Ninety percent of IIT students are male, and the young men we met in Bombay know they're hot commodities. Plus, the American companies love the kids from IIT. And the students view it as a ticket to another way of life. Em Rahm, one of India's leading journalists, says that because the stakes are so high, a kid starts preparing early. “By 10, you know whether you've made it--you're made for it or not,” he says. But just standing out in school won't be enough. At about 16, students enroll in a prep class where they're drilled for the IIT entrance exam. There are even pre-dawn tutoring classes – before they go to school. “I normally stay up all night and study for my exams,” says one student.
After years of preparation, students reach the day they and their families believe will make or break the future finally arrives. “On the day of the exam, my dad, my mom and my younger brother -- they all accompanied me to the center,” says one student. “I said, 'OK, now you can leave. I'll come home on my own.' But I was literally amazed when I came back out of the center and see my parents and brother still waiting for me outside the center.”
After six hours of testing, there’s an excruciating month-long wait for the results. Results are posted on the Web. And after 10 days, students receive a letter. Top rankers get their photographs in the paper. But the ranking isn't just an ego trip. The top kids get to choose which campus they want and which major. “It's a big deal in India, it is,” says Narayana Murthy, founder of the huge software company Infosys. He’s known as the Bill Gates of India. “It's very easy to lose hope in this country. It's very easy to set your aspirations low in this country. But amidst all this, this competition among high-quality students, this institution of IIT, sets your aspirations much higher.”
