What Reputation Does an IIT Have Outside India?

The Indian Institute of Technology is not a mere institute, it itself is a brand. With record breaking placements and an excellent alumnus network, Indian Institute of Technology has established itself as the pioneer engineering institute in the country. Currently, there are 19 such institutes in different parts of the country offering quality education to the 200,000 students who are able to secure a seat for themselves after qualifying in both JEE Main and JEE Advanced entrance exams. For those looking forward to a post graduate degree, admissions are given on the basis of the marks secured by the students in Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) .

According to stats, it has been estimated that over 1.3 million students appear for JEE Main and Advanced examinations every year. Apart from the top-notch IITs, these exams are also a gateway for admission to 32 NITs, 18 IIITs and 19 other Government Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs).

Also Read: IIT to Conduct IIT JEE in 10 More Countries

Over the years, IITs have been able to leave a mark not only in India but also globally and one of the prominent reasons behind this is the extraordinary engineers it has been able to produce. That is why many foreign national candidates wish to appear for the entrance exam to these institutions. As of now, the JEE exams are conducted in the following neighbouring countries:

• Afghanistan
• Bangladesh
• Sri Lanka
• Nepal
• Bhutan
• Maldives
• Singapore
• UAE
• Ethiopia

Since the number of students appearing for the exam is quite large in comparison to the number of seats available, JEE is considered as one of the toughest entrance exams in India.

History stands witness to the works of some amazing IITians who have been able to achieve success worldwide. Some of the names from that list are:

• IIT Alumnus, Soumitra Dutta, currently dean at Cornell University’s Management School in America.
• IIT Kharagpur alumnus, Dipchand “Deep” Nishar, who is currently heading the Products and User Experience at LinkedIn.
• Also, Nikesh Arora from IIT Varanasi who is currently working in Google at the post of Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President.
• Bharat Desai, an IIT Bombay alumnus who is the Co-founder and the Chairman of Syntel (a Michigan-based outsourcing company)

Not only this, stats show that almost every big company in the world has one or more IIT pass outs working under its umbrella. For example, the hub for IT industry, the Silicon Valley which is home to some big global tech companies has more IITians working in comparison to any other institute.

Recently, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay made it to 36th position in the Times Higher Education Ranking and 219th position in QS World University Ranking. Following IIT Bombay was IIT Delhi at #42 in THE Rankings.

Further to raise IITs to the top in the global standing and boost their performance, the HRD Ministry has initiated Project “Vishwajeet”. The aim of the project is to figure out the various aspects and parameters where IIT are lagging behind the other institutes. Once these shortcomings are discovered, the government will work on eliminating them in a targeted manner. One of the most prominent features of the project is to stimulate stronger educational grounds for foreign nationals by initiating student exchange and faculty exchange programs in IITs. Also, by filling at least 20% of the faculty position with foreign faculty, IITs will further try to improve their global ranking and spread awareness about the institute worldwide.

Also Read: IITs Bringing in Foreign Teachers and Students to Improve Global Ranking

There is no denying that IIT has established itself as a big player in the education industry with all the reputed and handsome earning alumni but one must not forget the ones that made it big without going to the top notch IITs. For instance,

• The inventor of Pentium Chip- Vinod Dham is NOT from IIT.
• One of the world’s highest paid executive- Indira Nooyi is NOT an IITian.
• Indian American entrepreneur- Gurbaksh Chahal is not an IIT alumni.

More names can be added to this list and certainly we can add thousands of names to the list of people who did go to IIT but are living an ordinary life just like you and me.

Despite the goodwill and the name IIT has created for itself, what needs to be learnt is that hard work pays off, irrespective of the college you go to. With rapid globalisation and industrialisation in the country, there is no dearth of jobs. You will certainly get placed somewhere or the other but only if you make considerable efforts.

All the best!