<p>I'm a 9th grader in India. And you know what? I think MIT is cool. That is definitely one of the colleges I would like to be in. In India, (and particularly in my state) there are two types of places where you can study your 11th and 12th grades. One- A place where they train you for the IIT- JEE test (and where you may end up having very little time for extra curricular activities) and Two- A place for all the rest (where you get many irrelevant, time consuming projects and you meet , I'm not being condescending, less smart people). </p>
<p>I study well. I've regularly been on the top ten in the olympiads for younger students in my country and won the NTSE scholarship(don't know how many of you heard of that). I top my class. I'm also a good speaker and write well, having won many city level contests in those areas. I'm a good quizzer(won three this year, city level) too. I did my 6th grade piano test and will probably do the 8th some time down the line.</p>
<p>And I come to my question. Which type of a high school would it be good to attend? The IIT sort of one will ensure some backup in case you don't get into MIT. You'll be in IIT. On the other hand you might be able to make more time to focus on you ECs if you go the other sort of school. Or do you think its too early to decide?</p>
<p>MIT seems to better than IIT in every possible way except that if you have a start up in India, the contacts from IIT will help. Any comments on that?</p>
<p>I was on the same boat as you a year ago. I’m from Brazil and I had to decide between a full math+physics course and a regular course for my 12th year. I was told by the math+physics course teachers that students were only there to enhance their math skills to do well on a Brazilian test called ITA (the hardest one in the country). Just like you mentioned about the IIT preparation course, there was no time for extracurriculars and other things on this course here. The grade there was also HIGHLY deflated; average grade by student was 40/100.</p>
<p>What I had to do was: set my goal a year before. Before I would start 12th grade, I had to decide whether I would apply to the best Brazilian university or I would try the American ones (without a clear shot). This decision would determine to which course I would be heading on my 12th year. Because I CHOSE the American ones, I ended up at the regular course, with enough spare time for extracurricular activities and other projects. Also, I was able to keep a good average grade and got accepted by some national safety schools.</p>
<p>Bottom-line is: make plans. Even if you work hard to go to MIT, there’s the chance that you won’t be accepted. Because of this, you should apply to more schools other than MIT too (if you decide to take the American path).</p>
<p>Yes, the situation is risky. I believe IIT is your second priority after MIT. However, you should realize that it’s pretty hard to take both paths at the same time. Make a decision.</p>
<p>Maybe you could even succeed on the IIT exam by taking the regular course; you never know. As I said, I took the general course here and I don’t regret. Right now I’m still receiving admission decisions from the universities I’ve applied, but I’m already happy with the results of my planning.</p>