Client Review: Finding the Right Study Abroad Consultancy...

This review was written by our client Sarthak, whom we helped apply to and get into top universities.

My name is Sarthak Sunil Dhanke, and I am a Master's aspirant. I completed my bachelor's in Electronics Engineering from IIT (BHU) Varanasi in May 2021. After that, I was hired by Texas Instruments, India, as an Analog Design Engineer, where I worked for almost two years. I resigned in June 2023 because I wished to complete a Master's in Data Science. This decision was driven by my academic and research background and the future employment prospects offered by the discipline.

????????However, several impediments could have derailed me. The biggest one for me personally was choosing a foreign education consultancy that could not only guide me towards my goals but also align with my interests.?

??While shifting from one consultant to another, I discovered this is not a trivial task. My modus operandi was to search the web for a particular study abroad service provider and contact them, hoping they would help me. Nonetheless, many of these so-called consultants are no more than hawkers sitting in flea markets who lure you in with the promise of an excellent product. You think they are credible enough, only to find out later that you have been fooled.?

???????Most of the services I communicated with were such, as I have mentioned earlier : they promised me good, reputed colleges who charge no application fees in addition to giving scholarships. However, I was not interested since I had never heard of many of these universities. If you search for them on any university-ranking website, you may find them even lower ranked than Indian universities. Even after explicitly mentioning that I was only interested in top-ranked universities or at least reputed ones, they pressured me to apply to universities they had colluded with. In one case, a person randomly decided to apply to some unknown university in New Jersey in my name. When I enquired why he did so, he casually mentioned that one of the conditions for using their service without any cost is to apply to a few bottom-tier universities they deemed suitable for my profile. They did not bother disclosing how they came to such a conclusion. They only told me about the "extra charges" reserved for those applying to top-tier colleges when I retaliated.

????????This was not an isolated incident. Most of the services one may encounter on the first page of a Google search fall under this category. Thus, their nebulous pricing model is apparent here. They have deliberately obfuscated themselves to mislead the students by promising them a bright future instead of acting in their own self-interest.?

???????On the other end of the spectrum, some counselors charge exorbitant sums proportional to the number of universities a student may apply to, though they limit their number in this case. All this can easily cost around 1.5 lakhs. However, the more important question is whether the cost is justified. They will explain to you in the most eloquent terms how favorable the terms are to you even though, in reality, their delivery is poor.

????????So, after trying ten counselors, I was frustrated, so I called my sister-in-law, who in turn called her friend, who had previously benefited from Dr Raju's counseling.?

???????The reader might wonder why I digress from the main topic earlier. However, I feel a moral obligation to my readers so they can judge what suits them. This would help avoid pitfalls and future regrets as foreign education is costly for students and their families.

Also, I am not writing this review in exchange for any monetary benefit or gifts but because I genuinely appreciate Dr Raju's services and feel that more students must be made aware of this fact.

????????Returning to the review, I was surprised by the price differential between Dr Raju's and others. It was just a quarter of the cost. Furthermore, there was no cap on the number of universities that I can apply to. This worked in my favour because in addition to Data Science I wanted to apply to the Electrical Engineering program to avoid rejection. However, I couldn't apply to two different fields simultaneously with other counselors.

???????I was comfortable paying this amount, but more importantly, after talking with Jayasurya Sir, who handled my case, I could put my mind at ease. There was no pretense or prevarication in his words. Not to mention, he is an Ivy League graduate. Ask yourself how many counselors who guide students to a top-ranked University have studied in one of them. He has been through the excruciatingly painful process of applying to universities. Therefore, I thought he would understand my choices better, and I am glad to say he has never let me down even once.?

?????This was evident when he presented the list of universities that matched my overall profile. It was in stark contrast to my previous experience with other "foreign education experts," for earlier, I had been given only the extreme choices of either little-known colleges or those that were out of my league.

??????So, after some deliberation, we started the process with UChicago since it has an approaching deadline. Fortunately, UChicago is also where I was selected for the MS in Applied Data Science Program for Fall 2024. And I would have been difficult without the help I received from Jayasurya Sir. He edited my essays and provided valuable feedback on the videos I had to upload as part of my application. More importantly, he respected my opinion and ensured the message I wanted to relay to the admission committee was received correctly. This was important because I wished to write my essays and not have someone write them for me. There were times when I disagreed with him. Nevertheless, he was always patient with me, and I appreciated it.?

?????Later on, he also suggested some alternative programs, such as MS in Computational Science & Engineering at Harvard and MS in Operational Research at MIT, despite our working at several universities. Indeed, this meant more work for him, yet he did it in my best interest. Secondly, I ended up applying to another program at UChicago. Here again, he agreed to help me without any extra charges. Coincidentally, I was selected for this program as well. However, I faced the dilemma of choosing one since both were excellent. Again, Jayasurya Sir rescued me by providing me with mental support. Thus, it is ostensible that he has helped me well and beyond his primary role.

?????????This review would only be complete with mentioning Neelima, madam. She serves diverse roles, such as acting as a liaison between Dr Raju and me, filling in my details on the application page, and resolving general queries. It would have been an arduous task if she had not filled in my details to the fifteen universities I had decided to apply to. Submitting a duly filled application with correct information is quite time-consuming.

??????Finally, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to my visa counselor, Ganapathi Sir. Doing mock interviews with him boosted my confidence. Moreover, he gave me valuable suggestions to avoid mistakes and getting trapped in visa officers' questions.

???????I also thank all other Dr Raju's team members who unknowingly helped me.