VIJAYAWADA: The relaxation of norms regarding GRE score for issuing US visas is luring more and more Indian students to the US for higher studies as is evident from the number of students going there in the past two years.
In the past, the aspiring students had to compulsorily score more than 290 marks in the GRE and 6.5 in IELTS to get the Visa approval from the US Consultancy. However, the easing of the norms related to the GRE score has eased the US VISA approval process and even those scoring 281 marks in the GRE are able to get the visas.
“My elder brother got a US VISA after two attempts. In the first attempt, he got only 283 marks in GRE and was unable to get a visa.However, he scored the required 290 marks in GRE in his second attempt and got the visa.
But now even though I got only 281 marks in GRE, I got my Visa approval recently and am ready to fly to the US in the next 20 days,” said P Ajay Kumar, a visibly-excited engineering student from Vijayawada.
“Prior to the issue of Visa, the US consulate personnel usually check the documents related to financial status, academics and the I-20 from the respective universities. If more students go to the US, it means more money for that country. This is the reason why the US government is welcoming more Indian students now by relaxing the strict norms during Visa approval,” said V Sailaja, administrative manager of Stream Education Consultancy at Labbipet here.
However, most of the students are now scoring more than 280 marks in GRE after taking coaching at GRE coaching institutions which have mushroomed in the city lately.
If they fail to get a good score in the first attempt they are attending GRE twice or thrice to get a good score for easy admission into the top US universities. In addition to this, the Education Testing Service (ETS) is also helping the aspirants by forwarding the preferred GRE score to the concerned universities after conducting the tests.
“There has been an increase of 35 per cent of students from Vijayawada and Guntur, who are willing to go to the US for higher education in the past one year. There are numerous GRE coaching institutions in the city, which help the students to score good marks in GRE.
If the students have not scored good marks in GRE in the first attempt, that may affect the admission even though they score well in the next attempt,” explained B Suresh Babu, general manager of Vijayawada branch of Conduira GRE and IELTS training institute.
The US is the most attractive destination for the Indian students wanting to go abroad for higher studies as the demand for IT professionals in that country is more than in any other country.
With the advances in technology, the aspiring students are able to contact the students who are already studying in the US and inquiring about the academics and part-time job prospects. This is helping the former’s parents feel secure and encouraging them to send their children to the US for higher education.
“When compared to the past few years, more number of parents are now encouraging their children to go abroad, especially the US, for higher studies. They are providing the required financial support to their children by obtaining bank loans by mortgaging their properties knowing that their children have good chances of earning handsome salaries there immediately after completion of higher education,” said Suresh Babu.