Need Help: BIT Mesra Chemical Engg. Student Trying to Break Into Tech With Limited Resources 🙏

Hi Reddit,

I'm a sophomore at Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra (Main Campus), currently pursuing Chemical Engineering. I got around 95+ percentile in JEE Main, and honestly, chose this college thinking it was a decent option. But now, I'm beginning to feel stuck.

My situation:

I’m from a lower middle-class family with a monthly income of around ₹40-45K.

I’ve taken an education loan of ₹15L, and it’s constantly on my mind.

From what I’ve seen, the placements for my branch are average, and I don’t realistically see myself getting a package over ₹10LPA, more like ₹4-6LPA, if lucky.

I’ve recently started learning DSA and doing CodeForces to build my profile.

I know my branch isn’t aligned with the tech industry 😭, and even if I outperform CSE students of other private colleges, I fear I won’t get shortlisted due to my branch.

I’m serious about making it into tech, whether that’s through off-campus internships, remote work, open source, whatever it takes.

But I don’t know how to build a roadmap that actually works for someone in my situation. How do I get shortlisted? What can I do now, from this very point, to turn things around and land a good tech job by the time I graduate?

Please guide me. Any roadmap, advice, personal stories, or suggestions will mean a lot. 🙏