With the number of students going abroad for higher education rising, there has been a spurt in agencies organising their 'complete' trips -- from procuring the visa to getting accommodation in the country chosen.
"Gone are the days when students ran from pillar to post inquiring about what to carry and what not to carry, how to get their papers processed and what to do when they reach their destinations," says Naveen Chopra of 'The Chopras,' one such organisation that helps students interested in studying abroad.
From giving information about which universities and courses to choose to telling them how to go applying to these institutes, these organisations help in organising every aspect of the student's trip, says Ruchika Casterleno, manager of British Council's Education Abroad Division.
Pre-departure parties are organised every year to brief the students about how to go about their trip how much stationary to carry, how many warm clothes to carry and whether to carry the laptop or not, says Chopra.
Besides briefing the students, these institutes also encourage parents to come with the kids so that they can also participate in the process and get to know the things to be done, he says.
Representing some of the top universities of United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, the institutes offer a whole gamut of consultancy services.
Alumni from various British Universities like Cardiff, Bristol, DeMontfort and Sunderland are invited to interact with students telling them about all issues related to their impending enrolment at the various universities.
"We want to give the students an absolutely authentic feeling of what it is like to be living and studying abroad, including information about racism, ragging, attitudes and idiosyncrasies associated with the foreign land," says Chopra.
"I have achieved a tremendous sense of relief after seeing all these students as I now know that my daughter can also now cope with the foreign land," says a parent at the pre-departure party organised by The Chopras.
The British Council which has the largest number of services available to students interested in studying abroad invites other such institutes like 'Study Abroad' and Middlesex University's representatives to organise briefings for the students.
"Though we have our own department dealing with education abroad, we invite these institutes to organise seminars so that students and parents both can get a fair idea of what lies ahead," says Casterleno.
The pre-departure parties, which are organised every year for the semester starting in September-October, are a big affair with students coming up with all kinds of questions.
The briefings take care of all these queries besides telling them trivial but helpful things like the importance of having a haircut as it is usually very expensive abroad, says Chopra.
