I have a few friends from both VIT and Thapar. I will suggest you opt for Thapar University as it is one of the best colleges in this league.

Admission:

VIT and Thapar University both conduct an entrance examination for the selection of their candidates. However, VIT does not reveal the scores obtained by the candidates. At Thapar, admission is done on the basis of JEE Main marks. Moreover, both the admission and counseling procedure are translucent and there is no Management Quota. At VIT one can get admission on the basis of the category system whereas, at Thapar, the quality (merit-based) is given more preference.

Batch Size:

The number of students at Thapar University per branch is less in comparison to VIT where there is a crowd on a huge level.

FCCS System:

At Thapar FCCS system is present. It is a system that allows the students to choose the timings of their own classes and the respective teachers for those classes.

Although the facilities provided to the students at the VIT campus are exceptional you should not risk your academic career for mere facilities.

You should rather prioritize Thapar and try for a branch of your choice. If you do not get into it then opting for VIT would be better. But keep VIT as your second option.

My sister used to be a student of Thapar University so I think I can give you some information regarding the institute. 

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the TU.

Pros-

• The infrastructure is really good. You will get Wi-Fi at around 4Mbps, Sports facilities are good, and the accommodation is really good.
• There are a lot of research opportunities that you can pursue without a lot of questions.
• You will have to attend college only 5 days a week. You get off for 2 days and you can travel around a city.
• Patiala is a nice city. It has all the basic amenities.
• There are a lot of cultural events and societies you can be a part of. The campus is really good.
• The placements are really good. According to the recent statistics, the highest package offered was 28.5 LPA.

Cons-

• There are teachers who are fresher in the field of teaching and lack the skills required. 
• There are a lot of cultural activities, but the students raise the money only by the exterior motive of making money.
• There are societies like Student Alumni Interaction Cell (SAIC), with biased selection criteria. 
• There is the 75% attendance criterion.
• There is a 50% Punjab quota. You might see people with half your JEE marks in the same branch as you are.

Apart from this, the placement report of the college is good. Just keep your pace and give your best in your studies.

Thapar University of Engineering and Technology is an old and reputed institute. Since it is an older and renowned institute, its students definitely benefit from it. The core courses have a tremendous placement record for years. Placements opportunities for the mechanical branch are no exception.

Many reputed companies visit the campus for placements among other colleges in this league. Companies such as Tata Motors, Royal Enfield, Maruti Suzuki, etc. visit the campus for placements. The average package for the branch varies from 10-12 LPA. The college even has team Fateh, the finest formula racing team in the country.

You can get the detailed placement records on the official website.

My brother is a graduate of Thapar University. This answer is based on his experience at the hostel of the university. Here are some of the things that made Hostel-J special among all of the hostels of the university. 

• Hostel-J has a 7-storey building, which surely makes it to be among the top hostels of India.
• The hostel offers both Single Room and Shared Room facilities to the students. There is a group of 11 single rooms in each wing with a common hall and a common restroom.
• The hostel has a 24*7 running Mess facility. No other hostel at the university offers such facilities. 
• There is 1 LED television available for each group of 11 students. 
• The hostel has an awesome location -- from each one of the rooms you can have a beautiful view of the university campus, the football ground, and the greener all around the hostels.
• There is a Balcony for each room of the hostel.
• Separate sports equipment like Cricket bat and ball for each hostel wing. 
• A refrigerator, a water purifier, a sofa set is available in the hostel for each wing of 11 students. I don't think that any other academic hostel in India would have such a ratio.
• At times, you can have Domino’s Pizza at the mess of the hostel for lunch!

These are a few specialties regarding Hostel-J in Thapar University. However, the experience can vary from student to student. 

The MBA placements seen at Thapar University have been really good. Thapar University is positioned at 8th in terms of placements amongst the various top universities situated in India. Some of my friends at Thapar are satisfied with their choice of college.

• For sixty years, Thapar University has maintained its name in the field of higher learning. 
• LM Thapar School of Management (LMTSM) is one of the main strategic initiatives inaugurated by the institute in the field of management learning. 
• Thapar University essentially follows a lateral hiring procedure which undeniably provides both recruiters and students a reasonable amount of time to eventually find the best fit.

Some of the top recruiting companies that visit the campus include Royal Bank of Scotland, Maruti Suzuki, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, D.E Shaw, ZS Associates, Futures First Ltd, Exl Service (Inductis India), Expedia, Sandisk, etc.

ECE Department has been accredited by the NBA under the TIER-1 scheme for the past five years. All program in ECE Department at Thapar University has been AICTE approved.

M.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering is a good program. The course curriculum is designed in a way to help you to tackle future challenges by providing a solid foundation in both theory and practice at the undergraduate levels.

Check the following statistics for ECE at Thapar University:

The faculty members at the ECE department use both practical and theoretical research in collaboration with government agencies, industry, and nongovernmental organizations. This will help you to increase knowledge in our fields while also contributing to the solution of societal problems.

You should not worry as you will get a chance to get your desired branch at the time of In-person Counseling. 

When you attend the In-person counseling, you will be allotted a fresh paper to fill up your choices, and then you can change as per your choice or interest. Till that time, you will have to retain your allotted seat. 

You should relax as you have been allotted a branch at Thapar University. You can change your branch in later counseling. It is important to have patience and be updated with the counseling dates.

You can find the link for the application on the university’s website. It is usually made available around March and you can locate it on the admissions tab.

If you are planning to apply, ensure that you have your 12th mark sheet ready, along with your personal details. If you do not have your JEE Scores yet, you can upload those later on.

There is also an application fee that needs to be paid while submitting the application form. Once you have filled the form entirely, keep a printout of it with you for further reference.

To check if you have secured a seat, you can have a look at the allocation status which is visible on the same website.