Life in an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is always much talked about, people from outside always view it highly and put it on a high pedestal. Almost every JEE aspirant wants to get into one of the IITs because of the perception that IITs always offer great career prospects. The bonus to all this is the amount of respect that an IIT commands.
However, recently a post by an IIT student went viral on social media after he claimed that the institute is no ‘Golden gateway to supreme education’. In his Reddit post, the student talked about being lost. He claimed that there is no enthusiasm after enrolling into the college as opposed to when he was preparing for JEE Mains. The student also further went on to criticise the grading system of the institute and highlighted that it is so highly dependent on the subjectivity of being a Teacher’s Assistant that it ‘defeats the whole purpose of education.’ There is a speculation that the student is talking about IIT Bombay.
After the viral post, many students also came forward to express their frustration with the IITs and to confirm the same, FPJ reached out to several students from different IITs across the nation to know about their experience and if they echo these sentiments.
A student, Anand Kumar Yadav shared his journey in the IITs. Yadav enrolled in MTech in Geosciences at IIT Bombay in the year 2020 but dropped out of the institute after one semester. Then, in the year 2021, he enrolled in the PhD course in Crustal Evolution and Tectonics at IIT Roorkee but dropped out from the institute in the year 2023 as well. He is currently pursuing PhD in Geosciences at IIT Kanpur.
Yadav talked about the bleak placement scenario at IIT Bombay for MTech, “I was completely sure of my decision of dropping out from IIT Bombay because, in the MTech geoscience course, hardly one or two placements happened that year in a batch of 40 students. The rest of the students were left with no choice but to either pursue a PhD or higher education.”
He further shared about his experience at IIT Roorkee, “The choice of leaving IIT Roorkee was a bit difficult, but I had to make the decision because the research facilities in the institute weren’t as good.”
Another IIT Bombay student pursuing PhD in Sociology agreed with the thoughts of the post and said, “It is true that the institute puts a lot of pressure on the students. Many professors are not sensitive enough to deal with the students and their expectations. The campus is also very competitive in nature, which is essentially the base of the Reddit post.” He further commented that IIT Bombay is marketed in a way that makes a student believe that they will receive the best possible education after enrolling here. “The reality, however, is that there is a lack of innovation and a lack of understanding of the current times in the institute. Students here are taught to abide but are never taught to criticise,” he said.
Rinkesh Kumar Meena, a last year student pursuing BTech at IIT, Kharagpur shared his own experience at his institute and said, “The grading system is very harsh in my branch as well. Students hardly pass and continue to struggle because of it.” He further talked about the placement scenarios at his institute and said, “Many people struggle to get internships and placements as well which is one of the major causes of mental health issues amongst the students. Counselling centres are indeed available in the institute but they do little when the students do not get placements even after studying from such a renowned institute.”
Meena also expressed concerns about the rising number of suicides in the institute and said, “Since I have taken admission in the institute, three of my batchmates died by suicide, one of them was my batchmate who died by suicide this year itself. The situation of the IITs is dire, to say the least.”
A student of IIT Delhi who chose to remain anonymous explained the process of the grading system and said, “I have been into three IITs so far and can confirm that every IIT has a different grading system. In some of the IITs, the grading points depend entirely upon the professors and the course which can be both a boon and a bane. It serves as a boon especially in the case when a student scores low marks in a subject, the professors then increase their mark to prevent them from failing the class. But the same is a bane when a professor or Teacher’s assistant takes out their grudges against a student or refuses to consider a student if he/she has scored low marks.” The student further said that being a PhD student, he is also the Teacher’s Assistant and hence about the backend process of the grading system. He is currently pursuing PhD in applied mechanics at the institute.
Talking about the placement scenarios at the IITs he further commented, “It is true that the placement scenario as a whole is affected in the IITs. Some people get packages in crores but then people as a whole perceive that it is a norm for all the students in the IITs. People should be mindful of the fact that this is not always the case.”
