Look for bad apples, not just the Big Apple

The craze to go abroad makes students choose any university regardless of its accreditations. In the process, they often get duped as in the recent case of the California-based Tri-Valley University.

“The US may have the top 100 colleges, but it also has the bottom ones. Students are not able to distinguish the good ones from the bad ones. Many students make a bee-line at colleges which are willing to admit without verifying their credentials. Many students do not do their home-work and land in trouble. They are just so grateful for having been accepted by a university abroad,” said Mallika Sen, principal of Inventure Academy.

Varsities make a lot of promises, including financial aid along with visa, which students easily fall for. “Students shouldn’t fall for universities without a proper admission procedure,” she said.

Parents should be actively involved in the admission procedures. “An incident like this (Tri-Valley University) could have been avoided if there was involvement from the parents’ side,” said Father Celestine Sera, principal, St Joseph’s Boys High School.

Students must go through proper channels, and follow the government regulations. “The internet is always an option for students to research and gain information. They should not depend on middle-men, who will claim to help and actually lead them somewhere else,” said the principal.

 “At some level, students should also be quick enough to know when things are not going right,” he said.

 While many warn against agents and middle-men, a managing partner of an educational consultancy, said every third or fourth person who walked into his consultancy asked for shortcut methods to gain entry into universities.  “Many times, they don’t fulfil the test standards and hence ask if there is an easier route to get in,” he said, adding that many of the visitors are from Andhra Pradesh and northern states.

“They think that the south forms an easier way to go abroad,” he said.