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    5 Tips To Choosing Your Best-Suited Study Abroad Counsellor

    By Vijeeth Srinivas
    31 Jan'23  7 min read
    5 Tips To Choosing Your Best-Suited Study Abroad Counsellor
    Synopsis

    With the rapid increase in demand for studying abroad amongst high school students in India, there has been a steady growth in the industry of overseas education planning. This article elaborates on certain factors you must keep in mind while choosing the counsellor who you would like should facilitate your overseas admissions journey.

    5 Tips To Choosing Your Best-Suited Study Abroad Counsellor
    Synopsis

    With the rapid increase in demand for studying abroad amongst high school students in India, there has been a steady growth in the industry of overseas education planning. This article elaborates on certain factors you must keep in mind while choosing the counsellor who you would like should facilitate your overseas admissions journey.

    Study abroad consultants and counsellors with diverse offerings and unique compositions have emerged across the length and breadth of the country. Be it global giants in this business or natively-grown organisations, registered multinational companies or boutique consulting agencies, end-to-end admissions organisations to companies that only offer certain services to students in their applications – the overseas education counselling market has become not only expansive but also cluttered. Combined with the intricacies and nuances that characterise education abroad, the general lack of awareness amongst Indian families, and the presence of unethical actors in the market make the choice of one’s admission counsellor reasonably important.

    Choosing Your Counsellor

    Similar to so many other aspects of studying abroad, choosing the correct education counsellor is a highly personal process – given the variety and quality of service providers in the markets that surround us, students have the luxury to choose a counsellor who they are most compatible with. Here are some steps that one can follow to choose the most relevant/suitable overseas education planner.

    How to select the best overseas education consultant, How to choose the best study abroad education consultant, Tips for Choosing study Abroad CounsellorChoosing The Correct Education Counsellor Is A Highly Personal Process

    Map Your Requirements

    Every student has unique needs and outcome expectations when they commence their study abroad journey.

    • Whilst some want to attend only the most prestigious universities abroad, others tend to be more flexible.
    • Similarly, some have a fixed country in mind prior to applying whereas others are open to exploring different countries.
    • The kind of help each student requires is different too – whilst some students require more attention in the phase of finalising universities, others require greater assistance in developing essays and writing application forms.
    • Overseas education planners also offer test preparation services and choosing such a provider allows students to get their test preparation and admissions counselling done with the same team.

    Do Basic Research | To choose the best counsellor, one must first finalise their own requirements first. This must be done keeping in mind both – the services and the extent of handholding required by the student and the ultimate destination one seeks to study at. To do this, students must undertake some basic research on admission requirements and course outcomes in different countries. Students can also choose to take free/paid counselling sessions with different organisations to get a better sense of the requirements.

    Evaluate Own Abilities | Once requirements are ascertained, students must also evaluate their own proficiencies/abilities to decide where gaps and loopholes exist which may be filled through the assistance of overseas education planners/counsellors.

    Also Read | ‘Obtain A Student Visa Without An Interview’: US Spokesperson

    Assess Key Offerings Of Each

    Whilst there exists some level of uniformity in the market of foreign education planning and counselling, existing firms offer a wide variety of services with varying levels of intensity. After deciding one’s requirements students should start validating the ability of different counsellors to meet those requirements.

    For instance, if one requires intense help with profile building, which organisations have developed the most impressive student profiles over the past few years? If essays are a pain point, which teams have helped the most underperforming students develop noteworthy essays? If college selection is a pressuring aspect, which team has the right psychological and research capacity, and flexibility to develop the most comprehensive college lists for students? If the country one is aiming for has tricky and unstable visa policies (like many countries do in Europe), which counsellor has the most effective and proven visa resources, especially for that given region? Am I aspiring for agency-driven (colleges that use agents to recruit students) mid-tier universities or only the most prestigious and competitive universities in the world? These are some questions that one needs to answer.

