Eyes set on a foreign degree

Kaustav Chatterjee, a final-year MSc student from M S Ramaiah College, is keen on doing his Ph D in Biochemistry or Molecular Engineering in the US or Germany. Reason? "Opportunities and world-class infrastructure," he says.Today, Youngistan does not mindshelling out lakhs of rupees, travelling that extra mile, but they definitelywant the best of education. Whether it's in the US or India, there are noboundaries for them.While the US has always been the top educationdestination for many international students due to various reasons, studentsfeel an international degree carries a lot of weightage. Moreover, the qualityof education is much better compared to some Indianinstitutions.Good laboratories, inspiring guides and jobopportunities are the major attractions for a foreign PhD. Interestingly,besides opting for the usual engineering and management courses, students arelooking at pursuing other courses like graphic design, molecular science, Arts,law and humanities. Some like Anusha Saju, a BSc student (speech and hearingtherapy), like to pursue speech language pathology in US because of "awareness"there. "I was looking at universities mainly in the US. People are more aware ofspeech and hearing problems in the US. However, I won't stay back after thecourse. I'll return to India," she says.Banking on teachingassistantships, Anusha says she has been aspiring to do a course to helpdifferently-abled children ever since she was 14 years old.Another advantage is the presence of extended family members or even friends. Puja S, a Computer Science engineering graduate from RV College of Engineering, wants to do MS in Computer Science. "I prefer to do it in the US itself. I have many relatives there, so it's easier for me. Employment opportunities and living standards are better there compared to other countries. I also considered the UK but it's rather expensive," she says.Puja is already looking atuniversities on the East Coast or the West Coast. "I'm looking at placements,university ranking and location," she says.Even as most are lookingat post-graduate courses, some like Akshay Krishna, a Class 12 student from StJoseph's Boys High School, is wanting to pursue engineering only in the USbecause of accessibility. Aiming for some top universities in the world -- MIT,Harvard or Stanford -- Akshay has kept his options open. "I'm also looking atengineering colleges in India," he says.SNIPPETS*Kshitij, the annual techno management fest of IIT Kharagpur, will be held fromJanuary 28 to 31. The Youth Summit on Climate Change, which is part of theevent, will be held from January 7 to 9, wherestudents can interact with NGOs,officials from IYCN and other environment organisations on sustainabledevelopment. For details, log onto www.ktj.in* Amity Global BusinessSchool conducted its annual corporate meet on `Industry expectation fromgraduates of MBA institutions' on Oct. 6. Expert speakers were Harish Bijoor,CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., and Angshik Chaudhuri, executive director,globalisation, Cisco Systems. Bijoor talked of the gap between `normal' and`special' MBA institutes. He emphasised the role of business schools inevolution of MBA graduates with the virtue of `patience and positiveattitude'.