<p>You can’t have one without the other. The point is that there are far more professionals who work in America contributing to the American engine than there are those to repatriate back to India. It’s a sad, sad phenomena.</p>
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<p>In that case the Indian taxpayers should invest in creating their own Harvard peers so that the bright Indians they have invested in will stay home. There is no law that says only the US can have top universities. All it takes is money, determination, and a little time. Don’t say that it can’t be done because Harvard has a 375 year head start. Oxford and Cambridge had 500 year head start on Harvard, but that didn’t stop them. Stanford is barely over a hundred years old, but that hasn’t stopped it from challenging Harvard for supremacy for many decades now. </p>
<p>And if the argument is that IIT and other top Indian schools are already the peer of Harvard, I’m willing to accept that, but then what’s the point? Why are the top Indian students still trying to get into US schools when they have some of the best schools in the world right there at home? Why waste all that effort and money? Doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>"And if the argument is that IIT and other top Indian schools are already the peer of Harvard, I’m willing to accept that, but then what’s the point? Why are the top Indian students still trying to get into US schools when they have some of the best schools in the world right there at home? Why waste all that effort and money? Doesn’t make sense. "</p>
<p>There are very few seats in the IITs and IIMs (MBA equivalent). If 35,000 people are applying to Harvard and the Ivies, somewhere near 500,000 people or more are applying to IIT and it is mainly an engineering school system.</p>
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I never said that it shouldn’t happen. I’m not saying it’s America’s fault–thank god for it. I am saying that it is sad for India to have to experience that. My dad always said the worst thing India did is let him leave.</p>
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Firstly, the assumption is wrong–they’re not as good. Secondly, like texaspg mentioned, they are insane to get into. My dad applied for IIT three times and was rejected each time–got into Harvard with a full fellowship.</p>
<p>“My dad applied for IIT three times and was rejected each time–got into Harvard with a full fellowship”</p>
<p>Then the system is wrong, that’s fairly obvious. </p>
<p>Regarding the quality of IIT, check out the latest ARWU rankings here [India</a> Universities in Top 500 - 2009](<a href=“http://www.arwu.org/Country2009Main.jsp?param=India]India”>http://www.arwu.org/Country2009Main.jsp?param=India)</p>
<p>Certainly, the ARWU have many faults (as all rankings), nevertheless it only measures the academic weight of the universities, and particularly their achievements in sciences. It cares nothing with student/faculty ratio, dorms or such silly things, just pure academic achievements, yet, IIT is ranked 303-401, which is a quite poor performance compared to most US and European universities. I’m sure IIT provides quality education, but I fail to see that it’s a world-beater university. Indeed, the admissions borders with ridiculous, but that really makes it an outstanding institution? Maybe I’m wrong, but as I see, in case of world rankings, IIT is a solid university, surrounded with a lot of myths in India (which myths fuels the idea on the subcontinent, that IIT is in pair with Harvard and such), but nothing more. </p>
<p>As mentioned before, there are tons of Indian students in the top notch universities, such as Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, Princeton, etc, and I’m curious: if they return to India, will their degree seen as inferior to a degree from IIT…?</p>
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Well, that’s a fair argument. But with half a million people arguing it’s hard to give the kind of focus Harvard might give its arguments. </p>
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Absolutely correct. Indians would be fools to equate IIT with MIT. What makes it so prestigious is that each IIT is a microcosm of the highest echelons of India’s youth. What makes it sad is that they leave, and for good reason.</p>
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In terms of prestige foreign degrees from top universities are far greater. However, in terms of recruitment and such, I don’t know. </p>
<p>As fun trivia, askmen.com lists an IIT BSc as amongst the world’s most prestigious degrees, along with a Yale JD and a Harvard MBA.</p>
<p>“Certainly, the ARWU have many faults (as all rankings), nevertheless it only measures the academic weight of the universities, and particularly their achievements in sciences. It cares nothing with student/faculty ratio, dorms or such silly things, just pure academic achievements, yet, IIT is ranked 303-401, which is a quite poor performance compared to most US and European universities.”</p>
<p>They don’t have a clue about how hard it is to get through IITs. A lot of the graduates are professors at leading universities in US and they breeze through Ph.D.s in US once they graduate from IIT.</p>
<p>Every single top 50 university in Engineering school US currently has at least one graduate of an IIT on their faculty and some have a bunch.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.kamalsinha.com/iit/news/mafia/mit-eecs.html[/url]”>http://www.kamalsinha.com/iit/news/mafia/mit-eecs.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://post.jagran.com/iit-alumnus-placed-as-director-of-mits-computer-faculty-1308657274[/url]”>Jagran English: Latest News Today, Breaking News Headlines from India & World;
<p><a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/19/60minutes/main559476.shtml[/url]”>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/19/60minutes/main559476.shtml</a></p>
