@Jr12317 Okay thanks for the information. I will do my best to find and follow my passions in my freshmen year.
@MITer94 , I agree and I probably won’t be doing anything just for the sake of a better profile.
@TheTactition I haven’t taken a break/gap year. I finished my high school and am just going to join college this month. I don’t know how much JEEs and KVPY count in US but they are kind of a big deal in India. And yes, I will be joining one of the older IITs in the coming days.
@“aunt bea” , the thing is IITs provide very good undergraduate education but lack good research facilities. One big reason I want to apply only to the ivies and the top schools is because they ( most of them ) do give big grants to the accepted students. I am not saying I will be just studying all day. I will be participating in many activities but practically, in a year that I have left before applying, I won’t be able to climb very high up the ladder in sports and writing, not that I don’t want to, but it would be very difficult to do in a year.