Meet 18-year-old Anurag Tiwari from UP's Sarasan village who will be studying at Cornell University

Anurag Tiwari with his parents

You may not have heard the name of Sarasan village in eastern Uttar Pradesh but you should probably look it up on the map soon. After all, this is where 18-year-old Anurag Tiwari resides.

Now what is so special about Tiwari? Well, despite being from an economically disadvantaged background in a remote village, Tiwari is among the few Indians who will study his undergraduate programme in United States' prestigious Cornell University and that too through a 100 percent scholarship.

With an acceptance rate of merely 10.6 percent (as per 2019 data) at the Ivy League institute, Tiwari getting admission at the US university is no mean feat.

Tiwari will be joining the likes of Ratan Tata, Chef Vikas Khanna and Rohan Murty who are also Cornell alumni.

In 2019, out of 49,000-plus applicants only 5,183 candidates were chosen for admission into various programmes at Cornell.

For his family, as well as his entire village, Tiwari is no less than a celebrity ever since the CBSE results were declared on July 13. A humanities stream student at VidyaGyan Sitapur, Tiwari scored 98.2 percent.

Speaking to Moneycontrol, Tiwari said that Cornell University was his first choice and he was glad to have made the cut.

What worked for Anurag?

In 2013, Tiwari’s school teacher and also a brother figure to him realised that the educational institute he was in was not up to the mark. Tiwari was then informed about a school where he could hone his skills for the future.

“My teacher filled the form for VidyaGyan and told me that this institution provides free education to those from underprivileged backgrounds in Uttar Pradesh. And that was probably the best decision,” he added.

An initiative of the Shiv Nadar Foundation (set up by HCL Technologies founder and philanthropist Shiv Nadar), VidyaGyan was set up in 2009 to identify and nurture meritorious students from economically underprivileged rural backgrounds by offering quality education.

It is available to students whose annual family income is less than Rs 1 lakh per annum and covers all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh. VidyaGyan inducts 200 students from 250,000 applicants every year into the sixth grade at its Bulandshahr and Sitapur campuses.

Tiwari was one of them when he joined the Sitapur campus in July 2013. He says that once the lessons began, he realised what was missing in his own school.

“I am glad to have found this opportunity because the quality of teaching and guidance, mentoring is way higher than my old school,” he added.

His family background

Tiwari is from the agricultural income community where his father is a farmer and his mother is a home-maker. He has three elder sisters of which one is married.

He explained that the entire village has been thrilled with his results and also especially since he will be the first person in the area to go abroad for higher education.

“I am glad that I could get access to proper education. Because that matters a lot, be it in helping develop skills to become self-dependent or even getting motivation to apply to institutes abroad,” he added.

His future plans

Tiwari will be studying Economics and Mathematics as part of his undergraduate programme at Cornell. This Ivy League school was his only choice and he is glad to have cracked the admissions.

At Cornell, it is not just your academic performance that matters but the institute says on its website that traits like passion for learning, extra curricular activities, community involvement and application essay holds equal importance.

For Cornell University, what matters is how a candidate would take advantage of the learning environment at the institution and give back to society.

Tiwari decided on Cornell after a discussion with career counsellors at VidyaGyan. Cornell University is known for its economics programme and counts former chief statistician of India T C A Anant, Nobel Prize in Economics winner Robert F Engle as its alumni.

Tiwari will also be among those students who would be taught by former World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu who is now the professor of economics at Cornell University.

Quiz him about the ‘American Dream’ and whether he plans to settle down in the United States, Tiwari quickly replies in the negative.

“I never planned to stay back in the US. I am only going there to get international exposure. I am hoping to pursue my Masters in Economics as well in the US and would want to come back and become an Economist in India. I also have a dream of opening a school in my village eventually so that students like me can benefit,” said Tiwari.

He is also firm that he wouldn’t abandon his roots and his ultimate aim is to give back to his community by solving grassroot issues by applying his knowledge gained abroad.

Considering the Coronavirus outbreak and the travel restrictions, Tiwari will probably have to begin classes online from September onwards. But he is hopeful of reaching Cornell well in time for his spring semester in February 2021. Shiv Nadar Foundation will be sponsoring his flight tickets.

Advice for students eyeing a foreign degree

While Tiwari toiled day and night to prepare for his board examinations, he is clear that ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’.

“Students who are aiming to join a foreign university must start preparing at least two to three years in advance. For these international institutes, it is not just your academics that matter. I agree that Class XII marks are important but that is not the only factor that will help you get admission to your dream university. Extra-curricular activities are equally important because these universities are looking for candidates with well-rounded personalities,” said Tiwari.

With multiple interests, Tiwari himself did not restrict his time purely for studies. He was part of the school choir and has performed at various functions. Also, Tiwari was part of the drama/theatre team at the school and also played cricket at inter-school matches.

An avid MS Dhoni fan, Tiwari is looking to continue his cricketing passion even as a Cornell University student.