r2i forum

Hello, my parents are planning to move back to India to take care of their parents. This will happen before the end of the year. I will be starting 10th grade this fall. My dad is looking into the right schools etc. I was born and raised in the US. I heard schools in India focus on math more here. I am trying to get 10th grade math books to find out myself. I really like math and don't want to suck at it :(

Is there anybody out there who moved from US to India and went to school in India? What was your experience with math? What was the most difficult subject and easiest subject? Did you feel preparing now or studying something beforehand helps in anyway?

Somebody pointed me to these forums as the best place to get answers. Sorry if this is not the right forum.

Thank you! :love:

Hima

Oh! Boy. You are a 10th grader posting in this. Good to know life has advanced. Since I anticipate not much replies to this, I'll make a feable attempt. This is generally a adult forum, people discussing about their jobs, their kids studies etc. So it is peculiar to see it from their studies (unless it is MBA etc.). So you may not find much help to give you comfort from people of your calibre giving their view point as they see it. I am grown adult who made a successful R2I 12 yrs ago, when my kid was in KG and they have studied here & studying here all thru 1 - 12 (& presumbly college). So this is the best I can do.
I'll make the assumpion that after 10,11th & 12th you will be studying in undergraduate in US. So the essence I see is, nothing is lost , if at all you have gained some new exposure you can write about in your undergraduate application. Start looking at this as this way. Then you will see some new thing. If you only look at this as Oh! No. I have to go to 3rd world country, then it isnt going to be fun. US is'nt going anywhere, after 3 or 6-7 yrs, you will go there and start a new life.
I'll also assume you might be going to more of the new Intl schools. Generally these are academically less taxing. And especially since you seem to have liked Math, it will be good. Yes, you are right in thining, Indian generally especially the intelligent ones, seem to think pure theortical Maths & science as the most important aspect of life and that might tilt the balance a bit. Personally even after so many yrs, I am not able to decide if this is correct or not, I see value in both the sides of coin. So irrespective of this argument, any system, any place gives some value (may be extra) to some skills & knowledge. Use it and prove in that, and exploit it to your benefit. For eg. when I work in big companies, I have to prepare schedules, write some documentation etc. which personally I dont like (neither good at it), but is essentially the tax I have to pay in working in that system.
Treat Indian academics like this, and within your capabilities master them. So what if it pushes you to get 99.5% marks, you try and get whatever you can, and if it happens to be 92% accept it.
As I understand, most Indians there (I'll assume you are also) go to good schools, and are certainly above average especially in Math/Science. Once you are in that level, then I dont think it is difficult at all to master Indian style of the same. You know basic sciences are same throught the world and in time. Only difference is it could be possible in India, they dont have equipment, so it may not be experimental in nature. You may study about electricity, but they wont even show you a bulb in the class. It will all be in books only. But you know, some of the great scientists (Aristotle, Pluto, Newton, Einstein etc.) were themselves like that. They did very little practical work, were just pure paper thinkers.
Upto 10th , it is very easy. 11th & 12th is tough, but only if you try for popular Eng. entrace exams (like IIT, AIEEE etc.) These are extremely tough and have very low success rate. If your target is US undergrad, I wouldnt recommend it. Not because you are coming from there. I would have said the same for someone here, who is interested in going to US.
Another piece of comfort. Objectively speaking, and with all due respect to US undergrad system, getting admission to a good Univ, is too easy. I am yet to know one person (Not a single one) who hasnt got admission to a good Univ in US. If it is not #1, it is #2, if not #10. Almost like who cares ? Everything there is #1, and everyone claims that their school has something special. It is also a practical thing,. There are so many Universities there. So just the top 50 Univ's there can accommodate pretty much everyone, and they are all so good. My understanding is say even Stanford takes around 2500 students every year, that is almost 1/4th of all IIT's in India. This means just top 4 Univs' in US, can take all of what IIT's take. That too in less populated country. So it is easier.
Also I have a feeling that actually your Indian experience is going to be a big + (more big than it may appear) when you apply to college there. Reason I am saying this is because I have heard some directly & some thru few indirections (like friends friends etc.) people are getting adimitted to MIT's, Standord, Brown, Yale etc. here in India. Now even people in US who looked like similar profile have got rejected in these Univs. (No harm done instead they have gone to Berkley, USC etc. which I am told are equally good). I am suspecting that these Univs' in their quest to keep diversity in profile are valuing the stint in India.
Bottom line I am saying is, once you can go to US undergrad, nothing absolutely nothing is lost. You will get admission in very good school. I am willing to gaurantee it (provided you dont say only this particular school is good).
Who knows ? In future if US job scene gets tighter, your 2/3 years of Indian schooling may just be your big selling point, and with the combo of US based all round and Indian based theory might get you higher than pure US based education.

