The Student
We will begin with trying to understand the undergradute IIT student (I know too little about the post-graduate students' mindset to comment here). We start with accepting that fact that the motivations for coming to IIT vary widely amongst the approximately 600 undergraduate students who join IIT Bombay each year. Also, before we delve into their motivations, let us try to understand the basic nature of these students (as I understand it).
The JEE (The Joint Entrance Exam, the only way to get into the IIT undergraduate programme) has historically been a challenging examination. Even with the so-called "degradation" of the exam as well as the "factory-production" of JEE aspirants in Kota and elsewhere, it remains a tough exam to crack - not least because about 1.75 lac students appear for the exam and only about 4000 are finally successfull. With the odds of success this low, it takes a rare breed of very motivated students to get through. Even at the so-called "factories" of Kota, the kind of persistence and will power demanded from a student is extraordinary.
One very specific trait that I've observed in most IITians is that they are particularly (for lack of a better word) whimsical. I'll clarify what I mean here. Once a student gets it into his head that a certain thing is something he wants to do (for whatever reason), he is capable of putting in tremendous effort to get it done. On the flip side, if he perceives low value, he will not bother to do it for any reason (We will get back to how an IITian judges value in a while). This is more true after he has "proven his mettle" by clearing the all-conquering JEE.
Before I go deeper into the nature of an IITian, I'll try to list out the broad reasons why a student would want to join an IIT in the first place.
1. Interest in engineering (the ideal case?)
2. To find new challenges (this is different from a basic interest in engineering)
3. To study with the best in the country (ensured by the tough JEE?)
4. Parental pressure (We'll try to understand why parents would pressurise the students, under another heading)
5. To prove one's capabilities (I can too)
6. To secure a good career (the IIT brand)
7. Peer pressure (all my friends are doing it)
We'll come back to discussing the student again later.
The JEE (The Joint Entrance Exam, the only way to get into the IIT undergraduate programme) has historically been a challenging examination. Even with the so-called "degradation" of the exam as well as the "factory-production" of JEE aspirants in Kota and elsewhere, it remains a tough exam to crack - not least because about 1.75 lac students appear for the exam and only about 4000 are finally successfull. With the odds of success this low, it takes a rare breed of very motivated students to get through. Even at the so-called "factories" of Kota, the kind of persistence and will power demanded from a student is extraordinary.
One very specific trait that I've observed in most IITians is that they are particularly (for lack of a better word) whimsical. I'll clarify what I mean here. Once a student gets it into his head that a certain thing is something he wants to do (for whatever reason), he is capable of putting in tremendous effort to get it done. On the flip side, if he perceives low value, he will not bother to do it for any reason (We will get back to how an IITian judges value in a while). This is more true after he has "proven his mettle" by clearing the all-conquering JEE.
Before I go deeper into the nature of an IITian, I'll try to list out the broad reasons why a student would want to join an IIT in the first place.
1. Interest in engineering (the ideal case?)
2. To find new challenges (this is different from a basic interest in engineering)
3. To study with the best in the country (ensured by the tough JEE?)
4. Parental pressure (We'll try to understand why parents would pressurise the students, under another heading)
5. To prove one's capabilities (I can too)
6. To secure a good career (the IIT brand)
7. Peer pressure (all my friends are doing it)
We'll come back to discussing the student again later.
you've left too many things for later to peace out on this for a month and a half
Posted by
ansari | 9:13 AM