A woman’s unfiltered take on IIT graduates has set social media ablaze, branding them as “insufferable to the core.” The remark, shared in a viral post, ignited a wave of opinions—both fiery and defensive—over the reputation of India’s top engineering talent.
In her post, she didn’t hold back: “Every IITian I’ve ever met is so insufferable to the core. Hate to generalize, but I’ve not seen one (1) normal IITian (especially from tier 1 IITs and top branches). There’s an extreme air of elitism and placing themselves on a pedestal all the time. Arrogant a******s, highly dismissive of others.”
The blunt critique resonated with many, leading others to share their own encounters. One user recounted a troubling workplace episode: “There was an IIT AIR 92 in my office. He lodged an official complaint with HR when a regular engineering college grad was allotted a workstation three cubicles away from him. His grudge being that after attaining the rank, he doesn’t deserve a seat next to a regular engineering graduate.”
Adding fuel to the fire, another wrote, “The ones I’ve met have an archaic mindset about startups and even life in general. They’re in their 20s but seem like they’re in their 60s.”
But not everyone agreed. Critics of the post called out the stereotyping. Many countered with their own positive experiences of working with IITians.
“I did my Ph.D. from IIT. My husband is AIR 600. We even forgot we went to IIT a long time ago. Not all IITians are like that. You met all the wrong ones.”
Another user wrote: “I work every day with more than 15 IITians as a non-IITian. They are humble, hardworking, talented, and have no attitude issues at all.”