WHY study in the UK

Delhi University (DU). One of the best in the country and so obviously a student has to face very stiff competition to get in. Especially if you want to get into the top 10 colleges that too with the subject of your choice. If however you wouldn't mind a 'not in demand' subject or a lower rung college, the admission would be easier. But you would be paying the price in terms of quality, despite the DU tag.

When my daughter scored an 82% in her 10th class. We were all very happy, because she'd really worked hard and the percentage exceeded everybody's expectation. However an 82% in 12th wouldn't be enough to get her into a good college in DU. By this time she had more or less made up her mind to study Journalism/Mass communication for under-graduation. Which seemed to be the right option for her. She's always been outspoken, up till then took a keen interest in Political Science, was excelling at MUNs (Model United Nation), was writing for the school magazine, etc.

DU, since the past few years has begun conducting a separate exam for Journalism entrance known as CJET (Combined Journalism Entrance Test). In which the 12th percentage along with the written test and interview marks together are taken into consideration. Other than DU there are a few others who offer Journalism as a subject at the undergraduate level. Most good institutes, however, offer this subject at the post graduate level. Example the AJ Kidwai MCRC, Jamia and the Indian Institute for Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi. 

So keeping CJET as the target, we started to look around for a back up plan. Symbiosis Institute was one and with not much else to fall back upon we started to look westwards! US was the first option as with most other people of the world! There are quite a number of very good options there for Journalism. But very soon we shifted our focus to UK. The main reasons being:

1. US has 4 years of study compared to UK's 3 years.

         The time spent is less and thus cost wise it would work out to be cheaper, besides saving a
         whole year of life!

2. The cost for studying in either of the countries is more or less the same. 

           About 16 to 18 lakh per annum, inclusive of tuition, food, boarding and miscellaneous. On the   

           other hand in the US a lot of good universities like the NYU for example have very high tuition
           fee. It is generally believed in India that studying in UK is more expensive than in US.

3. The time difference is lesser in UK than US.

          So I could call and chat more! I have a friend in Canada and actually find it very difficult to

          talk to her, other than at unearthly hours or weekends! 

4. The travel time is less.

          And hence the cost. Moreover one can actually think of travelling back and forth for holidays

          with ease.

5. If you have to learn a new English accent, it might as well be the Queen's!

With our new found focus, I set to work. Digging and digging deeper into the sites and further into all corners of the internet! And as I looked into site after site of each university, we collectively, as a family, reached this conclusion: 

If one had to study further it had to be at one of these selected universities in the UK!

Their interpretation of the subject, the course content, the various delivery methods, their ways of testing, the subject accreditations and their acclaimed alumni was unmatched! What started as a back up plan soon became a dream target. The best was, with 85% in 12th class you could get into a good college with the subject your choice!

NEXT - CHOOSING your subject