Dear Sir,
I am from Tamil Nadu and doing my 12th standard. I dream about studying abroad in countries like UK, Australia, USA etc. I would like to do my bachelors degree abroad. I am from a middle-class family. Will I get any scholarships? What should I do now?
Imthiyas Ahmed

Dear Imthiyas Ahmed,
It is good to have high ambitions to establish a good academic foundation for a good career. You can definitely think of studying abroad at undergraduate (bachelor degree) level. Know for sure that it is quite expensive to study in any of the countries you are dreaming of. It costs anywhere around 8 lakh to 10 lakh per year for a typical undergraduate course and you have to study 3 to 4 years to complete and graduate. There are very few scholarships available from all sources which can be achieved if one has exceptionally high academic achievement. There are many talent search and aptitude competitions. If you have been one of those who has excelled, there is a fair chance of landing a scholarship. Since you have high ambition you could plan from now on for a good foundation degree here in India and try to excel at that level, preferably a four year college education such as engineering or medicine or pure science. With this in hand you can appear for the entry requirements tests such as GRE, TOEFL etc. then chances of getting funding will improve.

Dear Sir,
I am a student of final year MBBS. I am planning to go to Australia for my post-graduation. I have two questions:  What are the chances of getting a house job in Australia after  clearing the first section/stage/part (MCQ) of the AMC exam?
Will the remuneration be sufficient for my living and studying expenses?
A medical student

Dear medical student,
Once you are through with the entire admission process for a Post Graduation course and after admission, clearance for clinical practice of particular State is a must. Even though you are eligible to work as intern in the specific field and you will be provided with opportunities, the remuneration is not at all enough to maintain yourself and also pay the fees. Be prepared to spend anywhere between Rs 10 lakh to 14 lakh as fees. Please be aware that the competition for medical school is extreme, and no matter what your background or how well you have done academically, your chances of getting accepted are not great. Most universities with medical school programmes accept only 4-15 international students per year and they get hundreds of applications for those available slots.

Dear Sir,
I am doing my 4th year B.Tech degree from JNTU.
My career objective is to get into the film industry. For that I want to do a Master of Fine Arts degree from the US and meanwhile earn an amount of 50 lakh to produce a film on my own after four or five years.
After completing my MFA can I get a job in USA?
Sandeep Gudipudi

Dear Sandeep,
You are shortly completing your B tech, which is purely technical. Your eligibility is higher to study further in technical or after gaining some experience getting into management related fields. Not to say you cannot get into the Fine Arts field. Your entry to fine arts would be at the base level even in USA, a country which has a lot of flexibility compared to any other country.

Since you express your ambition to get into the film industry have you identified what skills you have in you and have you tried out the field of Film Industry? One need not be in the film line to produce a film, though exposure to it helps a lot. Moreover producing a film is more of a business venture than anything else. Getting a visa to go to the USA is not a problem when you have proper admission in to a course of any stream in any university. My suggestion would be for you to stay on in the technical field or to get into the management field provided you have peoples skill and are interested in management by checking your aptitude. Your B tech will provide ample opportunity to be in a good stable job and gradually you can move towards the film industry. To begin with you may foray into the film field as a novice or trainee to get more exposure. As far as the jobs in USA are concerned after a Masters in Fine Arts there definitely would be for the right talented people.

Dear Sir,
My son is doing his BDS in India. We want some information on studies in his field abroad.
B K Sachdeva

Dear Sachdeva,
I appreciate the aspiration of your son to study dentistry at the post graduate level. As a concerned father you also would want to give the best of opportunities for your son. Unfortunately the scenario is not very optimistic as it is a long route to get admission for Post Graduate courses. First of all BDS from India is not enough to apply for the practicing license in countries such as USA, UK, Australia etc. one has to go through two more years of education in a dental school (one year in Australia) before being eligible to apply for licensing boards of respective states or countries. For example AEGD (Advanced Education in General Dentistry) is a university based one to two year programme which is similar to Internship in India. GPR (General Practice Residency) is similar to AEGD but is "mostly" in a hospital setting. Only after that one gets the eligibility and then one can study further.
In all it is a long drawn time consuming process and financially it is a great burden. Further more the competition is also very high and only academically high achievers can sustain the rigors of all the eligibility entrances. In UK and USA at present the possibility to get admission, even though one is ready to pay, is difficult. For USA visa for any medical education involving clinical work is a gamble and in UK there are not enough jobs and preference for Indian Dental Graduates is low. Australia is a distinct possibility by successfully completing the Australian Dental Council examinations but cost is exorbitantly high. Overall it is not at all a favourable situation.

Dentistry being a professional course that would have sharpened the analytical, interpersonal, team building, risk taking and kinesthetic skills he has many choices such as: Clinical research, Hospital management, Health services and Lifestyle programmes etc. Going abroad for higher studies in these fields is relatively easy and cost wise more competitive. Depending on your son's aptitude and interest you may explore these possibilities.

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