Six years gap with little to show for (from India)

[on-hold]

Thanks for the replies.

To clarify a few things, the company that I've been working for the past 2 years, is not 'shady' by any means. It is a proper company (though it is no big multinational) . I got the job 'cause I was good at what I do. I did put 'procure' inside of quotes to indicate it would be a lie if I do go about getting 'experience' for the 6 years. I did give the legitimate reasons for my discontinued education in my first post. I do understand if you guys find my reasons to be tenuous, and I feared the visa office would feel the same. That's why I posted here, to get different perspectives before I committed to anything.

Regarding the funds, I would easily have for 1 year of tuition + fee. The rest I would need to take loan on the basis of the property we own before I apply for visa.

That makes sense, and I understood that it wasn't you arguing for a dishonest approach. As someone with some experience with higher education in Canada, the United States, and Asia (well, Thailand), in my opinion, bachelor degrees from the West are over-rated. They take four years which increases their expense, and if you are taking a technical subject, such as computer programming or accounting, a Western school is not necessarily superior to an Indian school. This is well understood in medicine, a nurse from Kerala is the equal of a nurse from Alberta. There is no need to spend 100,000 dollars getting a Canadian bachelor degree, you should find an acceptable institution that accepts you at home -- work hard to get good marks, and then try to immigrate either as a professional (Canada will have an Expression of Interest system by then, where you can come as a skilled worker with a job offer), or come to Canada to graduate school. Graduate school is shorter, often has more funding, and often will give you contacts that turn into employment and make the foreign tuition worthwhile.

Of course, you understand your situation better than I do, but in Thailand people often made the mistake of undervaluing a Thai education, and thinking that an American degree would be quite a bit more amazing than it actually turned out to be.

 

[jon_snow316]

That makes sense, and I understood that it wasn't you arguing for a dishonest approach. As someone with some experience with higher education in Canada, the United States, and Asia (well, Thailand), in my opinion, bachelor degrees from the West are over-rated. They take four years which increases their expense, and if you are taking a technical subject, such as computer programming or accounting, a Western school is not necessarily superior to an Indian school. This is well understood in medicine, a nurse from Kerala is the equal of a nurse from Alberta. There is no need to spend 100,000 dollars getting a Canadian bachelor degree, you should find an acceptable institution that accepts you at home -- work hard to get good marks, and then try to immigrate either as a professional (Canada will have an Expression of Interest system by then, where you can come as a skilled worker with a job offer), or come to Canada to graduate school. Graduate school is shorter, often has more funding, and often will give you contacts that turn into employment and make the foreign tuition worthwhile.

Of course, you understand your situation better than I do, but in Thailand people often made the mistake of undervaluing a Thai education, and thinking that an American degree would be quite a bit more amazing than it actually turned out to be.

That is quite interesting about the education system there. So far, from what I've heard from people who've studied abroad(US,Uk,Canada), what I've got is that the focus there is more on understanding of the concepts, and application of it to solve problems, as opposed to rote memorization.Albeit, they had all gone for their post graduate degree and not undergraduate degree. Anyways, that is one of the major appeal for me to consider education in Canada/US (though US seems forbiddingly costly) . From first hand experience, and people I've seen around here, I believe the system here does little in teaching the students the concepts or improving their problem solving ability.This , I believe, can be evidenced by the high number of graduates(especially engineering) who fail to find employment here, after finishing their bachelors. (This is NOT a knock on those who do undergraduate degree in India. There might be quite a few who manage to acquire such skills and knowledge despite the system) . This is the same I've got from various sources on the Internet, comparing the Indian system to US etc. However, it might be difficult to discern the hype from all those, so I'd be quite interested in hearing the first hand experience of people, especially of those who had done their undergraduate degree abroad.

Another appeal, is the greater flexibility in the courses there and the 'liberal arts' system. I might be able get a major in computer science and a minor in an unrelated 'arts' field which I'm interested in (English/Psychology) . Something which is not possible in the system here.

Thanks.

 

[on-hold]

That's correct, flexibility is a benefit -- but as for problem-solving, I'm not sure. There is an opposite problem that can manifest later on, which is when someone has gotten a degree that emphasizes problem solving, and then finds that most jobs are simple technical issues. If they didn't learn the technical approach, they're stuck; and if they learned it but were taught that it's boring, then they get bored.

Of course, if you want to study something in the humanities, the West is probably better. Obviously, blanket statements are ridiculous, because India will have both prestigious and useless schools; however, so does Canada. A liberal arts degree from a really crummy place, without amazing grades and an explanation for why you went there, is useless for going on in education -- but a technical degree in programming can very likely be used. For example, from your profile, it sounds that you would have a tough time getting into McGill (which is nothing to be ashamed of); I guarantee you, if you go to a place like Vancouver Island University and get a liberal arts degree, it will be quite useless.

If you want to emigrate, and think that education is one way to go, here's another approach you could take: get a nursing degree (make sure beforehand that your college will be accepted in Canada). When you're finished, take the NCLEX-RN (which can be done in India now, Canada is changing to using the American test) -- and then immigrate under the FSW program (which will change to an Expression of Interest model in 6 months, which will really advantage nurses). Or, after finishing your nursing degree, apply to study in a technical certificate program, which will make you more employable too.

 

[jessica1]

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/my-visa-approval-experience-at-delhi-chc-today-t230971.0.html