Applying for a graduate degree abroad can be a cumbersome process, especially sowith the number of criteria one needs to fulfill – the grades, the exams, the letters, the documents and most importantly, the bank balance. Nonetheless, Nevertheless, Indian students are increasingly applying to universities abroad, particularly in the United States. According to the US Embassy, in 2009, there were over one lakh students in the States alone. And in spite of the United Kingdom tightening its visa policies, students continue to apply and secure admission there as well.

With the release of the latest QS World University Rankings, the quality foreign universities are once again in the talk. Here’s what you need to know before starting, and though many deadlines are fast approaching, there’s still time to apply.

Application Process: The Basics

Almost all universities follow a simple (and similar) admission process, wherein the prospective student can log in and register herself or himself. Following this, the entire process is online and the applicant can complete the application in stages. The documents required here are the SOP or the Statement of Purpose (some universities may require two of these, a personal statement and career plans), an up-to-date CV, writing samples (depending upon the course one is applying to), up to letters of recommendation and test scores (GRE/ GMAT/ TOEFL/ LSAT/ IELTS) including English-language proficiency tests.

Shortlisted candidates are then called for a video interview and/or a writing test.
(Before applying, do check if you make the ’years of education required’ criterion. Also, keep into account the lexicon of foreign universities; ‘graduate’ in the US is the same as ‘post-graduate’ in the UK and India.)

Tests

Before taking the various tests, it is highly recommended that you check what documents are required for every university that you plan to apply to, in order to not spend time and money on a test that is not required. The commonly taken English-language proficiency tests are TOEFL and IELTS, for reasoning and aptitude, GRE, GMAT and LSAT are the most important tests. While GRE is required by a number of institutions, GMAT and LSAT are used by B-Schools and Law Schools respectively. To register for either of these, all one needs to do is register on their respective sites and book a date. It is best that one take these tests only once, and do well, given the cost of taking them.

The UK government recently decided to terminate its license agreement with ETS, the body that administers TOEFL, GMAT and GRE. Hence, do check with each UK university regarding the scores accepted.

*Holding a valid passport is a must for these tests.

Scholarships

Some of the most sought after scholarships and fellowships, like the Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship, the Rhodes Scholarship and the Endeavor Scholarships and Fellowships and have long closed their applications. However, there are other opportunities that remain open.

1. The Gates Cambridge Scholarship- Accepts applications for all post-graduate degrees at the University of Cambridge. Applications, however, must be made through the University. The deadline for Indian citizens is December 2, 2014.
2. The Felix Scholarship- Especially designed to reward promising students from developing countries, a total of six scholarships are being offered for Indian students specifically. The scholarship funds post-graduate studies at the University of Oxford, the University of Reading and SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies). The applicant can apply to any ONE of these universities for various degrees. The application deadline, going by last year’s dates, would be January 31 for Reading and SOAS. For Oxford, the university’s deadline is to be followed.
3. Hubert H.Humphrey Fellowship- A Fulbright programme, it offers aid students from developing countries for non-degree graduate study and other professional experiences in the US. The deadline is different for different countries, the USIEF Office in Delhi can be contacted for the same.
4. IELTS Scholarship- Instituted by the British Council, the IELTS scholarship is offered to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at any university in any English-speaking country that recognizes IELTS. The deadline, going by last year, would fall sometime in June 2015.
5. LSE India Scholarship- The London School of Economics is one of the popular options for Indian students for Economics, International Relations and Media Studies. It offers 40 scholarships to Indian students depending upon their financial needs. The scholarship is granted only when a place is secured, the procedure and timeline for which is on the institution’s website.
6. The JN Tata Endowment- These are loan scholarships offered by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, and are granted to 120 students every year, the full cost of education is not covered. The application process starts in December.

In case you have missed the deadline for a particular scholarship, or are aiming at a scholarship like the Chevening or the Fulbright which require/ consider work experience, it is a good idea to get some work experience. The age limit for most scholarship is 25-30 years.

Loans

Most universities offer financial aid to meritorious students, the application for these are made simultaneously with the main application. These loans can cover both full or part of the expenses incurred.

Bank loans: Banks in India do provide educational loans for higher education abroad, however, many of them are small loans (when compared to the university fees abroad) and often come with rates of interest as high as 15%. Nonetheless, they can and should be availed but only after careful consideration.
Selected banks in countries like the USA and the UK (or anywhere where universities accept foreign applications) offer loans to international students at subsidized rates, provided they have a local guarantor.

The most important thing to be kept in mind before applying for a loan is to assess its feasibility.
– Whether one can pay it back through a job in India or not, and how long this will take.
– If it a hefty amount and can only be paid within the stipulated time through a job in some other country, do the bank’s policies and the country’s visa policies allow you to work for that much time.

If you choose to carry out the application process (tests, loans and visa) through an overseas education agency be very sure of its authenticity.

Once admission is secured and the financial aspect taken care of, acquiring a student visa is not a very difficult thing to do. But to plan you post-graduation early, it’s best to start early and be on the lookout for every minute requirement.

It is a known fact that education in commerce, in Delhi University and elsewhere, demands sky-high marks in board exams. It is also a known fact that students pursuing Commerce walk away with some of the best pay packages from some of the best firms in the business. But contrary to popular belief, a graduation in commerce does not leave one restricted to the corporate world with an MBA or a CA qualification as the only career options. Students of commerce can, and should, be open to other options as well, both in the world of commerce and finance and beyond.

