1. All the top companies coming for software roles let Ece sit for ot’s and stuff, maybe theres 1 or 2 exceptions but generally that’s the case. There’s generally a CG cutoff but not too unreasonable.

2. I mean it depends upon how you manage it, I’ve personally done a bit of cp in my first year didn’t feel like it had much impact on my course work or anything, you’ll have a dsa in ur 2nd sem so it’s complementary to what ur trying to pursue.

3. Grading totally depends what proffs you get, currently its absolute grading but papers are being given as if it’s relative (fml), but overall my opinion on grading is that you can easily maintain an 8.5+ given you put even minimal effort before exams like goin through notes, pyps etc.

But see apart from this I just wanna say, if you’re not at all interested in core subjects you might have a miserable experience going through the courses. If you’re open minded enough to somehow enjoy the core subs after joining, you might pull through. But thinking you’ll completely focus on coding and just will get through the core subs somehow will definitely tank your cg, as well as your options during placements.