<p>Education and opportunity. The two are of the utmost importance to prospective leaders and firebrand revolutionaries of the world. I come from a prototypical Indian family, HPYS or ????? I am currently taking 8 AP classes and am independent studying 3 more (as a junior), got a 2380 on SATs, all- eastern violinist, varsity track member, president of the student body. However, the conversation at the dinner table always centers around how much smarter kids in India are, and how easy my high school education is compared to theirs. Is it true that India's high schoool education is at that much of a higher level, than my 14 AP courses (total)? Can Indians really do Calc BC in 9th grade? It is really starting to **** me off.</p>
<p>steelrealdeal, why do you have to compare yourself with Indian kids? Every smart kid tries to make the most of the opportunities available to him or her. Looks like you are naturally gifted. Be thankful for what you have and be proud of what you have been able to achieve.</p>
<p>I am sure there are kids in India who are capable of doing Calc BC or equivalent. So what? If your goal is becoming better than every one then you will be miserable. Are you capable of being happy? You think you can call yourself successful if the prospect of some Indian kid doing Calc BC in 9th grade **** you off? Shame on you!</p>
<p>Dude there are equally gifted kids everywhere.
Just the difference is that the generally gifted lot of india work really hard (probably much harder than US) fir their academics and dont have a hell lotta ECs. It would be rare to find someone with stellar scores and at the same time stellar ECs in india.
We have completely different systems and the indian system follows to motto “U snooze, u lose” so everybody generally ends up (includin myself) in the rat-race to get into IIT
Yeah people are really smart in india but that doesnt imply that there aren’t equivalent people out-there.
And btw i know a lotta ‘smart people’ (one of my friends has cleared all regional olympiads and selected for math training camp) and even he cudn’t have clearsd calc BC in 9th grade.
Though i think some people like Akashnil could have got a 5 in 9th grade.
And if u really wanna know more about indian talent go to <a href=“http://www.artofproblemsolving.com%5B/url%5D”>www.artofproblemsolving.com</a></p>
<p>steelrealdeal, having spent 2 years of high school in India and 2 years in the US, i can say with confidence that Indian kids are not “smarter”. Yes, maybe most of them can do Calc BC level stuff (not in 9th grade though, thats all 11th and 12th grade coursework) and such, but ask them a question which requires them to critically think about one of the many problems facing the world today or ask them to consider a work of art (painting, literature, sculpture, music) from an aesthetic viewpoint, the majority of them won’t be able to do it. Indian kids are “smart” because they work ridiculously hard, they are very good at solving sums from RD Sharma and studying hours upon hours for IIT. </p>
<p>And just to clarify, Im talking about the average “smart” Indian kid. Most Indian kids here do not fit that mold and are infact very intellectual =P</p>
<p>I like your thinly veiled, validation seeking, look-how-F-ing-awesome-I-am thread. Actually I don’t. You sound ridiculous, get a girlfriend.</p>
<p>Steelrealdeal: I’ll second Rumjhum’s answer.
But he’s sticking to a nasty stereotype. Lots of Indian students excel both in academics and ECs, without a lot of extra effort.
So yes. I think Indian students are kinda smart. But our education system, which for historical reasons has been heavily inspired by the pre-1940 Cambridge curriculum, is designed to create muggers out of geniuses.</p>
<p>“Lots of Indian students excel both in academics and ECs, without a lot of extra effort.”</p>
<p>Of course they do! And I admire them for doing so. I’m just talking about the average Indian student. Those who truly excel in both academics and ECs and are not just muggers are not “average” in my mind, they’re extraordinary =)</p>
<p>Rumjhum: I still think you’re unfortunately sticking to a nasty stereotype. Lots of ‘average’ students do ‘averagely’ in both academics and ECs.</p>
<p>It’s not like every Mum wakes up her kids with a glass of milk in one hand and RD Sharma in the other [I mean the book. No pun intended :D]</p>
<p>However, there is a large minority [oxymoron] which is religiously devoted to academia. Forgive me for stereotyping a bit, but a part of the Bengali crowd in Kolkata seems to fit the bill perfectly. No offense, I love you Bengalis!! :)</p>