Having studied in Florida and Massachusetts for my Bachelor’s degree, I can relate to students going abroad for the first time. I understand the apprehensions of parents sending their kids abroad, worried among other things about the lack of supervision, availability of food, their children’s security, and their overall well-being. Over the years, I have been able to share my first-hand knowledge with many families, answering their queries, guiding them, and conducting research for them.
I have been helping students research universities based on specific criteria such as university ranking, major-related school ranking, locale, community, accessibility, tuition costs, proximity to relatives, and weather, among other things, for the past 13 years. I had gone to Florida using the services of a renowned admissions counsellor, but faced so many unexpected and unexplained problems that I had to come back. The college was very good, but being a small Liberal Arts school, it did not have the resources to cater to the requirements of a specialized degree like Computer Science, nor did it have a cafeteria that could serve vegetarian food. I realized that I had not asked the right questions, and had succumbed to general expectations and stereotypes of life in America. I also realized that if the counsellor had really cared about me as a young student, they would have given me the additional information that I had not asked for.
Having learnt from this experience, I have strived to make the lives of other students and parents easier, by explaining to them how things work abroad, what to expect, how the international education system is different from India, what options they provide, where they can save money, and what the best way is to go about the entire process. I provide guidance on which exams to take, when to take them, what the ideal score is to get into a particular program, how to go about the application process, how to tackle the dreaded personal statements and essay questions, and what to showcase to the admissions committee.
Pentomime evolved with the aim to help students around the world – whether they were applying for further studies, or already studying and needing help with Academics, or stepping out into the professional world and needing a Resume and LinkedIn profile to get ahead. In the coming weeks, I will be putting up multiple blog posts to explain common queries that I regularly get from students and parents alike, and sharing my thoughts and views on the same.