Ahmedabad Girl Gets $70K Scholarship Without Coaching Classes

An 18-year-old has set an example for other aspiring Amdavadi students. Nidhi Shah, who has cleared IIT-JEE, SAT, Toefl and IELTS without any coaching, is all set to fly to Canada to pursue her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. Shah has got seven different scholarships worth 70,000 Canadian dollars.

She studied on her own and didn't go to any coaching centre. Shah said, "Materials, information and books provided by the coaching classes are available in libraries as well as at the American Centre. The teachers at coaching classes make students realize their goal and ensure that they study hard with all their focus on studies and nothing else. Students can study with the same seriousness at home too, if given a choice."

Shah completed her Xth grade from Asia English School and later did her eleventh from St Kabir. "I changed my board after I visited America through a student exchange programme, American Field Service, and spent a year there with a host family. I had to repeat my eleventh grade once I returned as the syllabus here was too slow for me and I had done most of it in the USA.

I have just passed my XIIth grade from CBSE through open school, Om Shanti English Medium School". Giving details about her results, Shah said she got 95% in XII grade, 5614 rank in IIT-JEE; 2380 rank in SAT-2 exams, 111 score in Toefl and 8 score in IELTS.

She received calls from BITS Pilani, Nirma University, IIT-Mumbai and others but chose to study in University of Alberta, Canada, as she got seven scholarships worth 70,000 Canadian dollars from it. It includes the Indian Centenary scholarship which is provided to the three best scholars of India under the aegis of an MoU signed between the two countries.

Explaining her reasons for choosing University of Alberta over IIT, she said, "University of Alberta is ranked 46th in the world whereas IIT-Mumbai is ranked 167. In addition to this, I have found out that there are many petrochemical reserves around the University area which I think will be of great help to me, as after my engineering I will able to gain some practical experience from these."

Since Shah has opted for a co-op programme at the University, she will be able to complete her bachelor's degree in five years' time. Shah will fly to Canada in August.

Source: dnaindia.com