<p>I remember my dad telling me about the “Indian Dream” (something he made up). If you’re smart and work hard, one day you could get out of India. To him, the idea that someone would leave America to go to India is insane, even today.</p>
<p>Most of my IIT friends in the US send their kids to public schools - but live in places where excellent public schools are available. They also do not seem to have as much a fixation with the uber-top schools in the US as I would have thunk. </p>
<p>As far as capitalism in action, we may wish that to be the case but it ain’t. The fact remains that even H1B’s are now replaced with offshore-based resources, and the half-life of said resources is akin to that of a Walmart worker. Not to mention that by virtue of no experience, longish hours, the ‘manager in 3 years or else’ mentality, and many other factors, it often takes 2 or 3 such resources and hand-holding from the US to produce what one good software guy produces locally. But the pointy-hair managers in the US don’t see it that way, hence outsourcing has not paid off remotely to the extent that people think.</p>
<p>But. that’s a sermon for another Sunday.</p>
<p>Very helpful posts, dad<em>of</em>3 and turbo. Thanks!</p>
<p>Again, dad<em>of</em>3, thank you for an insightful post.</p>
<p>Would IIT take a kid from the U.S. or any outside of India?</p>
<p>It amounts to declare that everyone who takes the SAT or ACT is a de facto applicant at … Smith. Or that anyone who takes the BAC in France is an applicant to the Sorbonne. "</p>
<p>Nowhere near “everyone” takes the joint IIT exam. Only those who “wish” (expressed broadly, because it many families the idea of choice is not a real one) to attend.</p>
<p>And for those who have time to kill, I found sample questions for entrance to the IIT’s…</p>
<p>[IIT</a> Papers : IIT Question Papers](<a href=“http://www.iitjee.org/iit-question-papers/iit-papers.html]IIT”>IIT Papers : IIT Question Papers)</p>
<p>I think I’ll do 20 years worth of EC’s before I muster the courage to take the exam… Math did not look VERY difficult; the physics was what I expected, tough and comprehensive, and for chemistry, well, are they teaching organic chemistry in high school? </p>
<p>Also, the exams appeared to be very long, 20 seriously heavy questions, so if they only give like 3 hours…</p>
<p>My opinions on the sample exams:
The math section looked laughable as an elite selection tool; it did not even match the difficulty of the AIME.
The physics section (note I am biased as a student who did many physics competitions) was a reasonable test, containing adequetely difficult questions. I will note, however, that it looked exhausting to do all 9 pages in a sitting :(.
Finally, nothing in the chemistry section was ‘hard,’ per se, but rather required a pretty wide knowledge of chemistry.</p>
<p>AIME should be harder. It is trying to select the top 250 mathletes in the USA. The average AIME score is 3 out of 15 for a good reason. The IIT exam is more like AMC 12.</p>
<p>I would rather take the exam than do a day of ECs. The exam is easy. Just three subjects and all the topics are covered in high school already so very little extra work required. ECs take a huge amount of work in comparison.</p>
<p>One thing to wonder, and IP/mini please chime in, would be the teaching level required to prepare for the test above and the resources available to take the test - in other words, does the typical IIT aspiring student spend thousands of rupees preparing for the test, or is it reasonably possible for John Q. Public (Jain Q. Patel? :-)) that graduated with good marks from East Hyderabat High to actually study and pass the test on their own?</p>
<p>Xiggi, the reason your SAT and Smih analogy is wrong is very simple. People can take the SAT and never apply to Smith. However, taking the JEE exam is equivalent to applying to the IITs, as the exam is necessary to apply to the IITs, and only the IITs. It has no other use. It is the equivalent of sending in your application to Smith.</p>
<p>Only about half a million kids take the JEE. Note that India has about 5 million high school grads every year. So only the top 10% are even taking the test. Of that the IITs admit the top 1% of the test takers. What is that in terms of percentile? </p>
<p>However, selectivity is not the same as ease. The JEE application process is definitely easier than applying to say HYPSM, which is has very little to do with academics.</p>
<p>Turbo, the schooling is everything. I went to one of the top 2 private schools in my state. I needed absolutely no supplemental coaching, beyond doing some practice tests (freely available). But the kid who goes to the average school has no chance. Very few kids from public schools get in. Of the private schools, very few get in outside of the top 5 or 10 in the state. </p>
<p>Can a kid study on his/her own and crack the test? Absolutely, just follow the curriculum of one of the top private schools, if you can somehow find it. Thing is, you can’t. Hence the prep and cram schools.</p>
<p>What is the “average” Indian college student like? If only 15% attend high school and only 7% graduate - where & when does their life veer from the path of their peers?</p>
<p>Sent from my iPhone using CC</p>
<p>Like, meaning? I would say that they are pretty much like other indian kids. </p>
<p>Indian schools have strict exams in each grade. If a kid falls behind, they are kept back. So it is a steady attrition.</p>
<p>Post #45</p>
<p>Yes, IITs take foreign students but they have to pay tuition.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>IIT has good name recognition around here (in the US), at least in the universities’ CS departments and computer companies.</p>
<p>And you know how people put license plate frames on their cars saying that they are alumni of some university? I have seen (here in the US) license plate frames that say “IIT Delhi”, “IIT Bombay”<em>, “IIT Madras”</em>.</p>
<ul>
<li>Not “IIT Mumbai” or “IIT Chennai”, interestingly enough.</li>
</ul>
<p>So, what’s so different about the top private schools and East Hyderabat High School (EHHS) from the chemistry exam it seems there are differences in what is being taught. Are the teacher qualifications and the like high, i.e. are the private school teachers all with advanced degrees and 3x the salaries @ EHHS?</p>
<p>Here, they’re not, and not. From my experience at least very few private schools would teach the breadth and depth of material we saw at the IIT test.</p>
<p>Details like these may actually help us figure out where the gaps are in the US…</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, turbo. Perhaps the test should also include some assessment of social skills. If there are so many vying for entrance to the IIT’s, they should perhaps identify the ones that might be only able to interface with hardware but are sorely lacking in their ability to interface with liveware. That, or teach this necessary skill as part of the IIT curriculum. JMO</p>
<p>“Only about half a million kids take the JEE. Note that India has about 5 million high school grads every year. So only the top 10% are even taking the test. Of that the IITs admit the top 1% of the test takers. What is that in terms of percentile?”</p>
<p>As I remember, you also have to have a qualifying score on another 12th grade secondary exam before you are allowed to even sit for the joint exam.</p>