Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Few takers for GRE

HYDERABAD: The recession seems to have forced Indian students aspiring to study abroad, particularly the USA, tread the path cautiously. The huge expected drop in the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) applicants this year from India indicates this to some extent.

While 74,000 students from India took the GRE, which is mandatory for admission into majority of the universities in USA, the number is expected to fall sharply and not more than 58,000 are likely to take the examination.

The GRE drop was revealed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) that conducts GRE at a meeting of the Council of Graduate Schools in the US recently. GRE takers even within the US have also declined considerably. Interestingly, for the last seven years India has been topping the number of foreign students admitted in US universities.

Shaky employment scenario in the US seems to be a major concern for students and the question haunting them is whether it would improve before they graduate. “Seniors and relatives aren’t giving a positive picture for the next two to three years,” says Priya, who has taken GRE but is now thinking of other plans.

Similar sentiments are echoed by Rohit of MVSR Engineering College. “The situation looks very bad there and some of my friends have dropped the idea of going to the US for the time being,” he says. “Instead they are looking at working in India for a year and then assess the situation,” he adds.

Nevin of St. Anthony’s Consultants in Secunderabad agrees that the decline in US admissions is imminent. He reminds that US education is quite costly and students will weigh all options including their repayment capacity of loans. “There is also the fear of easy availability of loans for foreign education now,” says Divya Teja, a final year B.Tech student at Aurora College. The credit crunch in US may affect the financial support that varsities provide to foreign students. “That’s a big issue for thousands of our students,” she argues.

However, a section feels that recession will not have any affect on students’ plans. V. Gouripathi of Visu International feels drop in GRE aspirants doesn’t indicate drop in US aspirants. The changing pattern of GRE and the variations in dollar value might have affected the plans of a few. Last year the dollar was selling between Rs. 38 to 40 but now it is Rs. 50 thus increasing the cost of US education by 20 per cent.

“The decline will be minimal,” he says. But he reminds that no recession in US lasted beyond 12 months.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu