Thoughts about college in US & India

Armummy,

IT is direct admission for students from abroad and the fees are in US$. this facilitates students who want to join the iits, and some of the other professional colleges but sadly this is only for the engineering and not for medicine.

i discussed this in chennai schools forum. maybe no harm in talking about it here.

DASA-2011 ( Direct Admission to Students Abroad )
recently i was told srm medicine costs 1crore while i know a person who paid 60lakhs in full for the complete medical course in a university in chennai. (the person was a nri from gulf.)

 

Srividya,

I'm giving my personal opinions here and I hope I'm not bashed at for this:hide:.

Also, let me mention that I don't have kids of the school going age, infact, I dont have kids at all as yet. So my views/opinions are based on my research and the few classes that I took here in the US.

My take on colleges - US is definitely the better option for both undergrad level as well as master's/doctoral education. For Schooling, upto 10th class or so, India may be a better option.
Here in US, the undergrad classes students are given a lot of research/networking/independent study as well. If the university/college is chosen well then your child might well be studying with the world's best professor in that field. I myself had this experience, though it was by accident. I took a few classes here in US and was being taught a professor whose books I had studied from in my engg days. It was a wonderful experience for me. and, the college at which I took the classes is not even in the top 100, so you can imagine how good the professors *can be* if we choose our college well.

Students are given a lot of assignments and independent study. The culture of 'mugging up' stuff is still there in US too but not as much as it is in India. Students have a wide variety of choices for their courses, some of which I have never even ehard of.

Once undergrad is completed here, it is MUCH MUCH easier to go ahead with a graduate degree(i.e. master's level) and admissions is a simpler process.

The system here in US has its own stress(from what my neigbors tell me) like sometimes the assignment work load is high, cost, some terrible professors, too much focus on standardized tests etc.

As for the cost, my take , India is not cheap either . But ,if we compare India and US in education then India may be cheaper. however, I assume that your kids are US citizens/Permanent residents and so will be eligible to take up part time jobs as they study. That's what most kids do here isn't it? They pay their own tuition. This will also make the kid more responsible(instead of daddy or mommy footing the bill). Many of my friends who were born here and are doing their undergrad here tell me this.

Finally, a degree from US will be recognized the world over. Ofcourse, Indian degrees are recognized too but only if we want to live in India forever after that. If we have plans to move out then a US degree will prove more beneficial.

MAy be if you move to India now, your kids are still in school, so you can come back/ send them to US for college once they are ready to go to college.

DISCLAIMER: This is purely my experience and opinion

 

Yes, relocation is a very hard decision to make. Note down the pros and cons and weigh the two columns carefully.
Hope you arrive at your decision soon.

Good Luck.

 

My personal experience speaks here...I have college going kid and another kid doing her 4th grade. My college going kid did her school and now in college.

We were in same boat while my elder daughter was in high school (9-12 grade). I found out being forward community, i dont have much options in Govt colleges, unless my DD gets 99%. I checked in ramachandra univ and few other private univ, cost for medical education came 1 crore and that too with Indian medical degree, she will not be able to practice in US (if she decides to go back)...unless she write all those USSmile exam etc.

Instead my daughter got lots of local scholorship that covers almost all of her expense to complete her bachelors degree (under grad degree) and she plans to get loans to complete her med degree...loan is the easiest thing to get in US...apart from that, if your child is bright they get assistance from federal/state student financial aid with subsized interest loan amount or sometimes even scholorships. With US med degree she can very well practice here or if she decides to move India, she can work there too :thumbsup One stone two mango.

Hope this helps.

 

Going to college in the US is pretty expensive and not everybody qualifies for scholarships. Somebody I know goes to med school in one of the ivy league schools and his parents shell out 5.5k per month.

Ofcourse there are other colleges and other courses that might cost less, but my general opinion is that you can afford to send your kids to collegeiin the US only if you are earning in USD or did at some point of time in your life and have saved it up for this or are extremely well off.

Thats why the popular route for Indians coming here is doing their undergrad in in Inda and come here for grad school.

 

chk out these threads.they might help u to take a decision.

1. http://www.indusladies.com/forums/education-and-personal-growth/155533-engineering-in-us.html
2. http://www.indusladies.com/forums/e...growth/147954-parents-who-mad-about-iits.html
3. http://www.indusladies.com/forums/n...47430-shameless-happens-only-india-first.html
4. Most Imp of all is In 2011, Americans could travel to 169 countries visa-free, or with visa on arrival
Visa requirements for United States citizens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

5. chk out where India stands in quality of Maths & science education

i. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_in_International_Mathematics_and_Science_Study
ii. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment

6. Many people say lack of friends & relatives In USA as main cause for R2I/ hmmmmmmm. There's a quote " more success more relatives & friends, less success less relatives & friends). So ultimately having friends & relatives depends on how much money u have, how much power u hold & in what position u r in, & its same whether u r in India or USA.

popular quote from lord of war movie "I had a flair for languages. But I soon discovered that what talks best is dollars, dinars, drachmas, rubles, rupees and pounds ****ing sterling. "


7.. IF u are from forward community its difficult for ur children to get admitted in to so called top Indian colleges Bcz of reservations ( Minimum 50 % to 82% of reservations, for eg In states like Andhra Pradesh u have 82%(50% for SC/ST/OBC + 33% for women For remaining 18% they say its for open category but the fact is everybody competes for that 18% from OC to SC/ST/OBC) in educational institutions and Govt Jobs). So is the case with Tamilnadu & many other states in India including my home state.

Now u can understand MERIT, Equality in India is a major joke & everything is unfair.

so my personal suggestion for u is to stay in USA than going back to India unless if u r a businessman or politician.

 

Vidya,
We are going through this one right now. We really want to go back to India,but looking for job opportunity in India for my husband.My kids are 13 and 9.Most of the friends say that it is hard for the kids to adjust by this age going for 9th and 5th grades.I am preparing my kids ready for that,but deeply I am thinking that if it doesn't work,We'll come back to US.I am sure my hubby doesn't like that idea to back and forth.
Any ideas help a lot. would like to talk to those who made the MOVE to India........
Thanks in advance.