Career advise please!

[hitman050]

Hey guys, I need some career advise.

Now, Im in 11th, and got decent marks in the boards (89%). I've taken science stream, only to take Computer Science, as I just hate Maths and Chemistry. Well, my mom has had an obsession of putting me into IIT ever since I was young, and forced me to join FIITJEE. It's not that bad, and I actually understand what's going on, and but I don't really have the motivation work that hard, as I really don't want to go to IIT.

Reason for that is, I personally think that the India education system sucks. There's so much hype over IIT. If I want to take Computer Engineering, I still have to do Maths, Chem, Physics. And there's no importance given how a person is at a particular subject, when choosing streams. They take into account PCM, to give Comp Science, and obviously, everyone here is obsessed with taking the stream.

Basically, my main is to get into a top engineering college in USA. Berkeley, or Caltech or something similar. I know I need to prepare for SAT, but I need to know how.

Is SAT difficult? Is there a need for a crash course for SAT? How many marks would I need to get into Berkeley or Caltech? What's the preparation like? Say, if I have Grade 6 from Rock School, will that make a difference? Or other co-curricular activites?

Thanks

[rhitwick]

Originally Posted by hitman050

Hey guys, I need some career advise.

Now, Im in 11th, and got decent marks in the boards (89%). I've taken science stream, only to take Computer Science, as I just hate Maths and Chemistry. Well, my mom has had an obsession of putting me into IIT ever since I was young, and forced me to join FIITJEE. It's not that bad, and I actually understand what's going on, and but I don't really have the motivation work that hard, as I really don't want to go to IIT.

and why not?? Do u know people even come from other countries to study at our IITs and NITs? get ur basics clear.............

Reason for that is, I personally think that the India education system sucks. There's so much hype over IIT. If I want to take Computer Engineering, I still have to do Maths, Chem, Physics. And there's no importance given how a person is at a particular subject, when choosing streams. They take into account PCM, to give Comp Science, and obviously, everyone here is obsessed with taking the stream.

if our education system is that cheap we wouldn't have produced that much scientists............no institution teaches u anything, its u n only u who can teach urself somethin...............they all can show u d tricks, how things happen and d concepts..........

Basically, my main is to get into a top engineering college in USA. Berkeley, or Caltech or something similar. I know I need to prepare for SAT, but I need to know how.

sorry, here my basics r not clear...............do these colleges not offer PCM with computer subjects? As far as I know physics(semiconductors, transistors, etc) and Math(Matrix........rings any bell??, algorithm) are integral part of computing.............think again.....

Is SAT difficult? Is there a need for a crash course for SAT? How many marks would I need to get into Berkeley or Caltech? What's the preparation like? Say, if I have Grade 6 from Rock School, will that make a difference? Or other co-curricular activites?

no idea............... let other 1337s show u d way.............

[shashank_re]

Its good that you started thinking all this in 11th itself.
SAT is pretty easy for us(Indians) because we have learnt more tougher things in school than anyone else did.
One main thing to remember is the budget.No matter how much scholarship you get you need lots of money to study and live in US.

It will be in the range of 30Lac+ for 4 year course including cost of expenditure.
Tell me if you are ready to spend that much.

[hitman050]

Originally Posted by shashank_re

Its good that you started thinking all this in 11th itself.
SAT is pretty easy for us(Indians) because we have learnt more tougher things in school than anyone else did.
One main thing to remember is the budget.No matter how much scholarship you get you need lots of money to study and live in US.

It will be in the range of 30Lac+ for 4 year course including cost of expenditure.
Tell me if you are ready to spend that much.

Budget will not be problem. But what I want to know how to prepare for SAT. Do I take a crash course? Any books?

[anispace]

SAT is easy. Its just english+basic maths. English is a little tough as compared to maths and you would have to work harder on it.

Search on the internet... you wll find lots of info and sample papers.

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

AYNONE who thinks the SAT is easy IS totally overly mistaken. (pay attention to the emphasis)

I tok the SAT in grade 12 and i scored a 2080 on 2400 . Scoring a 2k+ on the SAT IS tough and once you try giving the exam you'll know how hard it is . unfortunately i came to know this the hard way as i gave the SAT in May 07 n didn't have enough time for another try .

@hitman050 , dude my thoughts exactly . The Indian Education system does totally suck . But you have to keep this in Mind . If you want to take Computer Engineering then you HAVE to take a lot of maths and come physics and chemistry . These are the basic requirements for an engineering degree in any country .

