Dear 17 year old,
(who did not get into IIT yesterday)Don't be too hard on yourself. Its one exam, one day of the year. Some folks test well, some don't. All those coaching classes try to control that variable. Sometimes it works, sometimes doesn't. Also its a big country. Acceptance rates are so low that it is embarrassing. There's a chance that you'll write the JEE again and get in. Lot of people I know did that. Some succeeded, some didn't. Maybe you will never go to an IIT. There is no reason to get distraught if you never get in. You'll be just fine. I am not presenting stats. It'll be mostly anecdotes. Folks I met in IITs weren't always the smartest. Many were average students who tested well and/or could bust their butts for long hours. The first is not an important skill in life. The second takes you surprisingly far. (Caveat: Some of the kids were quite brilliant). So you didn't get in. What next? Find the 'best' college for you and go there. You'll find out that many around you will hate engineering after the first year. Maybe even you. Still try to learn. As much as can. Or if you aren't feeling like it, just learn as much Math as you can. Personally, I really like computer science. So I'll say maybe just learn to program really well? Go sit in those CS courses. You can audit any course you feel like. Or like Ranchord Das of 3 idiots, you can go sit there and learn. No professor is going to kick you out. There's MIT open courseware too. If you don't get into a good college, that shouldn't stop you from learning. So I know of extremely intelligent folks who didn't get in. They are pretty successful today. In life, you'll realize success is very subjective. Its also unfortunately relative for many. But a combination of hard work, hustle, patience and ambition get you pretty far. Don't be bitter about not getting in, ever. Don't belittle the guys who got in. Most of them got in when they were 17. It wasn't a conscious decision. Parents made them do it :)If a potential employer/institution overlooks you just because of your degree, its their loss. Work hard though. That will give them less of an excuse. Don't self select yourself out though. Apply, call, try to get in. Hustle. Everybody likes a hustler. (Read Vinod Khosla's story of how he got into Stanford MBA school). Good things about getting in an IIT: A sense of self belief and the "need" to make a mark. You get in, and you "believe" you are destined for bigger things. Ambition grows. So you work hard to get to them. Also there's a lot of precedent of people doing good things. So you can emulate these people. This is very useful. Here the breeding feels institutional. What you can do: Talk to a lot of people in various places and find out their aspirations. Your ambitions will grow too. Dig deeper and figure out what needs to be done to get there. I see many kids not interacting with folks from other institutions (other IITs, arts and commerce colleges). Also take everything with a pinch of salt. Get a lot of data points. Do what makes sense.