Every student in India who wants to be an engineer dreams of studying at an IIT. The institution helps candidates to get a rocking start to their professional journey. Many candidates successfully get admission to IIT but later, change their mind to be and do something else. Today, we will tell you about one such candidate from Kolkata who started preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) after class 10 but later dropped out of IIT counselling to join the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Kolkata's Mohammad Sahil Akhtar worked hard since he was in class 10 to get admission to the IIT. He fulfilled his dream when he got the 99th rank in the All-India merit list for the JEE-Advanced 2023. However, despite getting into his dream institute, 17-year-old Mohammad Sahil Akhtar decided to drop out of the JEE admission process and head to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Mohammad Sahil Akhtar, revealing the reason behind his decision, said that MIT had "more research opportunities and a flexible curriculum".
"Generally, the most sought-after route is to join an IIT in Computer Science Engineering (CSE). My parents would have suggested considering IIT Bombay," Mohammad Sahil Akhtar said.
He later revealed that it was at IOAA Olympiad, in Georgia, that he realised other options that were available to him.
Mohammad Sahil Akhtar said, "There was no dependency on any entrance test or a rank for admission. I appeared for the Standard Admission Test (SAT). But more than the SAT score, admission to MIT was based on the institute’s admission committee’s assessment of my application which included my overall academic records, achievements in academics as well as in extra-curricular activities, essays, and recommendation letters from my school teachers."
Mohammad Sahil Akhtar completed his schooling at the Delhi Public School (DPS) in Kolkata’s Ruby Park and appeared for JEE in April. Mohammad Sahil Akhtar also recently started a YouTube channel to guide other candidates.
Mohammad Sahil Akhtar says that, at MIT, he hopes to dig through his interests in linguistics and philosophy. He has a scholarship which has also "brought the cost to how much we would spend at IIT".
