Hating on IIT graduates is literally a skill issue. But this is a new trend where a lot of people are taking shots at IITians because they claim that they are nothing when compared to people from Harvard, Stanford, or MIT. Well, this diss of IITians stems from the fact that many people are just jealous of them.
Preparing for the JEE is like enduring a mental military boot camp. It’s gruelling, relentless, and often soul-crushing. Raj Dabre, a prominent researcher at NICT in Kyoto, adjunct faculty at IIT Madras and a visiting professor at IIT Bombay, joined in on the conversation. "JEE prep was one of the hardest things I ever did," he recalled.
Dabre said that as someone who failed the JEE, attended a tier-3 college, and later made it to an IIT through GATE, he managed to build a strong foundation in maths and science. This rigorous preparation wasn’t just about clearing an exam—it rewired his brain to handle complex problems, which later, he said, “helped me breeze through my undergrad studies.”
Anyone with dedication can master the basics, JEE or no JEE. The exam just happens to cram a lot of that learning into a short period, turning students into problem-solving machines.
“IITians Make IITs Great, Not the Other Way Around”
In today’s digital age, failing to solve problems and then attributing it to not being from an IIT is just an excuse. Top-tier educational resources are available online for free, speaking of which, Andrej Karpathy and Andrew Ng are offering free courses almost every week.
There are so many brilliant educators on YouTube who sometimes outshine traditional professors. The truth is you can get an exceptional education without ever setting foot in an IIT. Becoming an AI researcher in India by grinding yourself through JEE is definitely not the only way as well.
On the other hand, Abhay Rao argues on X that this is only the case for computer science and not other fields. “No way you're getting the hands-on experience that an IIT student would get on that expensive equipment,” he said. This seems like a valid point as most of the seats filled in several branches apart from CS are people who did not want to go there, but just got the seat.
The thing about IIT is not just education, but the peer group to study with. Though one can get the content anywhere on YouTube, the peers are only available in the institute. This can be addressed by forming groups and learning together, but the point makes sense.
Currently, everyone is yet to become a self-learner. But this might slowly change as advancements in AI could encourage people to learn coding with the help of such tools. For now, however, many students still need a good teacher in front of them. Not a lecturer on YouTube.
The undeniable truth is that professors from IITs are probably the best in the country. Which is what makes a lot of difference.
Nilesh Yadav on X suggests an experiment: “Imagine an experiment where we take the top 1% of JEE students and put them in a regular college, while random JEE students are put in an IIT.”
He predicted that the 1% would still perform better regardless of the college.
Though, It Is Fine To Admit That Indian Researchers Are Not That Good
The notion that all IITians are privileged geniuses with a golden ticket to success is as misguided as it is petty. Sure, some IITians might be, but the majority are just hardworking individuals who’ve faced intense pressure to succeed. And guess what? “Not every IITian is a great engineer.”
Many students slog through their courses just like anyone else, watching YouTube lectures at 2x speed the night before their exams.
The critique that Indian AI/ML researchers aren't at the level of international bigwigs like Ng, Karpathy, or Ilya Sutskever is somewhat true. We don't have anyone in India making an impact at that level.
That indeed is true, but let’s not ignore the fact that cutting-edge research requires serious funding. The US pours money into research, attracting top talent and enabling groundbreaking work.
Moreover, many IIT graduates also leave the country for the US to do foundational research. In comparison, India's research funding is peanuts. But compare Indian researchers in the US with their peers, and the gap disappears.
At the same time, the glorification of JEE to an extent that it becomes the gold standard is also not fruitful. Most people who attempt JEE and do not get selected can also succeed, it’s just a game of skill.
“I'd rather take a 1 crore loan to educate my child than worry about them not being alive, or coming out of it with zero social skills, and still having an infinitesimal chance of winning,” concluded the user who started the debate on the topic.
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