Build a strong narrative

Abhishek Singhal 

Q.Do I need good grades to get into a great university abroad? — Suneil Singh

A.The path to a great university outside India is not uni-dimensional. Good grades help, but even without them  it is possible to get into a great university. THere have been students who were able to showcase their 'demonstrated-commitment' in an area that they have interest in — ranging from arts and dance to hobbies like stamp collection, bird watching, etc. And these 'verifiable narratives' helped them crack some of the most difficult-to-get-into universities' admission process.

Here is an example: 

A student in the first year of her undergraduate studies wanted to build a powerful narrative truly representative of who she was for her master’s course application. She was passionate about smells and was particularly captivated by the smell of the ‘first rain’. She chose to explore her interests in that area and went on to research and develop deeper skills and understanding of the subject. She went on to the narrow by-lanes of the city of Old Delhi, explored the process of ‘holding a smell in a ghara’ in the suburb of Kannauj, learnt to mix oils with the Hyderabadi artisans in the old Begum-Bazaar and explored a design-thinking approach to build out bespoke smells (more western method) in the city of Bangalore. This was again an adventure of persistence woven through more than two years of labour. Her narrative was on ‘smells’ and in her application, she expressed an intent to be a part of luxury and leisure industry. She got into one of the best European colleges and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Luxury Management.

Try new fields

Q.I am in Class XI and plan to go abroad for my UG degree. What are the new fields that I could apply for in foreign universities?— Suchita Mehta

A.A few decades back you either became an engineer or a doctor. If you had a little lesser percentage in your school, you would choose Commerce and slog out to become a CA. Not any longer!

Right now you have a plethora of new options available which offer fantastic job prospects. Psychology, sociology, urban anthropology, design and multidimensional studies like biotechnology, International Law in IP, analytics and big-data, etc. are fast gaining currency and great courses are available at undergraduate and graduate levels. Make sure that you choose as per your interest and go to a top-rank university to ensure that you learn from the best and make a career out of it.