With recent changes announced to the first-year curriculum, including revised course codes, this guide reflects how these courses have been taught so far.

One of the most unique things about BITS is that you get to build your own timetable. While this freedom is something to appreciate, the first semester begins with a list of courses that most students know little (or perhaps nothing) about. To make this process less overwhelming, here’s a step by step course guide to what each course covers, what surprised us, and a few tips worth keeping in mind.

Common Courses:

Multivariable Calculus: 

As the first mathematics course freshmen encounter, the first half of the course covers the fundamentals of multivariable calculus, by analysing sequences and series, calculus of real-valued functions in multiple variables, and partial derivatives. The second half of the course analyzes multiple integrals and transitions into vector calculus in three dimensions. This course rewards consistency and practice, and interaction with the material and questions (tutorial sheets) provided in tutorials is suggested for a good grade. The cutoffs for an A grade in this course are consistently around 80 marks higher than the course average, but this course is still relatively easier to get a good grade with consistent quiz and mid-semester examination scores.

Thermodynamics: 

This course takes the concepts introduced at the school level and builds upon them in much greater depth. From pure substances and phase changes to the three laws of thermodynamics, it ties every topic back to the familiar pressure-volume-temperature relationships. Along the way, application of these fundamentals in practical systems such as nozzles, turbines, refrigerators, and other real-world devices are explored. One should keep in mind that every topic builds upon the previous one, so it is common for questions to combine concepts from earlier chapters. Staying consistent from the very beginning is a must, as catching up later can be challenging. While the concepts themselves are fairly straightforward, the questions are often long and require careful interpretation. Attending lectures regularly helps understand how to break down these paragraph-based questions. Performing well in the tutorial tests gives one’s overall grade a boost and reinforces understanding of the concepts.

Engineering Design and Prototype: 

The course is divided into two parts: Engineering Graphics and Workshop. In the start, half the students are  introduced to the  AutoCAD software, while the other half gets hands-on experience working with machinery found in the Central Workshop. The halves switch disciplines after the mid-semester exams. 

The Engineering Graphics component includes topics like orthographic projection, isometric drawing, visualising solids, and development of surfaces, with continuous evaluation spaced out between demonstration and practice sessions. It urges students to engage in the practice of translating design concepts into technical drawings. Attending all lab sessions is highly recommended—not solely due to the attendance component— it eliminates the need to practice extensively outside of class for evaluation. 

The prototyping component aims to cover the basics of traditional and modern manufacturing processes ranging from the forming press to wire-cut EDM and AR-VR welding. Other topics include metrology for 3D measurement, 3D printing, and CNC Machining. The latter two are equally interesting, with 3D printing presenting an exceptionally exciting chance to 3D print a keychain with your name on it (which will totally not break within five minutes of you leaving the building). 

Linear Algebra and Complex Variables: 

This course is divided into two halves. Linear Algebra comprises concepts such as the solutions of systems of linear equations using matrices and provides an introduction to vector spaces, linear transformations, and eigenvalues. While the first half of the course is considered relatively easier with repetitive method-based algebra, it requires consistent class attendance to fully wrap your brain around new concepts like basis and span of vector spaces. The latter half—Complex Variables—is quite enticing as it expands the domains of calculus to complex functions. This portion contains multiple formulae and methods for evaluating contour integrals like Cauchy-Goursat Theorem, Cauchy Integral Formula, and Liouville’s Theorem, which carry a higher weightage in the comprehensive exam. Thus, having a strong grasp of both halves becomes imperative to obtain a good grade.

Probability and Statistics: 

The first half of this course recaps the combinatorial and Bayesian probability taught at school level, before moving onto analyses of various discrete and continuous probability distributions, their expected values, and various moments. This part of the course relies heavily on practice, and rewards a conceptual understanding of the material a lot more than a rote understanding. The course then moves on to probability distributions in multiple variables. Using these concepts, it transitions into statistics, which focuses on the analysis of a sample of a population to determine properties of the population, hypothesis testing, and simple linear regression. The second half is highly conceptual, and students are recommended to internalize key concepts, since it usually has an open-book comprehensive examination. This course also has a comparatively heavier weightage on its mid-semester and comprehensive examinations, and thus can be punishing if one of the exams goes poorly. 

Social Conduct: 

This course is a very straightforward online course. Each week, modules are released, which consist of videos to educate students about various social topics including mental health, alcohol and drug awareness, and understanding sexual misconduct and proper steps to take as victims or friends of victims. The modules each take between 15–30 minutes and students are given ample time to complete them. An A grade is awarded to all students who completed every module, and affords a varying number of buffer modules. If a student has more incomplete modules than the number of buffers, an E grade is awarded.

