What No One Tells You About Studying Abroad from India
Recently, I was checking out some vlogs—or, as you might call them, explanatory videos—about studying abroad from India. From the outside, I can tell you this: most students have always dreamt not only of visiting a foreign country but of studying at top-notch universities abroad.
Now, I have a clear-cut warning. If you don’t have the patience to read further, feel free to scroll down—no need to go through what I want to convey here in unequivocal terms. But if you’re a student, someone who loves exploring the world, or just naturally curious about what’s happening elsewhere—then you’ve come to the right place!
What just began as innocuous YouTube scrolling was nothing short of an eye-opener. It was a moment of self-realisation and, of course, my experience with reality.
As a studious kid, I often wondered—does it really matter if you make it to a foreign university? Then, pat came the reply from almost everyone—parents, teachers, friends, and of course, neighbours: ‘Be excellent in academics.’ But nobody ever bothered to clear the air. If you’re seriously planning to pursue quality education abroad, what truly matters is the depth of your parents’ pockets. And as always, money wins—trampling the dreams of countless kids who dared to fly high, even when they had no wings to begin with.
When Reality Bites Hard
Those who say money comes after education are living in a dystopian world—and I genuinely don’t wish to disturb their status quo. I just hope they stay there, at least until the venom of reality checks bites them. I once lived in that world too, but not anymore. I find more solace in facing harsh truths than in living in a fictitious world that’s too good to be true.
Cut to the context—I was specifically watching a vlog about Oxford. And yes, you heard it right: the great OXFORD UNIVERSITY. The yearly tuition fee for a non-science, non-tech course at this university can cost a whopping ₹50 lakh, or around 60,000 USD. So yes, you pretty much need to be a millionaire to send your kids abroad for education.
Because whether it be a graduation or a post-graduation course, including all other expenses like house rent, medical, provisional expenditure, and fooding and travelling, it takes at least ₹1 crore or 1,20,000 USD to stay outside your home country for two years. Up to this level, it was all good, but what made me feel truly discriminated against was the fact that OXFORD UNIVERSITY only has a provision for intaking candidates from India who have completed their 10+2 from CBSE and ICSE mediums only.
In Conclusion
By just this rule, OXFORD has nightmarishly—broken the dreams of those twinkling eyes of ambitious kids who not just dared to dream but also completed their 10+2 from State Boards and NIOS under dire circumstances!
We need a level playing field. Take entrance tests to shortlist candidates, but don’t discriminate solely based on their educational mediums—especially when all educational boards in India hold the same value and equivalency.
