17-year-old couldn’t get into IIT as she didn’t have a class X or XII certificate, however, her multiple Olympiad medals got her into prestigious US institute
New Delhi: Seventeen-year-old Malvika Raj Joshi doesn’t have a class X or XII certificate, but has made it to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), thanks to her computer programming talent.
Malvika Raj Joshi
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The Mumbai teenager has been provided a scholarship by MIT as she pursues her Bachelor of Science degree after getting a seat for being a three-time medal winner (two silver and a bronze) at International Olympiad of Informatics or commonly known as Programming Olympiad.
The MIT has a provision for accepting students who are medal winners at various Olympiads (Maths, Physics or Computer) and it was Malvika’s medals that ensured that she can fulfil her aspirations of pursuing research work in her favourite subject — Computer Science.
No admission in IIT
Malvika found it difficult to get admission in elite Indian institutes like IIT, which has strict rules, as one needs to pass class XII exams.
In fact, the only institute where she got admission was Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) where she was enrolled into MSc level course as her knowledge was on par with BSc standard. But this young Mumbai girl’s fascinating story started about four years ago when her mother Supriya took an unbelievably tough decision: to pull her out of school. And it worked. For three consecutive years, Malvika was among the top four students who represented India at the Programming Olympiad.
Mother says
When Supriya was asked if more parents want to know about her daughter, she laughs as she says, “They are all interested in knowing how to get into MIT. I just tell them that we never aimed for her admission in MIT. I tell parents to understand what their children like.”
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