You’re reading an excerpt of Admitted by Soundarya Balasubramani. Written by an Ivy League graduate from India, this is the proven guide for students worldwide looking to pursue undergraduate or graduate study abroad in the U.S., Canada, or Europe. Purchase for instant access to the guide and other exclusive resources—including sample SOPs, sample resumes, scholarship lists, and a private community with other readers.
If you ask anyone who has already arrived in a new country to study abroad, what do you wish you had done more before you left?, their answers will follow remarkably similar threads.
I wish I spent more time with my family, friends, and loved ones.
There will never be enough time
There will never be enough time to take your mother to the theater to watch the latest movie with her favorite protagonist.
There will never be enough time to play cricket with your cousins on a Sunday morning by the seashore under the hot sun.
There will never be enough time to wake up early in the morning and join your father for his morning walk as he buys newspapers from three different kiosks and drinks a fresh cup of coffee.
I know you have a lot to look forward to as you board that plane, but don’t forget about the people, places, and memories you’re leaving behind, that shaped your life into what it is today.
I have traveled back to India multiple times since I landed here, but it was never the same.
I always knew it was a temporary visit, jam-packed with good memories but ephemeral nonetheless. This is a feeling that no one can escape. Even if you weren’t able to follow the hundred pieces of advice we offered throughout this book, I hope you walk away with this one. Just this one.
We are thrilled for you and hope you carry forward the gratitude you received so far from those around you to those who come after you.
Go on and get educated.
One day, while we were on a call, Rishabh asked, “Why don’t you add a section at the end to give the readers a glimpse into your experience?”
So, here you go.
Fortunately, I love documenting my life through timeless entities, such as photographs, videos, and articles. I went through more than a thousand images to hand-pick these. While reviewing them, it felt like I was looking at a doppelgänger. Someone who looks like me and even acts like me in some images, but it isn’t me. Not who I am today.