Hi,

Short answer: Yes. If you are getting mining/Meta at NITK, or any B.Tech program for that matter, grab it with both hands.

Long answer:

I will infer from the wording of your question that you have no particular interest in mining/meta.

Practically speaking, after your entrance exams, you don't really know much about any branch. I cannot speak for Mining, but the Meta course at least is quite different compared to what you might expect. The only knowledge you have of this branch is (I assume) from the Metallurgy chapter which you had to study for your boards. The branch is quite different. Its full name is actually Metallurgy and Materials Sciences and focuses more on materials than metallurgy. For example, one of the courses which seems very interesting to me in the second year syllabus is the course on X-Ray Crystallography-essentially bouncing X-Rays of materials to figure out what they look like inside. Just try the branch. I'm sure you will like it.

If you don't like your branch, here's what you can do:

Mining especially has a low workload. Meta has an average number of hours per week-some sems have more and some less (for example, 3rd sem has 21 hours/week while 4th sem has 35 hrs/week). Since you are interested in some other branch, you can use this free time to pursue your interest in it by means of online courses or the like.

Also, NITK is a great college. You will get opportunities here which you will not get anywhere else. Placements for all branches are good-for example, one Meta student got a 25lpa package this year. You can get jobs in ISRO and DRDO as a meta student. If none of this sounds appealing, you can always go for an MBA after you graduate.