Background

IIT stands for Indian Institute of Technology, and are acknowledged as the best engineering schools in India. They are well known globally, and several IITians have made their name in India and abroad founding and leading companies and doing cutting edge research.

Until recently, there were five IITs – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kharagpur and Kanpur. Recently, University of Roorkee was accorded IIT status and IIT Guwhati was founded.

One of the most famous aspects about IIT is the selection process. There are two levels of tests, and over two hundred thousand students appear every year. If you are an Indian, chances are you know someone who has taken the IIT exam. The exam covers complex concepts in Physics, Chemistry and Maths – and the selection ratio: 1%

Yes, only about one in a hundred applicants get selected into IIT. This selection rate is almost ten times more strict than the Ivy League colleges in the US and probably is one of the lowest in the world.

Yet, once you get in, it is only the beginning. What happens next, well you will have to read the book for that!