<p>WARNING - VERY long post(s).</p>
<p>I write this now to try to dispel some of the myths that seem to exist about the iits.
how i know some of the things on this post ------
<<<<<</p>
<p>getting down to it,</p>
<p>first and foremost, the respect iit alumni get is, atleast upto 65%, based on the fact tha they were able to clear the ****ing entrance exam. Not necessarily entirely because of the iit ed. for example, the post grads at iit dont get nearly the same respect as undergrads do.
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Around 5000+ people take the test and less than 10% make it into one of the 5 IIT's, making the acceptance rate for each one extremely low. There's absolutely no doubt that IIT students can kill the standardized tests in america.
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<p>actually, this year around 200,000 took the test for ~4700 places. but you need to understand that the population of india is, well, large. There arent nearly enough good technical institutions here. So, it ends up that atleast half of the guys taking the test are doing just because their parents want them to, and even if they do work day and night for it they know they wont get in.</p>
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Well I can admit IIT is a great school and that only super smart students get accepted. But what IIT lacks is leadership skills. All they care about is how high of a mark you get on a test. Why go to IIT when you'll probably later be working for some who graduated from Harvard
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<p>That is true when the students first join her, but things change as time progresses. In the short time i've been here, i've met some amazing fourth-years. And everything here is run by students, so the leadership skills are absolutely essential. People do study, but their focus is only grade-oriented for the first semester, sometimes 2.</p>
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btw IIT grads get the highest intial salaries..esp Comp Engg..
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<p>About that - the salaries (starting) for the guys who take campus interviews and stuff range from 9,000 to 32000 USD (Annual)(more or less). Im not sure how the numbers are when it come to only CSE - for example, last year a guy in materials science got about 34k. I hear that companies see more than your GPA when they pick you. They trust your acad prowess since you got in in the first place, so a GPA (we call it CPI) of 8 above (on a 10 point scale) is considered good enough.
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And since the test is so tough, you basically need to stop living in the last two years years of high school, because preparing for IIT with an aim to get in is certainly not going to leave you any free time.
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That is absolutely true. The fault may not lie with the IITs, though. As i said eariler, people would kill to get in, and, more often, get their kids in. So kids are forced to work their ass off for atleast 2 years, mostly 3, sometimes 5, sometimes 6. This pushes the averages up. Its part of a vicious cylce, with no end in sight.</p>
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IIT applicants are on a whole different playing field than MIT applicants. If you've seen the problems to an IIT entrance exam, you'll know they're like the hardest questions in the world. It's more prestigious that MIT/Harvard/Princeton and only second to Oxford.
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That used to be true, but the difficulty of the qustions has been dropping steadily as part of the iit's attempt to 'humanize' the process. There's, sadly, been huge inertia in the generla population and people still prepare for the insane stuff of the 90's. That pushes the averages above the roof.
You can find this years questions - and answers - here
<a href="http://www.iitd.ac.in/jee/%5B/url%5D">http://www.iitd.ac.in/jee/</a></p>
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They are all incredibly hard working. Some are smarter than others. Quite a few are socially inept.</p>
<p>IIt students have told me that while getting in is really hard, things get a lot easier once you're actually in. Maybe it's because you're so well prepared after 2-4 years of really rigorous preparatory work.
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<p>Both true. But as i said things change in the 4- or 5-years spent here.</p>
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Working insanely difficult problems will get you a job in a lab, but it won't get you to the board room. For that, you need to be able to write a coherent sentence and carry on an intelligent conversation, something pure engineers aren't noted for.
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<p>You have no idea how good these guys are. Some of the guys i've interacted with are fcking awesome. They speak excellent english, and their summer projects in the us, europe, etc have given them a slight accent as well. They know exactly what they are talking about, and can fry your mind in just about any topic you choose to pick, be it computer gaming, sports, rock music, engineering, and so on. If they arent well versed in the subject, they go and find someone who is (which generally means the guy sitting next to him). </p>
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Also, to say well this student got rejected from IIT and into Yale doesn't mean anything.
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I agree with this totally.</p>
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Rigorous school work and problems are not the only criteria that a school should be judged on and IIT would have a greater reputation if they provided more than just an intensive and difficult set of classes. They prepare students well for what they are aiming for but to compare "prestige" with HYP I have to say you are all very crazy.
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<p>IIT isnt just school-work. There are loads of clubs here, excellent sports facilities, immemse cultural activities. We have 3 or 4 major festivals every year, of which only one is technical. Even that has almost nothing to do with classes as such. In addition there are many smaller events, so that theres generally something or the other going on. The people here spend as much time on extra-curriculars as they do on their acads.</p>
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Also, a one sided assesment of a school is rarely fair and while IIT unquestionably has high points there are issues with every school
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<p>Of course there are. Who says there aren't? For example, in IIT Kanpur, the porblems are like such - Not enough girls.(29 out of a batch of 520) And even they stick together in groups of not less than 10. (Atleast so far...) There arent enough places outside the campus to hang out. Kanpur is a pathetic city. There is a considerable amont of tobacco and alcohol on campus (some would consider good, others bad). Drugs are not easy to get in Kanpur, but i know that they are widespread in other IITs. (I think Delhi, Mumbai, Kharagpur - but dont take my word for it on this one)</p>
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THese guys/girls are soo good that when they apply, they use MIT/Harvard/CalTech/Princeton as SAFTIES!!!!!!
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<p>That isnt really correct. It is true in a few cases, but the reasons there are different. The bottom line is $$$. The IIT education costs ~2k USD per year. That includes accomodation and food. In addition, about 50% of the students (in Kanpur atleast) get some financial assistance in the form of scholarships. Also, many people would rather stay in india as opposed to travelling to the other side of the planet for their undergrad program.
But i cannot emphasize this too much - the admission criteria for IITs and HYPSM.... are very different. They cannot and should not be compared in the manner you do it here.</p>
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Yes I am sure HYPSM will accept a kid who did nothing for his last 2-4 years of high school studying for a exam that they don't even look at. THE ETS IS EVIL, you make a lot of sense.
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<p>Exactly what i was trying to say, well put.</p>
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However, they cannot compare to the holistic education of top U.S. school for much else. (However, again, engineering superiority may be enough for many!)
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That may not be very true. It is certainly true that in 11th and 12th there is lopsided development, but things change once one actually gets in. Now i dont really know what you mean by 'holistic education' (well, i do in general, but not very specifically) </p>
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These are an IIT questions for eighth graders in India.</p>
<ol>
<li>What is a bathyscaphe?</li>
<li>Barbituric acid is a) a hypnotic b) an antiseptic c) an anesthetic d) an antipyretic</li>
<li>a, b, c are the digits of a number system with x digits. Determine the value of the number.</li>
<li>Why does the life not originate abiotically in the present day atmosphere?</li>
<li>Give a technical name for cartilage cells.</li>
</ol>
<p>If these are 8th grade level, imagine what the actual questions would be like
these guys are truly math/science freaks..
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<p>Biology isnt tested in the IITJEE. so questions 4, 5 are out.
I dont even know the answer to the first one.
If you got these questions from a legitimate source, then i suppose this just proves what i was saying. People in India truly believe that studying stuff 1 or 2 years before its meant to be taught can make up for the lack of intelligence. Thats the cause of the whole mess.
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With this, I'm retired from this thread because it has grown to an issue of self-pride and patrioism rather than a debate of substantiated evidence.
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I will be happy to provide any evidence you need.</p>