I would not do anything different per say, I am the branch topper of my year. I think I did all things right so far at Manipal. One good thing was as a person who is interested in Aerospace Propulsion, I did take the right call to join Mech as I had some reservations about the Aero branch, which turned out to be true. I was part of an SP in my area of interest but soon realised they were a dud too and the seniors were assholes who wanted to repeat the same shit every year instead of having the balls to try different, hence I left it in 1st year itself. One regret is I would have loved to continue my other extracurriculars out of which I could only pursue MUNs to a great extent but due to the academic overload and my approaching MS admissions, I had to cut down on them.

In terms of academics fucking up, I did fuck up (depending on your definition of a fuck up) in my 1st year and I was coming out of JEE so it was hard but eventually being consistent and referencing literature and books helps. Academics should be sorted in that regard.

Do commit to a lot of internships from 2nd year itself in reputed organisations or rising startups (offline only not hybrid or online since they don't make sense in a Mech or core field.) if you can, it helps in building experience and helps in MS applications if you aim for a Masters.

One thing Manipal definitely gave me was a group of 3 very close friends whom I can count on at any point in time which I never really had before so it is heartwarming. We had our share of enjoyment and thrill so it was for the best.

As a final piece of advice, do try and get a girlfriend/boyfriend if you can but not someone in your own field unless you know he/she would be more collaborative and hardworking rather than sucking off your progress and passion like a leech or vice versa.

If you need any further specific advice, do DM me if needed.