The Admission Business

Every year nearly 20,000-30,000 students leave Indian shores with their sights set on foreign lands, all in pursuit of higher degrees. As an airline official jokingly said, the peak season for airlines in India is in August and September because most young people leave the country in this season to chase dreams abroad.

But the entire exercise of gaining admission in a foreign university is quite exhausting, for both the mind and the pocket.

Where do you start?

If you think its enough to simply decide the course you wish to enroll for, think again. The spectrum of activities involved in applying to universities is quite wide and tedious. It requires dedicated research work to gather authentic information, which means endless trips to information centres like British Council Library (BCL) or USIS.

 

Identifying the right course, sending pre-applications to the right university, asking for scholarships, clearing qualifying examinations like GRE, TOEFL, GMAT, SAT, IELTS, chasing professors for academic references and putting all your financial papers in order... the list goes on.

To make things easier for the applicants, many Australian and English universities have started organising regular fairs that not only disburse the relevant information but also offer career counselling. But make a careful note, most of these universities have no scholarships to offer.

So before you set the ball rolling, keep at least half a lakh ready in your pocket.

Consulting agencies a one-stop shop:

If spending hours gathering information is not your cup of tea, you can hire the services at a fee of roughly Rs 10,000-15,000 of consulting agencies. The question that arises is how good are they? Be careful, though, of a number of agencies of dubious reputation that have mushroomed in recent times. Agencies such as Vishu may be more interested in setting you back financially than setting you off to your dream university.

The people at the helm of most of these agencies can claim to have the benefit of first-hand experience to offer students. As Madhavi Desai, director, Universal Consulting puts it, Since I have studied at Purdue University, in the US, I feel I am in a better position to guide a student applying to foreign universities than someone who has never been beyond Mumbai.

While most consulting agencies gladly take on all your burden, others step in only at particular stages of the admission procedure. Agencies like Nivea International are only too happy to help students at whichever stage they require help, even if its only six months before their leaving the country.

The final requirements however, differ depending on what is your destination.

Going to America:

The proverbial land of opportunities -- where 80 per cent of all students heading overseas would like to study--requires the maximum effort. The job of the consultancy agency starts with short-listing universities, followed by drafting the pre-application letters to these institutions. It does not make sense gathering forms from scores of universities because it is a costly affair. Moreover, the process of filling up forms of so many universities later on is quite tedious, advises Desai.

Then comes the biggest hurdle no agency can help you cross SAT, TOEFL, TSE, GRE and GMAT. Arm yourself with favourable recommendation letters from your teachers and documents proving your financial status. Both will be taken into account by universities in offering financial assistance. Remem-ber, when it comes to management courses, not too many scholarships are in the offing. The prospects for students opting for doctorate courses are somewhat brighter.

An I-20 could well be your passport to the college, but not before you get the visa. Securing a visa to reach America is probably one of the most difficult jobs. Many students do fail at the last stage. I personally feel that students who try to misinform or misinterpret authentic information are denied visas, says Sonal Parekh, director, Educational Concepts and Options Pvt Ltd. She claims to have 100 per cent success but other agencies confess that 5-10 per cent of the students fail at this stage.

A few agencies also claim to help students secure employment in the US to see them through their living expenses. Educational Concepts and Options, does just this through its office in America. As Parekh says, It is a lifelong relationship. It is not enough just to help students reach the college. They need to survive there too.

The British experience:

The process to secure admission to British universities is not so tedious. GMAT scores are required only for those who opt for management courses or apply to the London School of Econ-omics (LSE). Appearing for GRE is not a must, but candidates have to compulsorily undergo a test to prove their proficiency in the English language. The number of scholarships are few. Therefore, good degrees are a prerequisite.

Almost all universities in the UK are members of the Universities and College Admission Service (UCAS). This simplifies things the UCAS serves as a single source of information to all applicants. So dont waste time and money chasing consultants. A trip to the BCL is all that is needed.

More globetrotting:

Due to the absence of official organisations such as the BCL and the USIS, getting first hand information on countries such as Australia and Canada can be trying. It is here, that the consulting agencies score with a plethora of valuable information to offer.

Initially, Nivea Internationals business focussed on sending students to Down Under. An easy task for them as they are members of the Association of Australian International Represe-ntatives in India (AAIRI). Nivea Internationals offices at Mumbai often serve as the venue for interviews conducted by Australian universities for Indian aspirants. Only the affluent lot can make it, says Preeti Sukhwani, director, Nivea International, because you need to have Rs 10-15 lakh to complete most of the courses there. And though, the student is permitted to work 20 hours a week, the money earned cannot cover the entire expense.

Canada is also becoming a popular destination for international students. As is Switzerland for hotel management, Nether-lands, New Zealand and Singa-pore for technical courses. Such is the lure of a foreign degree that even Ukrainian universities are attracting Indian students. FAM and Disha Education Consultancy are the two agencies that help students reach CIS countries.

According to Manish Arora, director of Disha, the education standard of Ukraine colleges are internationally competitive. Arora, who charges a fee in the region of Rs 15,000-20,000, also issues visa to students since he has been authorised by the Ukraine embassy. He claims that every year about 2,000 students fly to Ukraine.

Do you need them?

The consultancies have become popular in the last decade. If you are the kind who does not mind spending hours doing research work about colleges you wish to enroll for, then a visit to the agents will be an unnecessary and a highly avoidable expense.

Of course, their guidance has helped to make lives of hundreds of students easier. But banish the thought of these agencies helping you to get scholarship or helping you to change your status, that is, get a workers visa after you finish your education.