On the other hand , if you want to take a PURE Computer Science degree then you only need to take Maths and CS and can chose other electives . Remember , Maths IS an integral part of computing and you Simply CANNOT be a Computer Scientist without maths .

Boolean Logic , Set Theory , Functions and Matrices , Induction and Algorithms , Recursion , Combinatorics and Discrete Probability , Relations , Graphs , Trees , Digraphs , Boolean Algebra and Combinatorial Circuits all being mathematical concepts are the basic building blocks of Computer Science .

UC Berkeley offers a pure Computer Science degree in addition to the Engineering Degree and it's a lot harder to get into that program than the engineering one .

In Addition to good academics you need great extra-curricular because without them you have almost nil chance of getting into any of the top CS Programs(not engineering). Take part in computing quizzes , programming competitions and anything even remotely related to computers and maths .

On the IIT front i'm totally with you . Th Admission procedure of the IIT's suck . if they want to get on par with other universities they first have to modify their admission procedure to have different criteria for different programs and not use a one-size fits all(read PCM) approach.

[hitman050]

Originally Posted by Zeeshan Quireshi

AYNONE who thinks the SAT is easy IS totally overly mistaken. (pay attention to the emphasis)

I tok the SAT in grade 12 and i scored a 2080 on 2400 . Scoring a 2k+ on the SAT IS tough and once you try giving the exam you'll know how hard it is . unfortunately i came to know this the hard way as i gave the SAT in May 07 n didn't have enough time for another try .

@hitman050 , dude my thoughts exactly . The Indian Education system does totally suck . But you have to keep this in Mind . If you want to take Computer Engineering then you HAVE to take a lot of maths and come physics and chemistry . These are the basic requirements for an engineering degree in any country .

On the other hand , if you want to take a PURE Computer Science degree then you only need to take Maths and CS and can chose other electives . Remember , Maths IS an integral part of computing and you Simply CANNOT be a Computer Scientist without maths .

Boolean Logic , Set Theory , Functions and Matrices , Induction and Algorithms , Recursion , Combinatorics and Discrete Probability , Relations , Graphs , Trees , Digraphs , Boolean Algebra and Combinatorial Circuits all being mathematical concepts are the basic building blocks of Computer Science .

UC Berkeley offers a pure Computer Science degree in addition to the Engineering Degree and it's a lot harder to get into that program than the engineering one .

In Addition to good academics you need great extra-curricular because without them you have almost nil chance of getting into any of the top CS Programs(not engineering). Take part in computing quizzes , programming competitions and anything even remotely related to computers and maths .

On the IIT front i'm totally with you . Th Admission procedure of the IIT's suck . if they want to get on par with other universities they first have to modify their admission procedure to have different criteria for different programs and not use a one-size fits all(read PCM) approach.

I think we agree on a lot of stuff.

Anyways, at the moment, my aim is to prepare for SAT the best I can. I am well aware of important of extra curricular activities, and have already become very active in school. Yes, I too would like to give SAT in 11th, and then prepare applications in 12th.

Could you please give some advise on how I go about preparing for SAT? Also, are there two SAT exams? SAT I and SAT II

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

Yeah there 2 SAT Tests . The first one is the SAT Reasoning Test and the other one is the SAT Subject test .

For admission to a CS program you need to take the SAT , SAT Subject tests in Maths and Physics . In addition if you want to make it to Berkeley , Stanford or Caltech then you most probably should take the AP Computer Science too . A 4 on 5 in the AP CS will give a great boost to your application .

You can also take a lok at the CS Programs offered in Canadian Universities like the University of Waterloo , University of Toronto . They do not need SAT for admission to their CS programs but you need to score atleast 90+ in English , Maths and Computers In your boards and need to have great extra-curriculars as a replacement for the SAT.

A for preparing for the SAT . the first thing you need to do is to expans your vocabulary . no crash course can ever help you get greater marks in the SAT . it's what you build up over time that helps you get more marks in it . Buy the Barron's SAT Prep Guide and practise from it regularly .

[hitman050]

Originally Posted by Zeeshan Quireshi

A for preparing for the SAT . the first thing you need to do is to expans your vocabulary . no crash course can ever help you get greater marks in the SAT . it's what you build up over time that helps you get more marks in it . Buy the Barron's SAT Prep Guide and practise from it regularly .

I would like to think my vocabulary is decent, as I am an avid reader.

I will buy the book.

[anispace]

By easy i meant compared to his IIT entrance. He has a much better chance of getting into a good Univ in US than in an IIT. Yeah u have to expand your vocabs for sure. And u would think your Eng is good but just look at some sample papers and you would know for sure.