    Take Counselling Sessions | To make this assessment, taking free/paid counselling sessions with different firms is helpful before a final decision is made. This helps students understand how well a value proposition and skillset matches their aspirations.

    Speak To Former Students | Moreover, one should also contact former students of different companies to understand satisfaction and the quality of services provided. Testimonials may also be closely evaluated to verify authenticity, quality, and relevance. Generally speaking, it is a best practice to evaluate diverse options in the market and contrast each of them with the need that a student has to choose an optimal solution.

    Check Best Value Proposition

    Offerings in the market are diverse not only because of their contents but also because of their price points. Students should avoid being at the extremes by either choosing highly inexpensive (and ineffective) options or by working with teams that charge exorbitant amounts. Whilst the demerits of the former are fairly intuitive and are reflected in the lack of quality of profiles, essays, and applications, working with overpriced counsellors has a hidden demerit too.

    Avoid Costly Consultancy | Given that these firms which charge higher amounts provide more handholding support to students than is healthy, they take away much of the originality and authenticity that make a student’s application personal, unique, and very often effective. Moreover, not working on one’s application prevents students from developing an outlook and skills that are very critical in framing successful undergraduate journeys abroad.

    Rule Of Thumb | Therefore, the cost incurred in working with a good overseas education planner is definitely worth an investment, one should not go for service providers who charge high amounts and offer an (attractive yet unrealistic) free pass into leading universities abroad. A good rule of thumb is investing 3%-5% of the overall cost of undergraduate education abroad (tuition fee + living cost) on hiring overseas education counsellors.

    Also Read | Admission Essays: What Are They

    How to select the best overseas education consultant, How to choose the best study abroad education consultant, Tips for Choosing study Abroad CounsellorCheck The Best Value Proposition In Choosing The Correct Education Counsellor

    Put In Your Hard Work

    Overseas consultants are highly effective, if not completely essential in achieving a good placement for undergraduate education abroad. Having said that, students strive to put in their fair share of hard work and effort to ensure that their applications reflect their best versions and lead to the most optimal placements with given resources and competencies. No matter how effective an overseas education counsellor is, an applicant’s hard work and focus always improve admissions outcomes. It is often tempting to let counsellors a major chunk, if not all of a student’s hard work. Whilst this is beneficial in certain critical aspects, students should seek to contribute to all parts of the application process to ensure due diligence and personalisation.

    Be Wary Of Unethical Practices

    Despite the overseas education planning/counselling market in India growing at a significant rate, government regulation and oversight over this industry continue to be minimal.

    Insufficient Checks On Compliance | Even universities lack the resources of ensuring compliance and fairness in applications due to their open-ended method of evaluation and international borders that impose geographical limitations on oversight. In such a space, education counsellors tend to offer certain services which are considered to be highly unethical and even punishable by universities abroad.

    Unregulated Environment | There have been reported instances of organisations taking standardised tests on behalf of students and even writing student essays end-to-end without any student involvement whatsoever. In this highly unregulated environment, there are sufficient grey areas which are exploited by companies to gain short-term and superficially better outcomes. However, these practices have a detrimental impact on the undergraduate learning journeys of most students.

    Hence, it is best to stay away from such offerings, despite how appealing they might seem at first glance.

    It is difficult to overemphasise the importance that overseas education counsellors and planners have in improving undergraduate placements in universities abroad. However, it is equally important to choose the counsellor that works best for you. In addition to the objective points we just discussed, interpersonal compatibility between a counsellor and a student is of utmost importance and is key in the process of being not just productive but also wholesome. Hence, students should start early – spend at least a month exploring different options before choosing a counsellor that suits their needs the best.

    Also Read | How Should You Create A Balanced College List For Study Abroad Applications?

    Vijeeth Srinivas is a development consultant with more than extensive experience in the foreign education industry. With the Centre for Career Development and Essai Education he has helped hundreds of students secure positions in leading universities abroad. He is keen to make novel developments in education and skill development more accessible to students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

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