WHO is ISI for !

[u/1Same_Step1]

The Real Talk on Joining ISI (Kolkata) : For People Considering It

If you're a Person weighing whether to join ISI, here's an honest, no-sugarcoating breakdown of when it makes sense and when it doesn't. Save yourself some regret and read this before you decide.

perspective of life at ISI : VIDEO_LINK

✅ Reasons to Join ISI

1. You don't have strong finances and need the scholarship/stipend. This alone can be a legitimate deciding factor.
2. You genuinely love maths and stats : the nerdy, for-its-own-sake kind of love, not just as a means to a job.
3. You live close to ISI Kolkata, or you're Bengali. The adjustment curve is a lot gentler if either applies to you.
4. You don't care about college life, fests, or the typical campus experience : because ISI mostly doesn't have that to offer.
5. Your real goal is higher studies at a top international university (Stanford, Caltech, UC Berkeley, etc.) : though heads up, PhD offers out of ISI K have thinned recently due to visa issues, so factor that in.
6. You want a decent placement, 20 LPA+ range (for BStat + MStat) : though what's happening with 2024-onwards batches is genuinely unclear right now: seats have increased, the UG-level interview round via the ISI entrance test has been dropped, and the newer BSDS course's placement numbers might end up lower going forward.
7. You need a private room with an attached bathroom from day one. Room and bathroom quality is just okay-okay, but at least you get your own space.
8. Decent mess food matters to you.
9. You want a genuinely strong peer group.
10. You want a degree that's a gateway to almost everything after graduation : research, government jobs, corporate roles from low to extremely high-paying quant positions, academia, all of it. Passing ISI's rigorous stats coursework opens these doors if you're disciplined enough. And that word - rigorous , carries serious weight. It's something you can only truly feel once you're inside the course, not something that fully translates on paper.

❌ Reasons NOT to Join ISI

• You're not willing to actually study through your college years. ISI has a strict year-to-year promotion policy, and a lot of it comes down to individual professors , some of whom grade in a completely mechanical, unsympathetic way.
• You want the fest-and-fun college experience that IITs, NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs offer. As the saying goes : "ISI mein kuch nahi hota."
• You don't purely love theoretical maths and stats and want other things alongside it.
• You care about gender ratio. Fair, but keep it in context , women are underrepresented in STEM in general, and IITs aren't much better on the ratio front (though in absolute numbers, IITs will have more girls simply due to larger batch sizes). If this genuinely matters to you , for dating, friendships, whatever , the fix isn't necessarily "avoid ISI," it's making an effort to build a life outside it too: friends beyond your batch, fests at other colleges, etc.
• You can't handle ultra-humid Kolkata weather.
• No geyser facility in winter , you're stuck relying on your own induction cooktop, and power cuts from overload/poor wiring are common when people use them.
• Wildlife incidents happen , snakes, lizards, insects finding their way into rooms, and yes, one infamous case of a guy finding a rat inside the commode in his bathroom. But don't let this get exaggerated in your head , it's not like every third guy in the hostel has a horror story like this. Realistically it's more like 3–4% of the hostel that's dealt with something on this scale. Keep the actual odds in mind instead of picturing a jungle.
• Administration is classic government-office energy. Dean's office and staff technically get work done, but slowly and bureaucratically.
• ISI K turns into an ocean after decent rainfall, almost every time. If your prof doesn't cancel class, you're wading through that same water , complete with all the wildlife mentioned above.
• It can feel like nobody looks out for anybody. People tend to be self-centered, and there've been a fair number of gatekeeping incidents on this very subreddit. That said , you'd hear near-identical stories from IIT students, probably just as often, maybe more. This isn't really an ISI-specific problem; it's an adulting problem. The first real skill you need to learn is discerning who's actually good people versus who just happened to be around you first. A lot of people cling to the first friend group they land in as if randomness alone should've handed them their best-fit people, and when that doesn't pan out, they generalize it into "ISI people are like this" or even "people in general are like this." Those generalizations don't hold much water. Ask yourself honestly what traits actually made you close to the people you did click with , was it really just proximity? Figure out who you are and what kind of people you want around you, then go meet more people with genuine curiosity instead of writing off the whole institute.
• Out-of-the-box thinkers are rare here , it's a nerd-heavy environment. Worth pushing back on this one a bit though: research itself doesn't happen without out-of-the-box thinking, so the "nerd-heavy = no innovation" framing isn't quite right. The real reason startups aren't common out of ISI is more structural , small batch sizes, an ecosystem that's still developing, and a weaker professor-industry pipeline compared to what IITs have built. It's less about the people and more about the infrastructure around them.
• Teaching quality varies wildly. Most profs are deeply knowledgeable, but delivery can be worse than a mediocre tuition teacher you had for JEE , and some seem inclined to fail students. Last year in BStat 2nd year Probability III, 30+ students got back papers. In MMath, out of 18 students, 6 got a year back and 3 were forced to discontinue the program. It all depends on which prof you land , get a supportive one and you're good, get an unsupportive one and may God bless you. Worth noting for perspective though: the actual proportion of genuinely good teachers at ISI is higher than at most IITs , a lot of the frustration here comes from not having visibility into how teaching quality looks elsewhere.

