<p>I know ...I know after reading the title many of you might be thinking - oh not another stupid thread about the IITs !! but this is NOT a rant. Over the past few months after I joined this forum, I've seen a LOT of rants about the IITs and I was no different. If you had asked me few months ago I hated IIT as much as anyone. I hated how every parent wanted their kids to get into IIT, how everyone thought that locking yourself in a room for two whole years makes you a Hero, I hated how a three hour exam could become the sole aim of your life, I hated the IITs with a PASSION !! That was UNTIL I started reading the MIT admissions blogs and started going over the LinkedIn profiles of people who got admitted to MIT ( that's creepy!! right?) What I noticed was that almost EVERYONE who was admitted(internationals not domestic) had REALLY strived for the most rigorous courses available to them. I'm sure the syllabus for the JEE might be one of the MOST rigorous curriculum for high schoolers by any standards so why not have a try at it ?? If you are a prospective STEM major, you will certainly enjoy it ! Just because that IIT prep doesn't appear on your app. doesn't mean its worth nothing. The curriculum for the IIT-JEE is not only intellectually challenging but also engaging.Why not view it as "college prep" sure nobody's expecting you to get a Top-100 AIR .
Again, there is the issue that it leave a student with absolutely no time for ECs ,volunteering etc ... that is true but only to some extent. Many students who get admitted at the top schools like MIT,Caltech engage in a lot of research and research is highly time consuming (it may take months before you make a correct hypothesis !!) but these kids never think that research will leave them with no time for other activities.Instead they TRY to balance their activities and many fail but those who succeed get into their dream schools.So I URGE everyone who's looking for a STEM major from India at a US school to at least try to get your hands around the JEE syllabus at least once. It's challenging but if you love your stuff you'll enjoy it !<br>
PS: sorry for the long post and atrocious grammar :p</p>
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[<em>] Yes, I thought … “pointless IIT Thread”. But it turned out quite differently from what I was expecting.
[</em>] No, I never ranted about the IITs. Instead, I actually kind of love them :3
[<em>] I did put IIT prep on my common app activities Vidyamandir Regular classes, considering they select only 200 / 10,000 applicants.
[</em>] I did have time for ECs … in 9th and 10th and 12th only 
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<p>Haha . But then my Brother who studied at IIT Delhi for the first year transfered to Georgia Tech because he found nothing special at IIT and everything was theoretical . Moreover the profs werent that good . He loved Georgia Tech and is now doing his MS at CalTech (which he doesnt find as interesting as Georgia Tech) … Anyway I am consistently in Top 10 of Bansal Kota (IIT prep) but anyway I hope to do my undergrads at US 
Accepted to Stanford but waiting for MIT and Georgia Tech mainly … MIT is my dream :)</p>
<p>It’s rather ironical for me. I don’t even want engineering as a major, let alone go into the IITs, but I feel good that I am actually ‘preparing’ for it. Because of the fact that I have access to a plethora of concepts and other intriguing topics, which otherwise I might not have, or I wouldn’t have got the time to think about them. Combinatorial concepts such as derangements, or circular permutations, for example.</p>