<p>Hey guys... I am a bit confused here. if I get into Stanford, Caltech, Harvard or any other top engineering colleges in the US with no financial aid, as well as the IITs in India, would you recommend spending my 4 years in the US or at the IITs? I know that US has better opportunities and I feel that I would enjoy there more than that in the IITs. But is this logical actually? I mean I would need to spend nearly a crore in the US whereas it would be just a matter of a few lacs (5-10) in the IITs. Its not that my parents cannot afford education in the US, but the amount still is very exorbitant......</p>
<p>You should contemplate on this when you get your decisions. But usually schools for any international at u.s. is worth around 40k-50k (whether private or public). You should consider whether after undergrad, you will go on to grad school or not b/c that will add more cost to your education. If you are able to come on a merit scholarship, then that would be good.</p>
<p>@Nash: Look at my post in the 2016 thread.
P.S: If you can get into HYP, don’t worry about finances.</p>
<p>@Liveu: Random - I don’t think there’s a more unintentionally lul’zy poster on CC. :)</p>
<p>Hey PD, thanks for the help…just wondering about the post in the 2016 thread…I generally thought that the American education system was more ‘innovative or rather intuitive’ than the Indian counterpart. We can take the case of Olympiads for example (I am really into these Olympiads and can usually support my statement using this example since this is the only arena where the two education system clash head on). Yeah, so take the IMO for example, India has not put up a satisfactory performance whereas US is usually among the top performing countries. India has not won a gold medal since 2002, despite having such a rigorous qualifying exam which is taken by more students in India (than the US) who also study in the so called ‘more challenging’ education system. On the other hand, US usually wins 3 golds every year. Besides the US, even small countries perform better than us. Then again, this is not the case of IMO only, but also Physics (where India performs at par with the US, but ideally should have performed much better, again seeing the number of participants and our curriculum), Chemistry, Biology etc.
I am not saying that India does not have a good education policy, but I am just countering your point - that one should not praise the American education philosophy.</p>
<p>Moving on to the argument about who is more passionate about what he does - Indians or Americans. Here, too, I do not think that all Americans are passionate and not just looking for lucrative jobs. But, generally, Americans do prove themselves to be more inclined towards studying just for the sake of learning. I mean, there are many people (Americans) who go to MIT and study philosophy, linguistics, oceanography, and other things which
would ideally not result in more lucrative jobs or salaries than careers in CS, AeroAstro etc. You might say that people in the IITs too study metallurgy etc. but that’s usually because these people fail to get a good rank in the JEE. Given a choice, these people would have surey opted for CS, electrical etc. I know this because my brother is currently studying in IITB and he keeps telling this to me.</p>
<p>Then again, I am not saying that IITs are bad and are filled with dispassionate, money and power hungry people. I am just saying that MIT, Caltech are better than IITs not just
because they have better research, facilities etc, but also because they have a better or rather, I should say, more ‘passionate’ students.</p>
<p>Sorry if I sound rude or something. I don’t mean to hurt anybody’s ideals. I am just putting forward my thoughts.</p>
<p>Anyway, thanks for the help.</p>
<p>If you get into H/S please go.</p>
<p>a) There is more to education than just classes. The IIT’s have no diversity, poor EC’s and don’t inform your perspective as H/S will do.
b) You parents can afford it, which makes your decision easier. ( These schools are need-blind though, but you can afford it so no effect).
c) You will earn a $ salary and will work with a good firm outside. In India you might get a 6L-8L salary on average (maybe a little more). You can possibly save more. So money spent 1 CR Salary X, money spent 10L salary Y, compare them.
d) Quality of work: Your work will be average to suck in Ind, even if you go to a top consulting firm, the work culture in the US is much better. Level of mentorship is higher.
d) Better chance at graduate programs at H/S though you can go from the IIT’s too, marginal call on this one.
e)NETWORK - I give this to H/S, it is global not local. Plus your family may be networked enough in India without need for a college network
f) The difference in income’s of a H/S mba vs an IIM over 10 years, on average, is multi-crore. (loose statement but you get the picture), I’d apply a similar standard to the IIT comparison.</p>
<p>I can keep going, but you get the jist.</p>
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<p>Nope, you don’t sound rude at all. All your points are valid. The average student at Caltech will definitely be more accomplished and more passionate about his/her course than the average student at a top foreign school. That’s not only because the admission standards are more holistic, but also because students at schools like Caltech have had the opportunities and resources to understand and develop their passions over their whole lives, whereas most students at the IITs haven’t. </p>
<p>To answer your original post, I think if you can afford HYPS and MIT, Caltech, Penn, Columbia etc. without much trouble, I would say you should go for it. These schools are usually worth the cost.</p>
<p>Also, Stanford is not need-blind for foreign citizens, so if you can afford it and really want it, apply REA without aid and you’ll maximize your chances of getting in.</p>
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I don’t see what I said so unreasonable in my advice to OP. Can you let the OP tell me that to my face if I actually sounded stupid instead of you sharing your unwanted opinion…</p>
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<p>Sorry if that was offensive. It was meant to be funny. 
Just wondering, are you an international student going to UVA, or domestic?</p>
<p>I’m considered international, but have resided in the u.s. for most of my life.</p>
<p>As far as my opinion goes, you will find a diversity of interests and opinions at Harvard, MIT etc., while most people would have the same knowledge, and very similar opinions at the IITs - the reasons being that they - most of them - spend at least 1-2 years studying almost similar things at coaching centers, and believe me or not, extra curriculars are really refrained from (I know this, for an AIR-25 from my coaching center confessed it himself). Thus, there is a homogeneity in the knowledge and intelligence level, which means less scope for a diverse discussion. </p>
<p>I guess you need to know what exactly is there at both the places. You can find blogs from students on the websites of MIT etc. describing their experience at the institutes. I’m not sure if IIT has some blogs, but below are some of ones which I’ve read over the last one month or so.</p>
<p>[nanopolitan:</a> Real Universities, Please?](<a href=“http://nanopolitan.blogspot.com/2007/02/real-universities-please.html]nanopolitan:”>nanopolitan: Real Universities, Please?)
[My</a> life, my words: IITs - as overrated as it can get](<a href=“http://apurvams.blogspot.com/2007/02/iits-as-overrated-as-it-can-get.html]My”>My life, my words: IITs - as overrated as it can get)</p>
<p>To me, most IITians/aspirants are nothing more than examination clearing machines. Kota cram schools are an epitome of this ‘transformation’ of ‘students’. [They</a> are the world class students.](<a href=“http://nanopolitan.blogspot.com/2008/10/kota-cram-school-capital-of-india.html]They”>nanopolitan: Kota, the cram-school capital of India)</p>