Course Enrollment Advice For My 8th Grader

Thank you for the nice words! My brother was happy to get into IIT but he found the atmosphere quite difficult, particularly the intense competition. He has done well in his career but he always said he wished he could have done undergrad in a more hospitable environment and had a broader learning experience. His friends who went to lesser-known engineering colleges have also all done equally well, and this is also true of all our other relatives. IIT or not, everyone has achieved almost the same status. So definitely there are options, though I know my dad was very relieved with my brother’s admission because he didn’t have to pay fees for private college.
If you can keep the international option open for your daughter please consider it. You can always evaluate based on the employment situation abroad at the time. Also her interests might change.

 

No. Even kids with no visa issues are facing huge troubles in getting free internships itself. let alone jobs. at least that is what i noticed.

i cannot predict what after 8 yrs for a 8th grader. just sharing current situation

 

Yes, your friends are right. I remember your posts about your daughter and think it is a good option to go for JEE - but do consider a few points
1) The JEE Foundation should not over-impose on regular school
2) Go for the closest good center so you dont waste time commuting.
3) Having at least 2-3 hours of self-reflection, self-practice free time everyday is crucial - to give her time to process what she is learning - if your school + JEE is interfering with this free time, consider cutting out other non-priority items from her schedule
4) (Dont tell her now) Be open and prepared for her to totally hate it and leave it in 10th or before - then what happens to JEE?
5) Convince her that she is only bettering herself and not competing with others - their mental well being is essential

From her performance at school in your posts, it is evident that she is intelligent at math - so engineering and finance are obvious choices - but you also need to consider her 'Interest Area', her 'Work Preferences'.
Aptitude is only from the brain, she has her value systems and her personality aspects... Have you considered them while selecting engineering or finance?
Which engineering? - There are more than 200 branches even in the relatively new biomedical engineering
Which aspect of finance? For instance, CA, CFA etc would be suited for a detail viewed, very conventional process oriented person, but if your girl is a quick thinker, intuitive and top-view person, she would hate being a CA and may love the challenge of fraud detection or risk assessment or VC valuations.

I would suggest - talk to several people who have worked in your desired 'destinations' and see the route they have taken - also check out linkedin profiles of various persons who might be in your areas of interest - and see what path they followed to reach where they are .... and what exactly are they doing everyday

The effort itself is very rewarding even if you dont achieve - Kids definitely benefit from these classes and perform much better at various other entrances and olympiads - but they have to be prepared that about 12 lakh students write JEE and only 10000 (you need to get 99.9%) get through to premier institutes - so as long as they know that they are studying the foundation ONLY to better themselves and NOT for the JEE, their mental state would be fine.

Thanx for tagging me. I know I am answering a bit later than others....
This is the right time to do your homework...
I will share a youtube video on your DM (I dont know if links are allowed in the replies!) It would give a good precursor to the question - 'is my child ready for the future?'

For each program that you are considering - Engineering (for various branches), Finance, Economics, Statistics etc - go to the website of a good institute, check their curriculum - see what subjects they need to study, which ones go indepth etc..

Then, go to websites like Swayam NPTEL or coursera or edx or udemy and go through ONLY the FIRST video of each of these subjects - if she can understand, then explore further - else just check for now if she has the required interest and aptitude.

You could sit with her, create an excel and ask her to rate each of these topics based on Easy, Interesting, Futuristic, Application oriented, etc

I think Manipal and NMIMS have introduced some bachelor programs on Techno-finance, do check their curriculum too...

UG education in India, even in tier 2 private institutes are good, no less than abroad. Unless you get a premier institute, UG is not much different abroad. Yes, you would get to work on various projects and have a great world view, but if the student wants to anyway do masters, then it is cheaper to do UG in India and go to good institutes abroad for Masters or PhD
And yes @Induslady, it is still a good time for students to do Masters in US but if you get admission at masters at the top 100 colleges then it is not dependent on the job market.

