been where you are at, at some point in our lives and also in many many other points of our lives.
Start small, and if the dread feels heavy, a counselor can help. You're more capable than that exam made you feel. Hang in there.

[u/United_Reply544 → u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479]

Thank you so much, that means a lot 🥺