Hi Srinpo, thank you very much for your comment. Yes I am not very excited about moving to India mostly because I will be losing all my friends and starting a new life. But as you said, I am also looking at it as an opportunity to learn something new and improve myself! Thank you again.

Hima

Hima,

Don't worry -- take it as a challenge and i am sure you will turn out good. I would still recommend you to be in company of student who are preparing for IIT etc -- it helps to develop some competitive spirit and Math/Phy/Chem skills you get there, would help in other exams as well.

I hadd all my education in india ( my luck stuck with IIT entrance exam, so had some success there but otherwise average).

Thank you deeppurple. I am sorry I didn't understand if you succeeded in getting into IIT or not. If you did, did you specifically study to get into IIT? I know IITs are highly ranked colleges and its not easy to get into them.

himabayarea;399143Thank you deeppurple. I am sorry I didn't understand if you succeeded in getting into IIT or not. If you did, did you specifically study to get into IIT? I know IITs are highly ranked colleges and its not easy to get into them.

I am guessing it could be possible that you may not be fully aware of difficulty of getting into IIT's. So want to warn you ahead. It is very difficult for especially people coming from US at later stage to India. Honestly you should count it off. But I'll be glad if you prove me wrong. Idea is not to discourage you, most people around here knows that, but since you sounded as innocent about it, I am just warning you ahead. There are many residential training schools, which coach people for 4 yrs and their schedule starts very early in the morning to late night close to non-stop, and they do have results to prove it.
But having said that, there are next level of options like NIT's etc. which in fact even has quota for foreigners,... and are pretty decent. Well, according to some people it doesnt matter which institute you go to, they are all the same...

himabayarea;398926Hello, my parents are planning to move back to India to take care of their parents. This will happen before the end of the year. I will be starting 10th grade this fall. My dad is looking into the right schools etc. I was born and raised in the US. I heard schools in India focus on math more here. I am trying to get 10th grade math books to find out myself. I really like math and don't want to suck at it :(

Is there anybody out there who moved from US to India and went to school in India? What was your experience with math? What was the most difficult subject and easiest subject? Did you feel preparing now or studying something beforehand helps in anyway?

Somebody pointed me to these forums as the best place to get answers. Sorry if this is not the right forum.

Thank you! :love:

Hima

I am not sure what made your parents to make such a decision at this point. They should have done it 5 or 6 years ago if they ever had any intentions of going back. The competition for top colleges in india are ridiculously high and people study like crazy the likes of which i'm sure you would not have seen here. No matter how intelligent you are or what your class teacher thinks about you, your career will be decided on the marks you score on the one final exam. You make one mistake in your physics or biology paper, there goes your medical seat.
I am not trying to scare you but just giving glimpse of what it is really to study in india. Set your expectations accordingly and be open to accept whatever comes your way. It's sad but unfortunately true.

srinpro: Thank you. I am hoping to be back in the US for my undergrad :)

arnold: I appreciate your reply. The move was unplanned. My uncle passed away in an accident last year and there is nobody to take care of my grandparents who are not very well :(

Hi Hima,

When I saw your post I felt that I should respond since I have a son who just finished his 10th and got into 11th . We moved to India 6 years ago when my son was going into 5th grade. So I believe we have some experience that can help you.
· My first suggestion would be to reconsider your movement at this late juncture. There will be lot of adjustments from a personal standpoint & considerable adjustments in the educational side as well. It will be difficult to work through all that in 1 year with a board exam too. Fortunately for us, my son had 6 years to work the personal adjustment in.
· If reconsideration is not possible, then local boards like ICSE or CBSE may not be appropriate. They require a second language & perhaps even in some instances a third language in the 10th grade. IMHO, you do not have enough time to work on the language in 1 year. In that event, I would even suggest you finish 10th in the US & consider moving for 11th . There are no language considerations in the 11th from what I know – My son does not have any in the 11th & he had French as his second lang until the 10th .
· Finally, if you are absolutely certain of going back to the US for undergrad, you may pursue an IB program in an international school. It is easier to settle into these schools than the mainstream ones. Please note that IB programs are not considered for college education in India (again based on my understanding). I am sure you have considered this – when you do go back, you will not be eligible for in-state tuition in all US states (at least that is my interpretation) – that can be a drain on anyone’s financial resources.
Good Luck – From your note, you come across as a thinking & caring individual.

Best Regards.

Thank you John Koshy for the reply. In the schools we talked, French seems to be a possible second language. I am decent in French so I can probably handle that. Yes, getting in-state tuition is also important too.

After reading this and talking to other people, I am not sure anymore if moving for 3 years is the right thing to do :(

Thank you all for your replies and advice!

Thanks for all the replies.