Home » Study in USA » Indian Students – Lost Hope? Should you Apply to US Schools ?

Indian Students – Lost Hope? Should you Apply to US Schools ?

Indian Students  Situation

Let us face it, India is a nation of many people with at least 23.1 Million of them ready for college this year. Many of them with percentile scores of 97.1 or higher will not get admission even in a Bachelor of Arts Program, let alone an engineering or medical college. There are just too many of them crowding every single institutional gate. It is like a never ending clamoring line, every one of them equally intelligent than the next.

 Applying to Schools in United States as a first option ?

Many will say this is impossible. “If I do not get admission into engineering in India, I will try for medicine in Russia or Bulgaria or maybe work as a mechanic in South America or any African country.” – This is a very standard thought process for most students of Indian origin. But why does it have to be this way? Indian students are #1 in intellect and subject matter capacity in the world. It will always confuse me as to why the students do not apply to schools in the USA as their first option rather than the last.

US Schools : Is it difficult to get admission?

Private Universities are easier to get in than Public Institutions. This is because you get personalized care and many times costs could be lower. Many people ask about ranking of Private Universities, how do you find a rank and how do you select the best option?

University Ranking – Perception ?

Anybody who asks me about ranking, I ask them, ‘why do you want to know this?’ A rank of a University is dependent on the quality of students studying there and what they do with their lives. Indeed, by virtue of what you do in life, many people will ask you which University you attended. Saint Stephen’s College in Delhi is known because General Zia Ul Haq studied there. Doon School in Dehradun is known because Rajiv Gandhi studied there. In fact, a little known Tamil School in Delhi gained a lot of popularity because the Indian movie actress Hema Malini studied there in 5th Grade. So the question is – who is ranking whom? Frankly, I have seen Yale and Harvard graduates in unemployment queues while graduates from Rockford, Illinois hold high paying executive jobs. So I urge you to understand this, ranking is an artificial factor and has no relevance to real life achievements. That pathway you will create yourself with your own abilities.

Search Engines and Data Volume on US Schools – What to choose?

All 12th class exiting students have thought about study abroad options and many are adventurous to give some thought to studying in the United States. Yahoo search yields 542 higher education institutes in the United States, Google reports 742 and surely other search engines are not far behind. Most students have no idea what to do with the list. Many will end up writing to admissions@universityname.edu with some random query that most probably will never be answered. Others who are braver will pick up the phone and call the United States at odd hours not knowing what to do if an answering machine comes on. Yet others will pray to their favorite Gods, and India has quite a few of those. In the end, these students either end up in diploma courses or what they think will get them jobs. Many will lose time, money or hope, most will lose all three.

Also, check out the article on what is the US admission process and why you DO NOT need agents ?  

About the author

Dr. Sandeep Shankar has a Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D from University of Delhi, India. The advice he gives on this website is based on personal life experience and those he has helped in the past 10 years. Today, he teaches at Colorado Heights University in Denver, Colorado and also runs a non profit corporation (www.hopeforhumanityglobal.org) that helps unemployed individuals in Colorado find new skills and through that training, new hope for their families. If life after 12th or graduation is confusing you, write to him at hopehumanity@gmail.com . You don’t have to be alone on this journey.

——————–

Image Credit : Confused

   

Other Articles

1 Comment

  1. Hello Sir,
    I gave GRE last weak but i got less marks,with which i wont be eligible to get an admit in good university.I am now confused and demotivated.I don’t know what to do,should i take exam again or should i search job.
    I am not confident on whether i can study masters as it requires lots of hard working and dedication .So i was also thinking of joining any technical course to make my profile look strong and go for job.I don’t have any idea about it.Please give me suggestions
    Thanks in advance,

    Reply

Leave a Comment