Who Needs a College Counselor

Originally published in HT Education 

Planning to study abroad for your Bachelor’s degree is exciting! It’s a huge decision for you and your family and taking the right steps to get through it successfully is crucial. Fortunately there are a lot of resources available to help you succeed. Among these is the option to engage a private educational consultant or college counselor. As Indian students’ interest in study abroad rises, so do number of consultants and organizations offering their services for a fee. But do you really need to hire someone? Could you get through this on your own with available free resources? And if not, what is the best way to find the right consultant and get the most out of the relationship?

The Tests!

Originally published in HT Education Times

If you are applying for college in the US this year, you should have already taken some of the required standardized tests, such as the SAT, ACT and/or SATII. If you have not, you still have time. In addition, some colleges in the US as well as Canada, Australia, UK may require you to give an English language exam – either TOEFL, IELTS or PTE. Here is some help to demystify this alphabet soup of required tests.

The New Schools

Originally published in HT Education

New schools popping up everywhere, what does it mean for your study 
abroad plans?

There seem to be announcements on the side of every BEST bus these days advertising a new “international school”. Whether it’s the Ascend’s school’s new elementary programs, HBV’s IBDP efficiently squeezed between the Western Railway tracks and Marine Drive or the recent shift by the well established Bombay International school to transition their curriculum to IGCSE and IB, many entities are vying to prepare students with an ‘international’ education.  But the question is why are these schools growing like mushrooms? And what does it mean for your plans if you’ve set your sights on higher education outside India?

Busting Some Study Abroad Myths

Originally published in The HT Education Supplement

Who should consider study abroad?

When you think of study abroad several stereotypes come to mind: rich kids from IB schools, total brainiacs from HSC schools or IITians who want an MBA. Well here I hope to muddle those stereotypes a bit and dispel some of the myths around the kind of students who can study abroad.

It's May, What Should Undergraduate Applicants Be Doing?

Originally published in HT, Education Supplement

“Aaah, the recommendations!” was the exasperated cry of one of my clients at the end of last year. He had worked tirelessly on every part of his application, but had failed to request letters of recommendations from his teachers. By mid-December his teachers were swamped with requests and wouldn’t be able to give the letters their full attention. This is just one example of why, if you are planning to apply to college abroad for admission in 2013, you should understand the steps involved and when to execute. Below are a few things for class 12 students to remember as they start planning the application process.