By: Kate Kumar

Greetings from Incredible India! This September, I was fortunate to represent GWU during the annual EducationUSA India Tour. During this tour, I interacted with thousands of current undergraduate students across eight cities in India, educating them about our 98+ graduate programs available within CCAS, as well as a unique scholarship for Indian citizens sponsored through the International Graduate Funding Initiative.

We started the tour with an enlightening seminar by the U.S. consulate officers stationed in New Delhi. They informed us about tips and best practices that we can recommend to our admitted students when interviewing for their visas.

Our first university visit was to Delhi Technological University, where we were warmly greeted with bouquets of flowers and India’s famous chai masala! The last day in New Delhi was the main fair showcase at the hotel- the first of many to come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After visiting Mumbai and Pune, our midway point of the tour was in Ahmedabad, which is one of the residencies of Mahatma Gandhi, who lived there for twelve years during India’s freedom struggle. The main fair was held at Nirma University where, while we did not have air conditioning for the four hours, at least we did have plenty of enthusiastic prospective student interest!

One of the highlights in Ahmedabad was when the EdUSA regional advisors took us to a restaurant for an authentic vegetarian Gujarati dinner. It was fun to explore these regional flavors!

In Kolkata, I had the chance to serve on a panel alongside my colleagues from USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Syracuse University. We aimed to “bust myths” about the application process, specifically for our international graduate applicants.

Now, on to the remaining cities located in the Southern region of India- Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai for more conversations with prospective CCAS graduate students!

Kate Kumar is an Assistant Director of Graduate Recruitment within the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.