GRE prep timeline and realistic target scores for Indian applicants
What target GRE scores correspond to what admission outcomes for Indian applicants, and what 3-month, 6-month, and 9-month preparation timelines produce those scores.
Team Du
Foreign study for engineering students from India: the honest decision framework
Indian engineering students considering foreign study are making one of the largest decisions of their early career, often with information from sources that have a financial interest in encouraging the decision. This is the editorial reference for what foreign study actually offers an Indian engineer, what it costs in money and time and opportunity, and the specific scenarios where it makes sense versus where it does not.
OPT and STEM OPT after a US degree: the practical reality for Indian students
Optional Practical Training and the STEM OPT extension are the structural bridge between the F-1 student visa and any US employment-based visa. The rules, timing, and downstream implications are misunderstood often enough that the misunderstanding affects post-graduation outcomes. This is the editorial reference for what OPT and STEM OPT actually allow, the realistic timeline, and the failure modes Indian students should plan against.
MS in Ireland from India: programs, outcomes, and realistic positioning
The MS in Ireland decision is well-suited to a specific Indian profile and badly suited to several others. The standard Indian discussion blurs these into a generic recommendation that produces inconsistent outcomes. The differentiated version is more useful. The Indian master’s-in-Ireland decision has become substantially more common over the past five years. Trinity College Dublin … Read more
The honest economics of foreign education for Indian families
The cost framework Indian families need before they commit. Real numbers for major destinations, the four-number affordability test, currency-risk reality, and the loan-vs-savings logic. The most-cited piece in DreamUnivs.
The honest guide to Statements of Purpose for Indian applicants
Most Indian SOPs fail for the same four structural reasons. The fixes are knowable, the patterns are specific, and the work is genuinely difficult — but it is not mysterious. This is the editorial reference for Indian applicants writing the most consequential 800 to 1,200 words of their academic life.
The honest guide to US F1 visa rejection: why it happens, what to do, and how to plan around it
F1 visa refusal rates for Indian applicants have risen meaningfully in 2024-2025. The reasons are specific, the patterns are knowable, and the response plan is structured. The editorial reference for Indian families navigating the F1 process — including the post-rejection scenario most consultancies refuse to discuss honestly.
The honest guide to standardized tests for studying abroad in 2026
The editorial reference on which standardized test matters where, what scores actually move admissions, and where the test-optional revolution is real versus where it is marketing — for Indian applicants in 2026.
The MBBS abroad investigation: what Indian families need to know in 2026
An honest, agent-free editorial on the foreign MBBS industry. The real cost (₹35-45 lakh, not ₹15-20 lakh), the FMGE pass-rate problem (22% all-India), the four agent-trap patterns, and when MBBS abroad is genuinely the right choice.