A student of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has managed to score full marks in the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations). Aditya Hebbar, who is in his fourth year of the first batch of the four-year Bachelor of Science (B.S.) programme of the premier institute, scored 340 on 340 in the September exam.
Having passed out of Sri Kumaran Children’s Home, Kanakapura Road, Mr. Hebbar opted to pursue pure sciences over other professional courses despite having qualified in the State-administered Common Entrance Test (CET) and the Joint Entrance Examination. He is majoring in Physics.
This was his first attempt at cracking the GRE. “I prepared for a month and did not take any additional coaching,” he said. Mr. Hebbar’s father is a businessman while his mother is a homemaker.
Students in the four-year course of the IISc study physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology and a few engineering subjects such as material science, electronics and computer science in the first three semesters after which they can choose to major in any subject.
GRE General Test scores are currently accepted by thousands of graduate-level schools worldwide. Mr. Hebbar is planning to take up the GRE Subject Test on October 25 in Physics. Each Subject Test is intended for students who have an undergraduate major or extensive background in one of the seven disciplines: Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology; Biology; Chemistry; Literature in English; Mathematics; Physics and Psychology.
“I am thinking of applying for a Ph.D. in Physics in the U.S. The universities I am looking at are Cornell University, University of California, Santa Barbara; or Harvard University. My long-term goal is to do research in particle physics,” Mr. Hebbar said.