EGE Global Education conducted a pre-departure orientation for students going abroad to study for UG, PG and PhD courses in Mumbai on the 14th of July and in Delhi on the 15th of July. The destination countries for these students include US, UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and others.

In the 3 hour orientation, team EGE addressed the students. These speakers belonged to institutions like Cornell, Leeds, California State University, Boston University and University of Hertfordshire.

The orientation focussed not only on travel and logistics, but also on the need for cultural sensitization and campus life. As the CEO of EGE Global Education, Mr. Rajiv Gupta, who himself is an alumnus of Harvard Business School said – “We are aware that after the initial euphoria settles, the student faces anxiety and at times, even dissonance. This workshop addresses these very issues. In addition to the cultural sensitization, the workshop also addresses the campus life from the actual experience of how the first few weeks of living in the university are critical– THE IMPORTANT DOS AND THE DONTS.”

This pre-departure workshop was developed basis the first hand experiences of EGE’s in-house team comprising people who have the experience of studying, working and living abroad. In addition to this, a lot of extensive research had gone into making this orientation happen.

Saugat Ghimire, an engineering student at the Ivy League university – Cornell and currently an intern at EGE said, ”Just like a good sportsman must be an expert with the rules of the game, an international student must be an expert on course requirements and deadlines. It’s imperative to attend the university orientation sessions during the first few weeks for this very reason”.Navneeta Sengupta, an MBA from California State University and part of EGE’s Business Strategy team while speaking on culture made the point that,

“The international student experience is incomplete without being open to cultural diversity. The more open you will be to new cultures, the more you will benefit as an individual”.  Jeevan Gopal, who has a Master’s in Human Resources from Leeds University, who works at EGE Mumbai also added that “Good planning lies in the level of detailing. It goes a long way in ensuring a smooth transition into student life abroad”.

The events were eagerly attended by over a hundred students, who would be starting their higher education abroad by September, 2012. Rohit Goyal, a graduate from the Indian School of Mines (ISM - IIT) and enrolled with EGE is going to join Harvard University for his MS in August spoke about the event, “It was an extremely enriching experience. There were so many takeaways from this event! I feel confident about going so far away from home and settling in well”.

Vaibhav Vijay, another EGE student who is a candidate for University of Toronto spoke after the event – “This was an excellent orientation for someone like me, especially, since I have never travelled abroad and the only exposure I have to foreign countries is through the television and cinema with all its hyperbolic content”.

In addition to the “alumni” speakers, representatives from Credila, Jet Airways, Matrix and Bajaj Allianz also came ahead with special offers for the students attending the event.The event concluded successfully with a number of better informed and satisfied students and parents interacting with the speakers on a one on one basis.