No beating around the bush. I joined IIT Kanpur with a rank in the mid-8,000s in chemistry. I’m graduating with distinction and will be joining a proprietary trading firm as a Quantitative Researcher. If I can do it, you certainly can too.  

How, you ask? Simple, don’t allow yourself to be a slave to “branch hierarchy.” And choose a path that you like. It is unfathomable to me how people stay in a branch they care jack shit about just because it is a “better” branch in their mind.

IITK offers a flexible curriculum; use it to your advantage. Although we learn about this flexibility during orientation, its true impact rarely sinks in until much later. I hope my story helps you see how powerful it can be and how you might use it, too.

First Year:

I joined campus (as part of the online Y21 batch) as someone who wanted to pursue research in Physics. I knew that the branch change into Physics was possible, and that’s all it took to convince me. But meeting everyone else introduced me to the unfortunate world of the inferiority complex. That my branch was chemistry, or that “did I really want to go into Physics?” Not to say that everyone was like that, in fact, most people were not, but no matter how hard the CTMs try, this sort of hierarchy persists, especially in the first year.

Long story short, I spent the first year trying a whole bunch of things, exploring the different clubs, making friends, and, most importantly, convincing myself that my “small corner” of Physics (after having my branch change accepted) was “good enough.” And that the world of corporate jobs we hear IITians get into was not for me. That I should be thankful to be part of this community, that I get the opportunity to interact with the “cream of the cream.”

Side Note:

Typing that last sentence brings up bile in my throat now. But it took a long time to get here.

Second Year:

Somewhere along the way, after many mistakes and running from club to club, I found my people: MClub, my wingies, and the Physics gang. They won’t be mentioned much because, as I mentioned above, that’s not the point of this AWL, but just know that they mean the world to me, and somewhere, subconsciously, they helped me reach where I am today.

Once I had fully immersed myself in Physics and started loving every second of it, I realised I could actually hold my own academically amongst these people. Performing well not only in DCs but also in various ICs and OEs. I had also begun working with a professor and became a first author on a review article!

By this time, I had established a rule, or more correctly, identified a trait about myself; that I study what I like (obviously exceptions exist, realistically, there were some courses I hated but needed to do for the degrees). With some newfound confidence, the introduction of the new branch of Statistics and Data Science, and my lucky choice of MSO201 (Probability and Statistics) as a course, I realised I wanted to pursue this field further. More importantly, I realised that I could hold my own and be worthy of competing for the few seats for the double major in this branch.

Side Note:

I think it was at this time that I started to fight against the internalised hierarchy of branches. I started to realise that *I* am the cream of the cream too, that I am the IITian that people should be thankful to know too. I am part of the community as well, not an outsider who has the opportunity to interact with it.

Third Year:

Side Note:

It is important to note that, till now, I had no idea about the placement or intern scene. I knew about SPO, but nothing else about its workings, tests, and interview process, etc. I was a full research dude. Yes, there are people like that on campus.

Coming fresh off of SPARK (the IIT Roorkee equivalent of SURGE) and having worked on projects with theory professors, a PhD and research as a whole (especially in India) was looking less and less interesting. I will not try to justify it with an acceptable reason; a large part of the problem for me was the lack of money. This is why, outside of fun campus stuff – concerts, people, performances, competitions, etc.,  I spent most of my third year being in an existential crisis: Go all in on physics, the research route that I am slowly getting disenchanted by, or pivot to SDS, the corporate route which I know nothing about other than the fact that I enjoy studying theory and doing analysis. 
I thought my decision had been made for me when I was invited to a fully-funded summer research internship in Germany. I may not like the state of research in India, but hell, Europe is on another level! And then reality hit. The university was unwilling to start my visa process due to some bullshit administrative reasons. Another roadblock in my research career.

At this point, I figured f it, I have another degree in a circuital branch, let me see what corporate looks like.  I secured an off-campus internship through some contacts and prepared for the internship season side-by-side.

Side Note:

To anyone who is like me, unwilling to use their contacts for their benefit, I say, don’t be a dumbass. Use whatever tool you have to get ahead in the world, or the world will leave you behind. And your contacts may help you land an interview, but the work, the job, the bonus, and the future are eventually all in your hands. Nothing will be handed to you, trust me.

Fourth Year:

Fresh off an internship I surprisingly enjoyed, I dove into my intern season. Ah, intern and placement seasons, some of the most disheartening days on campus. I hate CP and DSA with a passion. I enjoy problem-solving, but not like that, not in a competitive environment with my career hanging in the balance. I am not a rat in a maze chasing cheese.
Anyways, as luck would have it, I managed to secure an internship on day 1.5 (.5 because my interview was during the week, between the weekends of day 1 and day 2). Now I was in the corporate bubble. My batchmates were giving their placement tests, and I had an internship secured with another one already under my belt. I had more or less finished my physics courses and was now focusing on the SDS ones. Life was fun. Hectic but fun. First year, I would have never believed what the fourth year me was doing.

Side Note:

Again, the flexible IITK curriculum comes in handy. I recovered from the rejection of a lifetime and pivoted into corporate because my college allowed me to learn across multiple branches, and I was confident in my ability to compete with and succeed at the same level as the “higher branches.” This was not an easy road by any means, and that confidence and self-assurance were constantly called into question by every Quadeye or Samsung Korea story I heard. 

Fifth Year:

The last year doesn’t have much plot that is relevant to this. I enjoyed my second internship, but didn’t receive the PPO I was promised during my farewell party. Funnily enough, I received an offer for January. Anyways, the first company I interned at offered a PPO, so I was one of the lucky ones, able to escape placement hell. I also worked with my SURGE supervisor on a project and drafted a manuscript. There was a little degree scare in the middle of May, but that error sorted itself out. 

So here we are, a boy from the chemistry department, graduating with a double major in SDS and physics and a minor in CSE. I utilised every academic option offered by IIT Kanpur, and I thank my stars for it. Looking back, I am glad I consistently chose what I enjoyed, even if it was difficult. I am glad I stayed the extra year to study more. It is unfathomable to me how people stay in a branch they care jack shit about just because it is a “better” branch in their mind.

I hope my story dissuades you from such notions.  I am not asking you to be unrealistic, that suddenly the top quant firms will open up their doors to people from Physics, they won’t (not from India, at least). All I am saying is that your life is not stuck to the path you thought you chose during JOSA counselling. IITK is flexible; use it to your advantage.