Report on Chennai Operations

Report on Chennai Operations 2010-11 For Sharath Rao June 3, 2011 For any queries and clarifications please contact Krishna Ramkumar, Co-founder and CEO, Avanti Fellows at krishna@avantifellows.org or +91 981 920 7397 www.avantifellows.org

Introduction to Avanti Fellows Program The Avanti Fellows Program aims to be the largest mentoring program for underprivileged students in India. The organization is currently focused on helping students from poor homes gain admission to prestigious engineering colleges across India and ensuring that they are able to perform well academically and assimilate socially during their time at engineering school. In due course, the organization will expand operations to other disciplines including medicine, law and commerce. Each year Avanti selects students in Class XI for its six year fellowship program. These students are paired with a mentor (a current student at an IIT). The mentor has a weekly conversation with the student, tracks his/her academic performance and provides emotional support, and helps coordinate tutoring for the student while in school. In addition to mentorship, Avanti provides its students access to best-in-class preparatory material and tutoring for engineering entrance exams. Avanti Fellows that gain admission to engineering schools continue to receive the full support of the program. They are provided with financial aid, English training and access to a dedicated training and placement cell in addition to Avanti s mentorship program. We have established chapters at five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) - IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras and IIT Roorkee. Over 0 current students and IIT alumni have already signed up for the program. We aim to expand to all IITs by 2012 with over 500 mentors and 500 students in the program. Avanti is a Pan-IIT alumni Initiative, an UnLtd India investee and winner of the Stanford BASES Social Entrepreneurship Challenge, 2010 - among the most prestigious business plan competitions in the world. Avanti Fellows Selection Methodology The Avanti Fellows selection process entails a 2 stage process involving a written pre-selection test followed by a home interview of the student and the parents. 1. Stage I Aptitude Test Purpose: To test the students on Mental Ability, Mathematics, Physics & Chemistry. Marks scored in this test are a critical indicator of the students aptitude for engineering and potential to score well in the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). 2. Stage II Home Interview Purpose: This stage has a three-fold purpose. First, it enables us to conduct a background check to make sure that the household falls under the low income bracket (annual income less than Rs. 2.5 Lakhs). Second, it enables us to explain the program in depth to both the student and his/her parents and ensure that he/she has a career aspiration of pursuing engineering. Third, it enables us to check the possibility of 2

copying/ cheating by the student in Stage I via a small written test conducted during the interview. Avanti Fellows Selection Report - Chennai 2010-11 The selection process was conducted in 2 phases. 1. Phase 1 Tests conducted at respective schools (Nov 2010 Feb 2011): Individual tests were conducted in 10 schools (municipal corporation schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas). Test details are given below in the table. In total, 773 students appeared for these tests out of which 47 students were shortlisted for interview and 8 fellows were selected. 2. Phase II Centralized test conducted at IIT Madras (14 Apr 2011): The Avanti Fellows student team at IIT Madras reached out to 32 matriculation schools in Chennai to publicize the selection test. Toppers from these schools were encouraged to apply for the test. Also, a few waitlisted candidates from Phase 1 also appeared in this test. In total, 71 students appeared for the test out of which 10 were interviewed and 6 fellows were selected. Phase 1: Tests conducted at respective schools Sl. No. Date School 1 02-11-2010 Chennai Corporation School, Thiruvanmiyur 2 18-11-2010 Govt. Higher Secondary School, Velachery 3 08-01-2011 Chennai Corporation School, Taramani Students Appeared Shortlisted for Interview Selected 68 3 1 73 8 0 6 1 0 4 11-01-2011 Govt. Model School, Saidapet 70 0 0 5 14-01-2011 Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Saidapet 6-01-2011 Chennai Corporation School, Saidapet 7 07-02-2011 Kendriya Vidyalaya, Meenambakkam 48 0 0 54 0 0 96 12 3 8 14-02-2011 Kendriya Vidyalaya, CLRI 35 3 1 3

9 19-02-2011 Kendriya Vidyalaya, IIT Campus 80 14 1 10 26-02-2011 Kendriya Vidyalaya, DGQA 93 6 2 Phase 2: Centralized Test conducted at IIT Madras 11 14-04-2011 Toppers from 32 matriculation schools appeared for the test as well as few students from Phase 1 re-appeared 71 10 6 Details of Avanti Fellows Chennai Cohort 2011 Sl. No. Name School Avanti Test Score Father's Profession 1 Mr. P Naveen Kumar CHSS Thiruvanmiyur 52 Fisherman 2 Ms. R Srinidhi KV Meenambakkam 58 Father no more 3 Mr. Ashish Kumar Dwivedi KV Meenambakkam 50 CISF jawan 4 Ms. Ria James KV Meenambakkam 49 Junior level worker 5 Ms. S Sindhu KV IIT Campus 58 Father no more 6 Mr. K Roopesh KV DGQA 49 Junior assistant in construction company 7 Mr. R Mohan Kumar KV DGQA 48 Father no more 8 Mr. R Abilash KV CLRI 56 Clerk in govt. office 9 Mr. T K Akash KV CLRI 55 Floor manager in printing company 10 Mr. Vinod Matriculation School 54 Book seller 11 Ms. S A Vasuki Matriculation School 63 Junior level accountant 12 Mr. C Yashwanth Kumar Guru Nanak Matriculation School 55 Waste paper mart (raddi wallah) 13 Ms. M Sasirekamakshi Matriculation School 55 Mechanic 14 Ms. T Neha Kauser Matriculation School 55 Travel agency employee From the above list of 14 students, 5 students will be enrolled in TRS Classes and 9 will be enrolled in Brilliant Tutorials, Madras. Additionally, each student has already been provided a mentor who is a current student at IIT Madras. List of Books Purchased The list of books purchased is as follows: 4

4th Floor, Candelar Building, Name of book NCERT - Chemistry for Class XI - Part 1 NCERT - Physics for Class XI - Part 1 NCERT - Physics for Class XI - Part 2 H.C. Verma - Concepts of Physics - Part 1 S.L. Loney - Plane Trigonometry S.L. Loney - Co-ordinate Geometry Tata McGraw Hill - Course in Mathematics Subject Chemistry Physics Physics Physics Mathematics Mathematics Mathematics Total No. of copies 14 104 Cost (Rs.) Rs. 1,425 Rs. 1,200 Rs. 975 Rs. 2,958 Rs. 960 Rs. 720 Rs. 7,000 Rs.,238 Appendix 1 Photos of Bills 5

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4th Floor, Candelar Building, Appendix 2 Photos of Books 7

4th Floor, Candelar Building, 8

4th Floor, Candelar Building, 9