IITM BS Mistakes That Can Cost You a Whole Term

You can lose a whole IITM BS term without failing a single exam, just by missing a rule. Missing both quizzes, letting your assignment average slip below 40, or skipping the POSH course can each shut you out of an exam or a registration. Fixing it usually means a full course fee and a whole extra term.

Here are the rule-based mistakes that can cost you a term, the rule behind each one, and the fix. They apply to both Data Science (DS) and Electronic Systems (ES) unless marked.

The mistakes at a glance

Missing both quizzes

Each course has two in-person quizzes, at the end of weeks 4 and 8. A missed quiz scores 0 and there is no make-up quiz. You must attend at least one of them to be allowed into the end term. Miss both and you get a WQ grade and must redo the whole course, at the full fee. Treat Quiz 1 as compulsory, so a problem on Quiz 2 day does not sink you. More in Quiz 1 and Quiz 2.

Letting the assignment average slip

The handbook rule is that the average of your best 5 of the first 7 weekly assignments must be at least 40 out of 100. An unattempted assignment counts as 0. Fall short and you get WA, which again means repeating the whole course. The handbook says this can differ by course, so read each term's grading document. See end term eligibility.

Skipping terms without a plan

You can skip up to 2 terms in a row. A third empty term gets you struck off the rolls, and coming back costs Rs 2,500, or Rs 5,800 if your RKA is unpaid. Unpaid RKA also grows by 10%, so a skipped term costs Rs 1,100 later instead of Rs 1,000. Skipped terms still count towards your checkpoints. Read student status and RKA.

Forgetting the two mandatory submissions

• POSH training. Every student must complete the "Becoming Gender Sensitive" course using the student email. Without it, you cannot register for the next term. See the POSH training.
• Medical certificate. Required since the September 2025 term. Without it you get no letters of support, placement support or bonafide certificate.

ES only: registering one foundation lab

From May 2026, ES foundation labs must be taken in approved groups so you visit campus at most twice. If you register for only one lab in a term, you cannot visit campus for it and get an I grade. The lab then moves to a later term. Details in the single lab rule.

Taking more courses than your week can hold

The DS academics page expects about 10 hours a week per foundation course and 15 per diploma or degree course. By that measure, four diploma courses mean about 60 hours a week. Every failed course is repeated at the full fee, and you can sit at most 4 final exams in a term, make-ups included.

Exam day and exam planning mistakes

• Wrong centre. You must report only to the centre on your hall ticket. Others will not let you in.
• Remote exams. If you write from outside India, you must declare your location truthfully. Misdeclaring it counts as malpractice.
• Clashes. IITM BS, web-enabled MTech and some NPTEL exams can fall on the same day. The handbook says clashes are your problem, and no special arrangement will be made.

Letting an I grade go to waste

If you missed only the end term, you get an I grade. You can take a make-up end term for Rs 1,000 (foundation) or Rs 2,000 (diploma or degree), but only once and only in the next term. Skip that term and you repeat the whole course. See make-up exams.

Common questions

Which of these mistakes costs the most money?

Missing both quizzes or the assignment cutoff, because each means paying the full course fee again. A make-up exam for an I grade costs far less, at Rs 1,000 or Rs 2,000.

Can I drop a course if I realise I took too many?

Yes, within 4 weeks of the term start. IITM keeps Rs 2,000 per foundation course and Rs 4,000 per diploma or degree course, and the rest goes to your student wallet.

I got a checkpoint warning. What should I do first?

Count how many courses you still need and how many terms you have left, including skipped ones. Then plan to finish them a term before the deadline, so a failed course can still be repeated in time.

Do these rules apply in my first term after the qualifier?

Yes. In your first term right after the qualifier, your qualifier exam score counts as Quiz 1 and your qualifier assignments as the first 4 assignment scores in the courses you take. So those marks already count towards the rules above.