<p>How hard it is to get in isn’t necessarily a reflection of the quality of education thereof. IIT is a wonderful institution, but to compare it with the top in the world isn’t right.</p>
<p>The quality of education/strength of curriculum is not lacking. If it were, they would nt end up on the faculty of MIT, Harvard, Princeton and Stanford unless you are assuming it is no big deal to be on the HYPSM faculty and they hire people off the street.</p>
<p>You’re not using any reasonable metric of judging an institution’s quality. There are many colleges that are represented on HYPSM faculty. What makes IIT great is the students not the institution–and every graduate I know has told me this.</p>
<p>I don’t think annasdad is being prejudiced at all. Honestly if the school is a very good school, why waste 50 grand a year to get the same education? While there’s nothing wrong with an Ivy school, personally i think you’re just paying for the name. It’s like buying a white tank top at Abercrombie as opposed to buying the same one at JC Penny. Even if the Abercrombie one is a little bit more high-quality, at the end of the day it only matters if it can serve its purpose…the extra fanfare for the name just isn’t worth it…</p>
<p>Yeah but the school isn’t as good as Harvard or its ilk. I thought that was established.</p>
<p>There is no such establishment and if it were, it is hogwash from people who don’t have a clue.</p>
<p>This argument is ridiculous. To say that IIT can compete with MIT is insane. Look at funding, facilities, professors, everything. I am not saying IIT isn’t good or prestigious–it is. </p>
<p>It’s hogwash to say anything otherwise. It’s a meaningless argument to have because anyone who is driven by reason and not some arbitrary loyalty would realize that IIT is far behind it’s western competitors. It’s curious, because if IIT was as good as Harvard it would be the Americans and Europeans paying 1000s for dollars JEE coaching to come study here… and yet it’s the other way around. Funny, huh?</p>
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<p>And not only do the end up on the faculties of those schools, they end up often well-placed initially in employment, and then with meteoric rises in engineering and other science fields, here in the States.</p>
<p>I also agree with coureur. And as for the retorts to his invest-in-Indian-education idea, clearly there must be a demand for it, and sufficient student body sizes to fill such institutions, given the “insane” competition for spots in those Indian schools.</p>
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<p>Well actually students are part of the institution. 
If you’re saying that the faculty or the curriculum is lacking, the fact that the students (as I said) are well-placed here in the States, means that student quality is apparent outside of India as well.</p>
<p>Well, I think I have an answer to my little question: rich folks in India are willing to pay an insane amount of money to come to prestigious American universities because they can’t get into their own top schools. I guess that makes a certain amount of sense. </p>
<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>
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Not necessarily rich people only. Neither of my parents had a cent when they came to the USA.</p>
<p>Somehow I’m always suspicious when I hear about universities that supposed to be world beaters - according to the citizens of the country they can be found. It’s a bit like that, according to an old joke, the French universities tops the US and UK institutions: on French rankings. It’s a telling example that there is not a single ranking (ARWU, QS, etc) that places IIT among the best 200 universities in the world. People can say that it’s underrated, and I tend to believe this, nevertheless there is no way for such kind of underrating: for many Indians, it’s equal to the top notch US and UK institutions, but no data exist to support this theory. An university can be somehow underrated, but not with 300 places on the world rankings.</p>
<p>The astonishing acceptance rates alone don’t indicate that a university or other institution is a world leader; yes, selectivity mostly equals with quality, but not always, and it’s most certainly not true that because the IIT acceptance rates are a way lower than Harvard’s then IIT surpasses Harvard. There are many special institutions around the globe that have terribly low acceptance rates, yet they are not considered amongst the most prestigious on their fields. </p>
<p>Moreover, as others mentioned, not US and EU students go to IIT, but on the contrary, Indian students came to the US and the EU (and they tend not to return to India, but that’s an other topic). If IIT would be really such an outstanding collection of institutions, then, despite all the hardships, people would like to study there, but in reality, I never ever heard about anyone who tried to do so. My understanding is that IIT is a myth in India, and it’s not just fuelled by the extremely low acceptance rates, but all the institutions, training centres that surrounds the IIT, the whole business that aims (for a considerable fee, of course) to help students to get into IIT. And the legend lives, and spreads, but the fact is, that IIT cannot stand an international comparison: and I’m not speaking about a comparison with Cambridge, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and the like, but with highly regarded state flagships, say, UDub, Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan, not to speak about Berkeley. In fact, the world rankings indicate that IIT is in pair with Kansas State or Clemson. Surely, IIT’s boost some excellent programs in sciences, but the institutions as a whole cannot stand the comparison. Indeed, many IIT alumni can be found in top notch departments, but somehow I think that many Indians can also be found there, who did not received a single degree from any IIT.</p>
<p>I understand all the national pride stuff, but it changes nothing in this matter.</p>