Law

Law, as a career, has been a sought-after one of late. It is a well-paying field with opportunities both in the public and the private sector. For graduates of Commerce, corporate law would seem to be the best option if one wants to step into the legal sector but at the same time, a degree in Commerce is no hindrance if one wants to get into any other branch of law.

Entrepreneurship

Often known as a feasible option only for those with financial back-up, entrepreneurship is about knowing how to make a venture successful. Yes, it entails starting from scratch but for students of Commerce, this should be made slightly easier owing to the fact that their entry into the world as entrepreneurs (if they so wish) will be based on a sound knowledge of how to make things work. Moreover, entrepreneurship allows one to venture into any field that one wants to.

Corporate Communications

While this might sound like a part of the 9 to 5 life again, corporate communications is more than just marketing and crisis management; creative fields like Advertising and Public Relations are also part of it. And the ad industry is a major, major part of the media industry. So, if one has the flair for creativity coupled with a sense of business, this is the way to go. Communications Management is quite in vogue too.

Civil Services

In a country like ours, the civil services are never going to lose their popularity. It is what a large number of graduates aspire towards. And while it is common for these aspirants to have taken up liberal arts subjects like History and Philosophy in college, there is no dearth of doctors and engineers, and yes, Commerce graduates, making it to the top. In fact, Commerce & Accountancy is an option for the Mains.

The Academia Way

An M.Com, M.Phil and PhD are not things of the past for a student of Commerce, academia continues to bring opportunities to commerce graduates and post-graduates, especially so with the mushrooming of B-Schools. And like law, the job sector spans the public and the private.

Arts

A Commerce graduate can always pursue a post-graduation in Arts, if she or he has the desire and the aptitude to do so. Almost every university of good repute in the country holds entrance exams for M.A. courses. Hence, it is about the aptitude and not about giving leverage to some courses over others.

Journalism

A commerce graduate can potentially become an excellent corporate journalist if they have the requisite spark and flair in them. While some Universities only admit journalism graduates to their PG journalism programmes, some do not impose such restrictions. Numerous diploma courses and private training programmes by media houses themselves are also open for commerce graduates.

The Job Sector

As mentioned earlier, Commerce graduates can walk away with jaw-dropping packages even before the completion of their graduate degree. There’s banking and finance, there’s marketing and business development, there’s human resource and talent acquisitions and much more.

In conclusion, no degree should restrict somebody from pursuing what one wants to. A commerce graduate can be a successful chef and a liberal arts student can make a great manager just as well. If you must know, Hrithik Roshan, too, is a commerce graduate.

Every Independence Day, a million speeches are delivered; some inspirational, some reflective, some patriotic, some hopeful. Independence Day is about fluttering Tricolor, melting sweetmeats, traditional attires and patriotic songs. And in some families, the Partition is lamented on this day. In others, the government is blamed for not ensuring equality and justice. In newspaper editorials, the editors ask question of ‘are we really independent after all these years’ is asked.

Clearly, the day is marked in many different ways across the country. But when we speak of freedom on Independence Day, and when we take pride in being Indians and sing the national anthem with all due respect, are we merely marking the occasion or are we actually celebrating our freedom?

Do we take pride in being Indian every day; do we do things that merit such pride every day? Every 15^th of August, we go back to Nehru’s Tryst with Destiny, but how often do we stop to reflect on whether we have come to redeem our pledge or not? And to redeem this pledge, dressing up in traditional attires on August 15th is not enough. We have most of our principles in place; it is in their practice that we fall behind.

For the nation to progress, we have to make a collective effort to value our freedom and that of those around us. To be worthy of this freedom, we have to celebrate the spirit of freedom through daily thoughts and deeds and not just through the hoisting of the flag on two specific days. And to uphold the ideals of independence, one does not need to wear traditional clothes and sing patriotic songs.

If it is the government’s job to ensure freedom, it is also the individual’s job to not take that freedom for granted. We hurt the sentiments of the nation’s founders not when we accidentally step on the national flag but when we give a bribe, one does not offend the philosophy of the Constitution when one wears a short skirt but when one cannot tolerate that.

This Independence Day, let us wave the Tricolor and in keeping with its true spirit, pledge to celebrate freedom and plurality all through the year.

If Delhi University had a tumultuous admission session, in the course of which its popularity amongst students and aspirants may have waned, it is now trying hard to salvage that image.

According to fresh guidelines, those FYUP students who failed to clear their papers in the first year are to be inducted into the new three-year programme batch. Those three-year programme students who did not clear their second year papers are to be promoted to the final year. Under these directives, no college can fail a student enrolled in the old three-year programme while at the same time being bound to granting admission to the FYUP students who failed.

The university has also relaxed its attendance rules. Under the earlier requirements, students in professional courses required a minimum attendance of 75% while those in the regular courses required a minimum attendance of 66.6%. On failure to meet these requirements, the student would be barred from sitting for the examinations and their promotion withheld. However, under the new rules, no student can be detained on the basis of attendance. While a strong case can be made to support these new rules on the basis of the larger debate on education for learning, such an argument would lose credibility since no simultaneous measure has been taken to ensure that a comprehensive and continuous evaluation will be brought in place. To the contrary, the lax rules are likely to weaken the academic ethos of the university which has, so far, been strict with its rules pertaining to examinations and promotions.

While many students might be welcoming the rules on attendance, it remains to be seen whether this will have an adverse effect on academics. These developments are fairly recent, and in all probability, an outcome of the chaos that the university has witnessed with the change to the FYUP format and then the reversion to the old system.  It would help if the university specified its vision behind relaxing crucial rules, and reiterated its commitment to quality education.