The relevance/pros & cons of State Boards like the Maharashtra State Board, HSC

<p>Hello CC-ers,</p>

<p>To all the Indians out there, are the state boards even considered by top universities abroad (Stanford, MIT, UC, Caltech, Harvard, Ivys etc.)? I know that they aren't considered in the UK, but what about the US?</p>

<p>And if they are, are they at any disadvantage as compared to people from national boards like the CBSE and ISC? I know its a tough ask, especially after considering the fact that there are way too many state boards here, with varying levels of difficulty. </p>

<p>Please, please reply. All inputs are welcome :D My decisions for my future rests on many arguments, one of which is this.</p>

<p>Sent from my HTC One X using CC.</p>

<p>Bumppppp please reply</p>

<p>Sent from my HTC One X using CC</p>

<p>Hey journey inwards!</p>

<p>First of all let me tell you my experience with both these boards. I was an ICSE student till 10th and continued with ISC in 11/12th, which was one of the hardest decisions in my life but well worth it. I did have the option of going to a state board college, HSC (Since I live in Maharastra as well) but chose not to.</p>

<p>In my personal and humble opinion, if you do chose State board over others like CBSE and ISC that do have a higher level of difficulty, and yet maintain a good academic record in perspective with those in your class (a good rank) it wont hurt you.
However, that being said if you do opt for ISC or CBSE it will help you, for the simple fact that it shows you chose to take the tougher course, an academic challenge of sorts.</p>

<p>Now, if you can, I urge you to chose an ISC/CBSE/IB board, whichever may be your preference, because it does HELP if ever so slightly, unless you have an EC that requires dedication of your time, like say being a national swimmer where you have to keep going for practice sessions and training.
If you do have an activity that is time consuming, mayybe HSC will be easier for you to handle (what with being able to bunk college, and have a lot of free time) but if you want to focus on your academics and dont mind continuing in a school like setting opt for ISC/CBSE.</p>

<p>Hope this answers your question.</p>

<p>Excellent answer.</p>

<p>Just to add/reinforce: you have to decide what is your strength/weakness (more like weakness). If your application (from HSC) is going to look like – you were way ahead of the competition (in HSC), either academically or music or swimming (cf. above post), then maybe the extra time you get in “not paying attention” in school will help. I believe you can get by with English, 200 marks to avoid second language, and then Math Physics Chem (and avoiding Biology – I use the word “avoid” just based on the indication that many of the academically gifted people seem to take this route – since Bio requires a different kind of skill set). For example, HSC might give you time to write a nice book and ace the SATs and maybe the APs. OTOH, a more difficult board which generally implies a more difficult school might not let you alone and might require you to do the more standard stuff (“do well in acads and maybe 1-2 ECs”). If you are outstanding in the difficult board, you get to go to a more challenging univ.</p>

<p>I asked tHis very query to Wharton and they said they don’t differentiate much between Stateboards or Cbse</p>