Students fall for the consultancy trap

Students fall for the consultancy trap

If the daunting economics of studying abroad is a dampner to your dreams of earning a foreign degree, a trip to the nearest foreign education consultancy will perk you up instantly. The promises made by them seem too good to be true. And that often is the case.

Students who rush in with last-minute application forms for the January 2010 intake don’t just secure admissions, but also get a twisted picture of student life abroad. Agencies conjure up an irresistible mirage for hopeful students — lower-than-expected living expenses, easy availability of part-time jobs, affordable accommodation etc., — leaving them ill prepared for rude reality.

A casual trip to a couple of educational consultancies will give different versions of the same story. When asked about the average student budget, Jaikrishna, director, Envoy Overseas Educational Consultants reassures, “A student’s expenditure can be anything between £250 to £300 per month, but with a part time job he can earn £8 per hour, which is the minimum wage in the UK.”

Shanti, from Impel Overseas Consultants Limited, however, quotes the minimum wage in UK for students as “£12 - £15”. Vasavi, at First Academy consultancy waves off the grim effects of recession, claiming, “Part time jobs are very easy to find. Almost every student who has gone abroad is earning enough to get by.”

Incidentally, the British government’s Direct.gov.uk clearly states that as of October 2009, the minimum wage is only £5.80!

For students, the benefits of a foreign education go hand in hand with immersing themselves in a new culture. But inadequate pre-planning and misinformation can lead to awkward, stressful economic problems. Karan G., a business entrepreneur who studied in the UK says, “The amount the counsellors quoted was what I took to the UK, but once I reached there I realised how expensive it actually was.” Some students wisely cast their research net wider and don’t rely only on the advice of a consultancy. Ankit Sondhi, restaurateur says, “A few of my relatives studied at the same university as I was planning to go to, so I knew what the living expenditure would be like. The amount that the consultancy agency had quoted was too little. I multiplied it twice and considered that as the right amount.”

Pranav M., Uni of Exeter alum, UK
Getting a part time job in the UK is not easy and with recession it is even more difficult. I used to be paid £5.53.

Yash Agarwal, Cornell alum, US
In the US, you’ll need at least $1,500 as living expenses per month. part time jobs pay minimum $10 per hour.”

Rashida Burani, Uni Sydney Australia
Set aside $1,200 for monthly expenses in Australia. jobs are hard to come by and you can’t be picky.