Blabbers on a Friday (late) night Or Random s**t thoughts crossing an idle mind

Board Toppers, IIT-JEE toppers & personal reflections

[Oh No! Not another blog on IIT-JEE, please!]

In the recent past, I’ve come across many blogs (besides debates in TV channels, newspapers, etc.) on why not to scrap the existing IIT-JEE, and a few blogs on why to support the change. These blogs are written by intellectuals and academicians of the highest caliber including professors of IIT (and other institutes), IIT alumni, present IIT students, etc. etc. and are being ‘hotly’ followed in terms of follow-up comments, debates, discussions.  

I am the most unworthy person in terms of trying to write a blog on it, firstly because, I did not study in an IIT (I even failed to clear the then-existing screening testJ) and secondly, since I never studied in an IIT and do not know the level of teaching and student quality (both must be very high, I believe), hence I cannot comprehend what changes – positive or negative – the proposed change in the exam might bring in. I really have no idea if including board marks from 10+2 level will deteriorate or upgrade the student quality in IITs (although teaching and research quality should not be affected in any way).

Thus, if I write my thoughts or opinions either in favor of or against the proposed change, then most obviously I will make myself look like a foolJ. Academicians, intellectuals, IITians (past & present) and finally the government are all there to help take a decision which should ideally benefit the nation at large. This particular blog is therefore NOT on ‘why/why not change IIT-JEE?

Harboring a long-cherished dream of pursuing a research career in ‘some’ area of physics, during my 12^th standard I resolved myself to pursue B. Sc. (Hons.) in physics from one of the best places in the country known for it. The admission process was not an easy one, because apart from 12^th board marks in PCM and 10^th board marks, the admission process involved a viva, an interview – face to face with professors of Physics from the college! There was no entrance exam, probably or mostly, because the number of students applying to study B. Sc in physics would be much, much fewer than those vying for engineering or medical. I was kind of nervous in what was the first formal interview in my life, being more than 2000 km away from my home for the first time and surrounded by experts in Physics.

“Do you think, having studied 10+2 in the Assam state board, you can come up to the level of students studying physics here?” Although I was taken aback by that question in the interview, I gathered my confidence and said, “As far as Physics is concerned, I am confident, I can.” “Think again, the level of physics is pretty high here. Are you sure you won’t have difficulties coming up to the level?” And I replied the same sentence again. I took pride and hugged my dad when I saw my name was among the list of students selected for admission into B. Sc. Physics. With dreams unbound and hopes flying sky-high, I took admission and attended the first day of lecture at St. Stephen’s college, New Delhi. And then on the second day, I dropped out myself and nullified my admission, leading to a waste of the precious time of my parents and their efforts in getting me admitted (not to forget, money!), especially when you travel 2000 km by train multiple times up and down in that unbearably hot summer of 2004 to set things up for a new student to live in a new city with a new lifestyle. And then on the third day, from New Delhi we went to a very remote village some 600 odd kilometers away so that I could take admission (purely by my own choice) in to an engineering institute to pursue Electrical & Electronics Engineering. No, I dropping out of St. Stephen’s on the second day of the class have got (mostly) nothing to do with the college. It’s a great and cool place, and I probably would have enjoyed attending classes there and my life would have taken a totally different route, then why did I drop out? This blog is not my autobiography J

Whatever I have written till now makes absolutely no sense in terms of why I chose to name my blog on ‘IIT-JEE’, actually it is ‘not on IIT-JEE’ J

The place where I studied four years of my engineering was a very unique place in the country at that time (and still is although one reason is different!), firstly because it admitted students in to engineering purely based on their 12^th board marks! So in other words, the campus was populated by students who were rank-holders in each state board (including zone-wise toppers (all India topper too) from CBSE and all India ICSE topper). Ours was the last batch to be admitted that way, and from 2005, an entrance exam was implemented. Many other engineering colleges must have admitted students based on 12^th board marks but ours was (and still is) one among the top ten best engineering colleges in the country by any standards (I don’t go by rankings published by media. BITS, Pilani @ Pilani campus, is just in top ten in India, simple! We don’t need any media group to rank usJ). The second reason why it is still unique is, only and only meritocracy prevails! There is ABSOLUTELY no quota for any kind of caste, tribe, community, etc. Our college administration had waged battles in high courts with MHRD or UGC – I don’t remember which one, to ensure that merit, and only merit, is the ONLY criteria for admissions, and nothing else. Being in elite top ten of the country and NOT having a single seat (in core engineering) for any kind of reservation is a completely unique trait, which makes me feel extremely proud of my alma mater J

After our batch, entrance exams was the norm for admission in to BITS and I cannot comment if the student quality at BITS upgraded/degraded with the entrance test since I took courses with my batch-mates only who were all board toppers. It might be worthwhile to ask a faculty member at BITS who taught both kinds of students – board toppers as well as entrance exam clearers, as to what he/she thought about the student quality. Unfortunately, I have never got a chance to visit Pilani again since I left in 2007 December. Of course, the BITSAT is a much different exam than the existing IIT-JEE, because the former includes some component like general awareness and/or language skills and it is a purely online test. But as far as I’ve heard, the questions in IIT-JEE are more difficult to solve.

Okay, so I know the student quality (at least of my batch of 2004-2008) at BITS, Pilani, and all the students were rank holders (including 1^st rank holder of course) from various state boards. The 1^st rank holders from only Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Manipur, Goa and Gujarat were missing in our batch as far as I can recall. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the comparison between the student qualities of my batch @ BITS Pilani with that of any IIT. At this point, I’d like to argue that the future success or fame of any student after passing out of IIT or BITS is not a yardstick to measure the average quality of students in either of the two places. In simple words, many IITians and many BITSians in the past and present have achieved national or global successes in their respective fields, which in no way reflect the quality of his/her batch-mates.  Thus, I am unable to comment on where board toppers across the country stand with respect to IIT-JEE toppers. And this question plagued many of us during our undergrad days (although we kind of unwillingly accepted that research facilities in IITs were probably in general better than those at BITS PilaniJ).

So one fine afternoon at the end of a lecture by a professor, I stood up and asked him while all the students were still inside the lecture theater, “Sir, you’ve been a professor at a couple of prestigious IITs for many years in the past, and now you are a professor here at BITS, Pilani for more than a year. What do you think is the difference between a BITSian and an IITian?”

(To be continued in my next post)