I would differ on this. It’s access to capital and connections. For the longest time access to capital in India has been limited and children are expected to support parents in their old age. Hence, the heavy move towards the cushy job at google. To be fair a large cohort of IIT & IISc grads come to top American universities.

I actually think standardized tests create more equality than other methods. The whole recommendation letter/essay/interview is an eyewash.

> I actually think standardized tests create more equality than other methods

If that was actually the case then India wouldn't have a quota system where >50% of seats are reserved for certain castes and religions.

Those are mostly political freebies. If you have someone using the reservation to gain admission there is no way they will be able to go through with recommendation letters/writing essays/interviews, etc.

Edit: In a way, the standardized testing made that inequality apparent and harder to wave your with a very ambiguous policy on inclusion.

To uphold equality I need to be punished for the sins of my fathers at least 2 generations before me. I have stopped complaining and my children and grandchildren will learn as well.

Which religions?

Connections is key and related to EQ. You can memorize all the works of physics and be horrible at making connections to get stuff done in the real world.

> To be fair a large cohort of IIT & IISc grads come to top American universities.

Why are they coming to American universities when IITs and IISC have GATE exam for post graduate courses and none of the ridiculous process for admission?

Connections and access to capital. Isn’t that why people move or get a job, etc.? And the fact that they can tolerate the ridiculously low PHD stipends.

Must be because they love ridiculous admission processes, not because American income is higher.

They produce MBAs, but founder entrepreneurs drop out from those institutions. What does that tell you?

The trope about successful dropout founders just isn't really true. Most successful founders finished college. That's not to say that college is the end-all and be-all of life (it's barely just beginning), but let's not pretend that a small handful of famous dropouts makes the trend.

Or much more importantly, most of those business founder dropouts had strong support systems in upper class families.

It tells me that these universities have an environment that supports students setting up and running companies while still enrolled. Students being successful enough to drop out before graduating is a badge of honor for these universities. Flexibility with schedules, reduced work load, taking semesters off – none of these are allowed by Indian colleges (believe me, I went through it myself). You can't even pick your own subjects or class schedule. Tell me, what was the last success story to come out of the IIT entrepreneurs' club?

A less insulting version of this might be accurate..

You should research a bit before you say there isn’t an ounce of innovation from India. Very mainstream and simple example is UPI (google it). Tell me any system in the whole world which comes close in scale, ease of use and security.

You are discounting Indian institutions, take a look at the Fortune 500 c suite list and tell me how many of them studied at IIT/IIM.

Investment is a key requirement for enterprise. You will be surprised to see the startup ecosystem now since the investment is flowing in.

I 100% agree with the asinine focus on cracking the exam and not anything else. But then the ROI is too good.

> You will be surprised to see the startup ecosystem now since the investment is flowing in.

Do you mean copycat chumps getting bloated on Softbank money as example of startup innovation?

Depends on which parts you choose to look at. If you are insinuating that Indian startup ecosystem is more inflated than everywhere else and you strongly believe that Indian startup ecosystem is devoid of innovation, then I don't know what to say to you.

> Students are only taught rote memorization from primary school onwards. They spend their formative years in before-school and after-school coaching doing more of the same, all to crack that single test which will determine their future (and a large number are driven to suicide because of it). No curiosity, no outside interests, no social skills, no independent thought. All of these are discouraged in favor of memorizing equations.

You do realize that this is the same language that universities like Harvard use to discriminate against Asian Americans (and historically against Jewish people)?

Reading this and knowing that you're talking about South Asians in particular, this comment just comes off as stereotypical and racist

Schools like Stanford et al produce things like Sam Bankman-Fried who I cannot deny is an innovator of something.

I'm not sure it's a good thing, mind you.

You missed the Theranos founder :)

>Standardized testing is the reason why India – despite its billion strong population and heavy cultural emphasis on science and engineering – is unable to produce a single ounce of innovation.

Says someone whose country brain-drains Indian innovators to do the actual work for which nepotistic grifters from Harvard take the credit!

I'd argue that this is money

btw. did you have an opportunity to study using those two "approaches"?