Competition in India Pushes Students to U.S.

Roger_Dooley · 10-14-2011, 12:05 PM

NDTV describes the case of one New Delhi student who didn't get into her first choice, Delhi University, and had to settle for choosing between Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Barnard, Smith, and several other highly selective U.S. schools.

In some D.U. schools, getting in requires a near-perfect score on high school final exams. Acceptance rates run below 2%, and to even qualify to take the exam is a grueling process.

Full story:
Squeezed out in India, students turn to US

tylrrvera · 10-14-2011, 01:04 PM

I think this is astounding, considering D.U. doesn't even tank in the top 25 on USNWR Int. Rankings.

Roger_Dooley · 10-14-2011, 01:14 PM

Presumably, selectivity is just one of the ranking factors, tylrrvera.

fall2016parent · 10-14-2011, 01:31 PM

Thanks for posting this. This is insane

While it may be tempting for students to follow this, bear this in mind.
"Tuition in Indian public universities cost $500-$1500/year as opposed to $50,000/year in private". Even after scholarships/aid, the family contribution may still be pretty high for most Indians. But clearly there are affluent Indians who are able to afford it. The other thing for students to keep in mind - culture shock and homesickness.

Blackadder · 10-14-2011, 03:30 PM

The sad part is that India's top universities don't even compare to universities here.
Also the admit rate of 2% is misleading because EVERYONE and his mother sits for the national exams, and therefore everyone is automatically an "applicant".

fall2016parent · 10-14-2011, 03:42 PM

"The sad part is that India's top universities don't even compare to universities here. "

I am not sure I agree with this. If you are looking for undergraduate studies, the top schools in India are well worth it for the cost. Undergraduate course work is not rocket science. In fact, some indian parents here have pulled their kids out of schools and enrolled them in Indian Engineering schools (some reasons - cheaper, studying with indian peers, not getting diverted to all the other stuff that comes with been in colleges here....) So there is a 'grass is greener on the other side' mentality going on.

For graduate studies, I agree there are more research opportunities in the US. Though some of the top management institutes in India and there are some more graduate schools (BITS - I think) can provide a run for the money.

g0ld3n · 10-14-2011, 06:29 PM

tylrrvera: US News rankings don't mean the slightest thing. They can't even be used for a ROUGH estimate of undergraduate quality so it's more "expected" rather than "astounding" to know that the Indian schools don't rank on USNWR rankings. They are indeed respectable and revered in academia. Not as much as top American universities, but that's a given. After the US and Europe, India (particularly their research universities) is the hot bed of international patent requests which shows that industry innovation does indeed lead in that region. Their universities deserve due respect. They are not lacking unless compared to the Western research centers (Harvard, Caltech), but then again how is that a fair comparison?

Blackadder: Wrong. Read what I wrote above or do some research on your own.

I'm not even Indian for the record (I'm white), but man, there are a lot of misinformed Americans on this board....

UKdude84 · 10-14-2011, 09:33 PM

Disadvantages of having a population of like 10000000000000000000000000000000000000 or something.

arronnie · 10-14-2011, 09:37 PM

I am an Indian undergrad student applying for US grad schools for the 2012 semester.

While the competition may be one reason for students going to the US to pursue their studies, I seriously doubt that is the only motivation. I'm a student of Mumbai University, one of the "top" universities in the country. Over the last three years (I'm a senior), I have never had one moment where I felt that I had made the right decision by staying here for my undergraduate study.

The quality of "education" here is a big effing joke. My department doesn't have a single fully designated professor. Only assistant professors and lecturers. Other than 2 of them, every other faculty member holds a BS degree (the other two hold Masters' degrees from similar colleges). And this is the case in the best college within Mumbai University.

The day an Indian school actually ranks on the USNWR is centuries away. We are, frankly, not even visible in your rear view mirror based on simply the quality of education. The only thing we have going for us is the genuinely smart students that crack the top engineering schools, making for a strong peer group (I have a great one).

arronnie · 10-14-2011, 09:52 PM

@UKdude - Not just that, though it's part of the problem.

PhDs here are not respected. The most common question asked to a PhD is - "Why don't you settle down and get a real job?". PhD stipends at the "best" places are usually about Rs. 10,000-15,000 (less than $350) a month. In such situations, why would anyone want to go back to grad school?

Also, professor salaries are ridiculous. The highest I've seen in my college is not more than Rs. 40,000, a salary that can be obtained in most entry level tech jobs.

All things considered, professors have no motivation to teach, students have no desire to learn. They just want a job after graduating.

tryingforcollege · 10-14-2011, 09:58 PM

@arronnie, you could have chosen to come to our US undergraduate programs, where more than half the classes are taught actually by foreign teaching assistants who can hardly speak the language (with a class size of 200+ students)..and having student loans, working and studying at same time. I live in a college town and I see indian kids underestimating college life here. Most are home sick, tend to stick to their own kind or work in whatever campus jobs they can find to make ends meet. It is not the "living off your parents" life you have as a student in India.

What you do in undergrad in most cases has no relevance to your actual career. College degree, in most cases, is more than that. It is an opportunity for personal growth and a way to get yourself to the front door in employment. So you can ask this question to many of the undergrads in america and there will be a lot of discontent here too.

arronnie · 10-14-2011, 10:03 PM

How do you obtain "personal growth" if the entire purpose of the degree is to churn out as many students as possible?

I wish I could have done my undergrad study there, truly. I simply couldn't afford the four years worth of fees.

tryingforcollege · 10-14-2011, 10:44 PM

"Personal growth " is perseverance. Just saying the glossy websites of undergrad isn't always as it makes it out to be. Of course there are exceptions like there are exceptions in your country too. Professors here are focussed on research grants and most dont teach either. My cousin at a big ivy says he pretty taught himself from the books. Folks really learn more at internships and what they do outside college.

Blackadder · 10-15-2011, 05:31 AM

@gold3n: I was born and raised in India, and I lived 16 years of my life there. I'm not your average "misinformed American". Hell, I'm not even American, I am an Indian citizen. Refer to arronie's post. We have some insanely smart people who, as arronie said, ace the IIT-JEE (a challenging entrance examination for undergrad engineering), but we don't have the right universities to provide them the environment they need.

baseballnerd · 10-15-2011, 06:20 AM

IIT grads are running Silicon Valley and Wall Street and everything in between but I would agree the Indian education is substandard. I know everyone talks about how far behind the US is falling, but I don't necessarily think that is true. US universities are still top-notch.