USA, India, UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and now even Korea and Japan are some of the countries these educational consultancies send students for further studies. Usually the consultancies, guide the student from the application process to the VISA attaining process.
Bhuwan Prasai, Counselor-Immigration at NIEC says, “We have seen a sharp increase in the students willing to go abroad compared to a few years ago. And we, like other consultancies like ours are committed to providing technical information to students and guide them with the application process, who otherwise may not be able to pursue their studies abroad.”
However, Gokul Pokhrael, a 20 year old student, who is now selected in one of the top colleges in the US with full scholarship (tuition, lodging and food) says, “I feel that the process of applying to colleges is really easy and can be learnt in few hours. There is loads of information available in the internet and if someone spends enough time researching, a person can know the process for applying to colleges easily and hence will require no consultancies for guidance. I would say ‘no to consultancies’ and it is better if you apply yourself. By doing so you will learn more."
Sunrose Shrestha, a 19 year old and former student of Budhalinkantha School says, “I never went to any consultancies. I heard many stories of my cousins who went abroad for studies through consultancies and are now suffering a lot. Hence, I thought it would be better if I applied own my own. My guidance counselor at the school and the wealth of information available at USEF came to my rescue. And if this was not enough, I could always visit the official website of the colleges and contact them. Who requires mediators?!”
“United States Educational Foundation-Nepal (USEF-Nepal) houses ‘EducationUSA’, an advising centre which provides accurate, reliable, unbiased, and free information on higher educational opportunities in the USA”, cites USEF-Nepal.
The advising centre provides weekly info session where information regarding higher education for USA is provided. It also houses one of the most equipped libraries for further education in USA in the country.
Consultancies may provide technical information to the students and guide them, however, there are many instances where students have been mislead. With a little more hard work from the students, the student can get more accurate and reliable information from the official college’s website in the internet and various organizations like USEF.
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