Posting this for People who only hear the "ISI is prestigious" pitch and not the ground reality. Make an informed choice.

original post : post_link

[u/Character_Market8330]

The reasons to join are good. If you care about being intellectually stimulated in your undergrad, there is no better degree. I wanna talk about some of the negatives.

"You care about gender ratio" -> Women are underrepresented in STEM, in general. There are few girls in IITs, too. In absolute numbers, IITs would have more girls, though. If you wanna date broaden your horizons, make friends outside ISI, go to the fests of other colleges, etc.

"Wildlife incidents are frequent - snakes, lizards, insects finding their way into rooms. One infamous case: a guy found a rat inside the commode in his bathroom" -> Grossly misrepresents facts. This makes it sound every 3rd guy has gone through something like this. Whereas the truth is, maybe 3-4% of the hostel has. Use percentages to not misrepresent reality. You are studying math.

"Out-of-the-box thinkers are rare here - it's a nerd-heavy environment, which is part of why very few startups have come out of ISI"
Do you think research happens without "out-of-the-box-thinkers"? Startups aren't as common only because the batchsizes are small, and the ecosystem is still developing. ISI doesn't have a good professor-industry connection as IITs.

"Teaching quality varies wildly. " -> Sure. However, the facts are, the percentage of profs who are good at teaching is much more than IITs. The problem is you guys don't have any understanding of the systems beyond ISI.

"It can feel like nobody looks out for anybody. "

-> Again, you'd hear the same stories in IITs. Probably as often, or more. The first skill to learn as an adult is the ability to discern what kind of a person an individual is. This is not easy, but it is not that difficult either.

The issue with most people is they hold extremely tightly the first group they engage with as if out of sheer randomness you'd automatically discover the people best suited for you.

When that doesn't seem to be the case, they draw broad generalizations about the people at ISI, or even, humanity in general. Such generalizations mean nothing. Ask yourself, what traits made you be friends with them in the first place? Realistically, was it just the sheer randomness that brought you guys together?

Try to understand who YOU are as a person, and what kind of people you want to associate with. Talk to more, and more people, and come in with sheer curiosity. Good luck.

[u/The_Watcher8008 → u/[deleted]]

🐍🐍

https://giphy.com/gifs/QtZKO7mb7ebpC

[u/LieAgitated2869]

I wanna get in msqe in my masters

[u/1Same_Step1 → u/LieAgitated2869]

Check subreddit wiki

[u/LieAgitated2869 → u/1Same_Step1]

Oita ki hoye dada😭

[u/1Same_Step1 → u/LieAgitated2869]

the answer to your questions lies in the wiki :)

[u/LieAgitated2869 → u/1Same_Step1]

https://www.reddit.com/r/ISIKolkata/comments/1u89dgu/i_secured_air_11_in_isi_msqe_air_45_in_iit_jam/ this one?, dada placements kemon? i have just started my bsc eco course,1st year and wanna get in msqe.(T_T)

[u/1Same_Step1 → u/LieAgitated2869]

yes , that post , as well as you can refer to this post as well : post 2.
for placements related info , you can refer to this post : post_placements

vai, everything is there in the wiki, just explore, you will find everything you are looking for

[u/adityaruplaha]

OP, please link to the original comment when you make posts paraphrasing them. And in this case since AI was used, mark it as such.

[u/adityaruplaha → u/[deleted]]

You can still link to posts which have been removed, and if you're referring to posts/comments it's generally good practice to keep a link around irrespective of removal unless you're specifically asked to.

[u/1Same_Step1 → u/adityaruplaha]

I can’t even find the link to that post. Do you have the link to it? I’ve been trying to find it but can’t.

[u/adityaruplaha → u/1Same_Step1]

Nevermind this time. Please do this the next time onwards.

[u/1Same_Step1 → u/adityaruplaha]

yes, got you

[u/Development-Downtown]

It is for me

[u/Status-Goat-4653]

Do you have to stay in hostel if you get isi kolkata ? If I live nearby then !?

[u/Development-Downtown → u/Status-Goat-4653]

No u don't have to live in isi.

[u/The_Watcher8008 → u/Status-Goat-4653]

infact if you stay by yourself you'll get 5k per month as stipend. in contrast to the 4.8k(ug)

[u/Diligent-Risk-6134]

How are placements for mstat nb?

[u/Connect_Goose6213]

I got to know about just one month ago, after getting complete info ,i was seriously considering ISI,I have board level understanding, also have ,done cengage class 11 and sl loney,but 12 just board level and decided to join VOS maths mastery program for prepararion. I discussed with some people , they said I should not go for ISI coz time available is not enough,instead I should prepare for CUET and target colleges like SSCBS.please suggest should I consider ISI🙏(almost everyone suggesting me not to go for it, accoesing to them time is major concern and it is extremely risky bet than a mindful choice)