Yes to all your points - CBSE is ideal for JEE as the syllabus is exactly the same... but after covid, CBSE has diluted the kind of questions the kids practice and are evaluated for - and JEE questions are at a completely different level. So, ICSE board wont make a huge difference.

I was a student advisor and had tie ups with several study abroad experts.... I dont do that now as I am working on other academic projects.... Which city are you from? I can check with my friends and DM you some leads

Most topics are broadly similar, ICSE might go deeper in one concept and CBSE might go in deep in another concept..
She will not lose out if she goes for the foundation ... she will cover all the concepts

If she is shifting to CBSE at 11th or 12th (Or state board), the concepts might be the same but they will need to learn how to write answers as expected by the CBSE board (check the Marking scheme files available in cbse website that you can download along with sample question papers)

Finally, I would suggest
1) As long as her mental and physical health is fine and expectations are clear, start her on the JEE foundation either online or a nearby center - just to expose her to a different level of questions.
2) In the meantime, explore your daughter's aspirations from a 'What will I do while at work' kind of perspective and NOT 'What degree should I study?' - Do note that even for a vacation, you first decide where you want to go (Ooty, Kashmir, Switzerland) and then decide what train or flight or hotels to book. Destination is the criteria, not the route.
3) Explore various engineering branches, various finance streams, good colleges in India and abroad, budgets and restrictions (e.g. your DH or DD want India for UG at least) - You are already asking very good questions, keep finding and noting the answers in an excel sheet
4) Talk to people about what exactly they do at work and tell her lots of 'at-work' stories...
5) Let her try out internships by DOING projects. We spend a lot of our school time studying and very less actually applying our knowledge and capabilities - let her write a small program (use scratch mit edu), do some electronic hands on DIY, write a budget for your next holiday or party, balance your bank accounts, have a dummy share trading account (without actual money) and try to understand the market - she will get more clarity on her destinations, what she loves doing, what she is good at etc...
6) Be supportive of her - if she doesnt like or enjoy JEE foundation, and it is affecting her well being - consider dropping it even if you lose the fees... way too many kids spoil their mind with the JEE prep....

All the best to your daughter!
Keep smiling
HR

 

.. double post ..

 

I doff my hat toward you for this holistic analysed-view & guidance .
Regards.

 

Career Counsellor has suggested either Finance or IT and applied fields or Engineering. I have qualified myself to answer your question because a) I am a Finance Professional (CA), b) Worked extensively in IT field as an executive and c) Educated my son in Engineering. I am not a career counsellor.

If she has high IQ, I feel you should consider the following options:

1) JEE could be an option but no expectation should be set as sometimes, the results could be a disappointment as the competition is so high. But if she is successful, she could consider joining a specific area of interest in one of the IITs and then follow it with IIM (two years management course). This would be a preference, if she is oriented towards engineering and management. The Engineers with background of Management and Finance are most successful entrepreneurs in the world. Estimated time after school - 7 years

2) If your discussions with her results in her interest in Finance, she could even take CA Foundation Exam. If she is successful, she could directly join to become a qualified Chartered Accountants even before seeking a Bachelor's Degree. After that she could pursue other Master Degrees in the US or India as she likes. I wouldn't discount CA as conventional course as the new CA subjects are most updated to the international standards and there are other specializations she could pursue after CA within the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. This is a national level exam and the competition at every level is high. - Estimated time after school - 6-7 years

3) IT and Applied fields - If she is pursuing this line, she should not focus on software development or reengineering as a career as there are too many in the field. She should pursue a proper B.Tech in IT field followed by getting a doctoral degree in Data Science to learn more about Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks, if this area excites her. This is going to be the future for many years to come. - Estimated time after school 8-9 years.

Actually, each one of the career paths mentioned above are satisfying to a student with high IQ as she would have plenty of opportunity to expand her growth through creative attitude and innovation in the field she decides to work.

Please feel free to write to me here, if my answers require further clarifications.