Physical Well-being and Creativity:

The course aims to explore the importance of physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle in a fast-paced and often sedentary world.  The students are divided into three groups, each on a day of the week. The class usually begins with a motivational speech by the instructor, followed by light stretching exercises and two laps around the gym grounds. With a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading criteria, the class slowly evolves into a weekly routine for friends to gather and play the sport of their choice. 

Innovation and Design Thinking: 

This is a unique course introduced last year that aims to promote a human-centric approach to innovation through Design Thinking (DT). The students are divided into groups in the tutorial section and are allotted an everyday life object to innovate and improve upon. They work through the various stages of design thinking through a series of posters and end with a group presentation. The students learn a variety of DT Tools including empathy maps, SCAMPER, and Hooke’s canvas. The course reference material includes articles from Harvard Business Review, which prove to be an interesting read. 

Understanding Self and Society:  

With the course Social Conduct already in the curriculum, the addition of a new 2-credit course, “Understanding Self and Society”, came as a surprise to many. While Social Conduct focuses more on individuals—their values, ethics, and responsibilities—this course zooms out to look at the bigger picture, exploring where we stand in society and how individuals, communities, and institutions influence one another. The course is delivered entirely through online lectures on Cisco Webex, with recordings and slides made available throughout the semester. The course introduces ideas from humanities and social sciences, providing a prelude to the humanities electives offered at BITS. Keeping up with the lectures and going through the slides attentively is usually enough to do well, as the evaluative components are fairly straightforward, consisting entirely of MCQs that draw heavily from the lecture content. Since the course has only mid-semester and comprehensive examinations, and the grading is fairly close, every question counts.

Group-Specific Courses:

Computer Programming: 

This 4-credit course introduces students to programming in C, without any need for prerequisite programming knowledge. It initially focuses on computer fundamentals, algorithms, flowcharts, and the binary number system before covering programming fundamentals and introducing the basics of data structures and algorithms. The evaluative components of this course can be very scoring, and some students manage to score more than 290 marks in 300. The course focuses on programming aptitude with a laboratory test, which can be punishing due to binary marking, and has comparable weightage to the course’s mid-semester examination.

Introduction to Biological Sciences: 

As an introductory course to biology, this course is often considered one of the best courses offered in the first year by students and alumni, while also having harsher grading than most freshman courses. The course covers taxonomy, cell structure, respiration, photosynthesis and reproduction, genetics, and physiology. It requires extremely detailed and precise answers to evaluative components. It also provides an emphasis on lecture attendance, by scrubbing slides before uploading, and asking questions from lecture and tutorial discussions. Consistent lecture attendance and tutorial participation is strongly recommended for a good grade in this course. This course also has a laboratory component, where lab journal accuracy is important, and missing details can lead to significant deductions depending on the lab instructors. It also has a lab viva, which is once again dependent on the lab instructors

Electrical Sciences: 

This course feels very familiar in the beginning, as it revisits concepts from JEE such as Kirchhoff’s Laws, Ohm’s Law, nodal analysis, and AC circuits. The familiarity soon fades away as these concepts are discussed in greater detail and form the foundation for newer topics such as filters, frequency response, diodes, and transistors. The lectures and tutorials are definitely worth attending as they provide plenty of practice with the kind of questions one should expect in the evaluative components. The catch is that most questions follow binary marking, so even a small error can cost the entire question. Hence, getting as much practice as possible through the textbook, PYQs, and questions that are discussed in the tutorials is highly recommended. Consistency across all evaluative components can make a significant difference to the final grade.

Fundamentals of Chemistry: 

This course is a healthy mix of all three branches- inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry. It relies much more on logical reasoning than rote learning. The course dives deep into topics like wave-particle duality, coordination chemistry, bio-inorganic chemistry, spectroscopy, stereochemistry, and conformations. While the organic chemistry portion might bring about some nostalgia, the rest offers a very different perspective, giving a glimpse of what studying chemistry beyond school looks like. 

As a freshman, the chemistry labs are probably among the most hands-on and exciting experiences. From qualitative tests to synthesising compounds, the labs provide an opportunity to perform experiments that have only been read about in school. The evaluative components test conceptual understanding more than memory, so it’s important to focus on understanding the “why” behind every topic. A good tutorial instructor can make a huge difference, as concepts discussed here go beyond what’s covered in the lecture slides.

Oscillations and Waves: 

This course builds up on the familiar high school concept pertaining to Simple Harmonic Motion, and explores the analyses of oscillators in damped, forced, and coupled conditions. The lab component of the course mirrors the concepts taught in the lectures, covering experiments like coupled pendulums, diffraction grating, Kater’s pendulum, and Newton’s rings. The tutorial tests are an easy scoring opportunity in the course, as most of the questions asked are directly from the textbook or the problems discussed in tutorial classes. In contrast, the open-book examination tests deep conceptual understanding and the ability to apply standard analytical procedures to novel scenarios, and is considered relatively more difficult.