Can an average student ever get good university?

[Adesh]

Hello everyone, I want to ask can an average student get admission in good universities? By average student I mean a student who is not gifted with some great abilities and doesn't have any powerful family background but just yearns to achieve higher education. By good universities I mean universities like Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Princeton etc.
I have seen their websites and all of them require (for an Indian student) score above 95%, ranks within 2000 in JEE Advanced and many other things. Can a student who really wants to study, who have dreams of continuing the projects of Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Gottlob Frege (no matter whether they are solved or not), ever get a good academic institution?
Please suggest any institute which would satisfy the desire. Please also tell the truth if there doesn't exist any academic institute for such dreamers and they have to work on their own.

 

[Augustine Ivon]

If you're an average high school student, maybe it's not terribly realistic (at the get-go). Perhaps you'll have to attend the "average" university for us "average people" and if you really shine there then, yes, you can go to a great institution for your graduate work.

Very few people come into this world who are absolute brilliant minds and change the fields that we all love.. Most of us-- and even the brilliant ones -- have to work and work and work. Work until you can't think straight anymore. If you put the time into your studies, you'll see meaningful results. Keep the passion too.

 

[Adesh]

If you're an average high school student, maybe it's not terribly realistic (at the get-go). Perhaps you'll have to attend the "average" university for us "average people" and if you really shine there then, yes, you can go to a great institution for your graduate work.

Very few people come into this world who are absolute brilliant minds and change the fields that we all love.. Most of us-- and even the brilliant ones -- have to work and work and work. Work until you can't think straight anymore. If you put the time into your studies, you'll see meaningful results. Keep the passion too.

Thank you for your answer.

 

[Choppy]

I might also add that you don't need to go to big name school to be successful. Sure, there are opportunities at the big schools that you might not have elsewhere, but a lot of people go on to be very successful in their fields without the highest of academic pedigrees. @Dr. Courtney often posts about his experiences going from a lesser known undergraduate institution to one of the big name schools for graduate studies and one of the underlying themes seems to be working your tail off.

 

[Adesh]

I might also add that you don't need to go to big name school to be successful. Sure, there are opportunities at the big schools that you might not have elsewhere, but a lot of people go on to be very successful in their fields without the highest of academic pedigrees. @Dr. Courtney often posts about his experiences going from a lesser known undergraduate institution to one of the big name schools for graduate studies and one of the underlying themes seems to be working your tail off.

Thanks for your motivating answer.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

First off, I tend to help the science majors I mentor have a broader view of that a good university is. There are plenty of good schools other than Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Stanford. Admission into a PhD program at Ohio State, Texas A&M, Ga Tech, Florida, and schools in this class is nothing to be ashamed of. Programs at the top 5-10 schools are in such demand that even lots of strong applications from excellent students fail to gain admission.

Secondly, I am careful to distinguish between a student's natural gifting and what is possible to accomplish with effort and hard work. You may not be in the top 1% in terms of natural gifting, but your outcome can be in the top 1% (or even the top 0.1%) through hard work. I read lots of aspirations and platitudes from students, but fewer who can honestly tell me that they are working 2-3 hours outside of class for each class hour in their college courses. This hard work (rather than natural gifting) is the path to admissions to good graduate schools. Yes, I know this can turn a typical academic load into a 50-60 hour work week. This is what it takes. Do you really want it?

 

[Adesh]

First off, I tend to help the science majors I mentor have a broader view of that a good university is. There are plenty of good schools other than Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Stanford. Admission into a PhD program at Ohio State, Texas A&M, Ga Tech, Florida, and schools in this class is nothing to be ashamed of. Programs at the top 5-10 schools are in such demand that even lots of strong applications from excellent students fail to gain admission.

Secondly, I am careful to distinguish between a student's natural gifting and what is possible to accomplish with effort and hard work. You may not be in the top 1% in terms of natural gifting, but your outcome can be in the top 1% (or even the top 0.1%) through hard work. I read lots of aspirations and platitudes from students, but fewer who can honestly tell me that they are working 2-3 hours outside of class for each class hour in their college courses. This hard work (rather than natural gifting) is the path to admissions to good graduate schools. Yes, I know this can turn a typical academic load into a 50-60 hour work week. This is what it takes. Do you really want it?

Sir, I will sweat each and every single cell of my mortal body for my work ,just tell me the institute, for which university should I apply for my Undergraduate course in BSc. Mathematics.

 

[Vanadium 50]

just tell me the institute, for which university should I apply for my Undergraduate course in BSc. Mathematics.

Why don't you tell us what research you have already done looking into this?

 

[Joshy]

There's no secret.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

Sir, I will sweat each and every single cell of my mortal body for my work ,just tell me the institute, for which university should I apply for my Undergraduate course in BSc. Mathematics.

My recommendation is to keep your undergrad local and cost-effective. Rock that with straight As for 8 semesters and then aim high for grad school.

 

[Adesh]

Why don't you tell us what research you have already done looking into this?

Leaving those universities that I have already mentioned my other reasearch are:-
London University, Indian Statistical Institute, Indian institute of Science, Bath University.
Thank you

 

[Adesh]

My recommendation is to keep your undergrad local and cost-effective. Rock that with straight As for 8 semesters and then aim high for grad school.

My sincerest gratitude to your sir, one day I will meet you. Thank you sir thank you.