Comment by darth_avocado | Hacker News Reader

Comment by darth_avocado | Hacker News Reader

This article is a gross misrepresentation of what it takes to get into IITs. I got into one, and I can guarantee that this article pretty much picks and chooses data points as it wants. Yes it is academically challenging to get into IITs, but there's two ways you can get into one: Devote your entire life towards "cracking" the game that's the entrance exams, or just study enough that you've mastered the understanding of math and science, but don't kill yourself over it.

Me and my batch of high school buddies managed to get into IITs (and NITs which are a step down from IITs) while putting in some work, but not killing ourselves. All of us were athletes, so a 2-3 hours of sports daily for us was a must. All of us did some amount of coaching, and though the coaching classes gave us enough exercises to last us the entire month, daily, we had enough sense to figure out how much practice was enough practice. (Surprisingly, it's not a lot) Most of us did have other hobbies, some of us ended up pursuing them full time.

Yes we always had the kind of students the article mentions, spending each moment they're not asleep on DPPs (daily practice problems). Guess what, some of them made it into IITs (which they would have even if they put in less effort), but a lot of them actually never made it despite putting in that effort.

Not all of us are the soulless robots described here.

The following is a great example of how the article cherry-picks its data:

> “They have been cut off from society, they are unaware of current affairs, and are desperately in need of our induction programme for freshers where we try to re-orient them to society and the institute,” the (IIT) professor said on the condition of anonymity. This skill gap haunts them even when they graduate. Despite all the hard work engineering students put in, a survey conducted in 2019 found that 80 per cent of engineers “are not fit for any job in the knowledge economy and only 2.5 per cent of them possess technical skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI) that industry requires”

The survey was looking at all engineers, not IIT graduates. If someone did a survey of IIT graduates specifically, I doubt even 1% would qualify as "unfit for any job". There is nothing in the survey which lends support to the idea that all their time spent studying "haunts them even when they graduate".

Not to mention the insinuation that "only 2.5 per cent of them possess technical skills in Artificial Intelligence" is a bad outcome for IIT graduates. The vast majority of engineers choose not to specialize in AI... because there are tons of alternative areas to focus on. This is also completely unrelated to the IIT prep culture.

I hate to generalize, but journalists in every country seem to have a real axe to grind against engineers. Presumably because we're their polar opposites in every way. And we also make a lot more money than they do... which must really get under their skin.

He got it from here https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/indian-engine...

Completely unrelated to IITs.

That site has ad cancer, so I'll save you a click: It's a completely bogus "survey" that claims that 80-90% of engineers worldwide are unqualified for their jobs.

When I read that statistic, the article immediately lost credibility to me. I think journalists are just lazy, and would rather write something that confirms their own worldview, rather than fact-check a ridiculous statement like that one with someone who is actually in the industry.

I’ve heard that’s the statistic for the entire engineer population. IIT engineers are a very small percentage of the overall. However, even if you have a very poor opinion of the other colleges, this “unemployable” conclusion is heartlessly lazy and unprofessional. People who say that such a large population from diverse backgrounds is completely un-resourceful deserves nothing but disdain.

No it is not. Just because it worked out for you doesn't mean it worked out for all of us. I still have PTSD from my 12th standard days... all that mindless cramming physics and chemistry just so I could go to a good college and study CS. Me and my peers were actively discouraged to take a harder subject like economics or CS as the 5th subject so we could focus on Physics,chen and maths.

We went to school then tuitions in the evening and whole days of coaching on the weekend. That didnt leave much time to play around, acquire new skills and hobbies and when we tried our parents and teachers were not exactly supportive of it because we could spend that additional time on cramming more.

Just using a stupid test as a benchmark to get into a country's most prestigious colleges without taking into account if the student even has a passion for the subject is an absolutely broken system.

> Just because it worked out for you doesn't mean it worked out for all of us.

That is exactly what I said. The experience described in the article is just one side of the story, which I never denied exists, but that isn't the only side of the story. Also let me rephrase what you said, "Just because it didn't work out for you, doesn't mean it didn't for everyone else". Therefore, a need for a balanced point of view.

Amen brother! This is why it is important to not take things at face value, like most of our country men. Just because India was a poor country and IIT was a good way out, it doesn’t mean there aren’t other paths. This is just myopia induced by scarcity and poverty

It also depends when you got into the IIT.

My dad got into an IIT and it was basically like you describe it. I got into IIT and it was like how this article describes it. It’s also gotten easier since I took the JEEs because they’ve quadrupled the number of seats available by enlarging the existing IITs and making a bunch of new colleges IITs, so I suspect it’s easier now than when I was taking those exams.

The article rightly blames the scarcity for the problem. But bizarrely enough, one of the factors responsible is this gate keeping tendency that is inherent to the Indian culture. I still remember the whining that the expansion will dilute the “quality” from so many former IIT people.

The Government of India spends a lot of its resources badly for populist reasons, and scarcity can be mitigated with what they have currently on hand.

Though, gate keeping is a widespread human cultural tendency, India still hasn’t had any champions emerge, who have successfully fought against it, like for example Theodore Vail did in the US.

Accuracy and a balanced nuanced view does not create click-bait articles. I did not go to an IIT but know plenty who did and while some are uber-nerds others are on the opposite end of the spectrum. Mixed-bag. Nothing different than what you would find at an elite US institution.

Well you probably have a very high IQ. The less gifted need to work harder as is true in every discipline.

Where did you go to school, if I may ask. This seems like a dream to me, and not relatable at all as a student from India

The biggest public schooling system with blue and white uniforms. ;)

that's the print is for you.

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