A never-ending paper chase

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Visiting my alma mater last week, I caught up with a junior running down the long college corridor, clutching a stack of papers requiring signatures. It brought back a sense of déjà vu. The paper-work required to apply for a postgraduate course is endless, especially if the application is to a foreign varsity.
These days, anyone wanting to venture abroad to study goes in for “education consultancy”, but does this new fad actually make the application process easier?
Deepak S. shares his experience from last year. “First of all, there are so many courses to choose from. The consultants just give you a list of universities and that too not always the good ones. They tend to give you mediocre universities so that your admission is guaranteed,” he says. “I applied to a total of eight universities and I am still mad about the list of five they gave me. They were all low-rung varsities.”
Shambhavi Singh is pursuing her First Year M.Sc. course because US universities require 16 years of studies for an application to a Master’s course. “Most universities have similar lists of documents one needs to submit while applying. But your GRE/GMAT and TOEFL scores need to be sent by the testing agencies and they take their own time. Their websites say submission will be done in two weeks but it isn’t always so. Then there are the recommendation letters and original copies of the transcripts that involve multiple trips to the college and university. It’s a never-ending chase,” she says.
Sricharan Sridhar runs his own audio business. Recalling his student days at Middlesex University in 2001, he says, “Those days, it was very straightforward. I got my application form through a courier and all I had to do was fill it up and send it back. Though the supporting documents were pretty much the same as they are today, I didn’t have to write Statements of Purpose and supporting essays.”
US universities complete the admission process a year before the start of the academic year. But the current visa restrictions mean the vetting process is stricter. “It is obvious they will scrutinise harder when there are 200 international students as opposed to say two,” says Sricharan, adding, “They will want to ensure that the student pursuing the course is serious about it and can afford it.”
Repeated trips for bank loans and college recommendations and finally, the nerve-wracking visa application process may make the goal of studying abroad seem like it’s more trouble than it’s worth. But as Deepak S. says, “It’s a lot of hard work, but it all pays in the end.”