How is Shiksha Topper Counselling different from Shiksha's Free Counselling Service?

Selecting the right study abroad consultant is paramount! With more than 6 years of experience in the study abroad domain (consulting), we understand the importance of giving valuable services to our clients. Recently, we have launched premium Shiksha Topper Counselling, which is a premium study abroad consultant service. As we offer both paid and free counseling services, in this article, we will inform you about the difference between both these services. After going through the nitty gritties of both processes, you will be in a better position to choose the one that is best for you.

In our Shiksha Counseling Service, we offer free study abroad counseling services to students who scored less than 75 percentile marks in GMAT, GRE, and SAT exams. In a regular process, once the students send his/her documents, a counselor evaluates your profile through a profile evaluation call. Here, our team of counselors creates a pool of universities where you can apply. Here, we also assist you in document preparation, application submission, and visa counselling.

In our Shiksha Topper counseling, a team of certified Shiksha counselors and editors with study abroad experience specifically for top 50 universities will help you in building your profile. We have a separate team dedicated to top universities as acceptance rates of these universities is low and much more specialized attention is required than in the normal tier 2/tier 3 university. Counselors and Editors in the topper team have worked with the top 50 universities in the past and have a successful track record of admits Applying to abroad universities is a time taking and tedious process, so, our team will stay in touch with you during this entire process. From personalized shortlisting of universities to applications, and visa assistance, we will take complete responsibility for your admission journey.

As we are charging from the students, in Shiksha Topper Service, we assure you of successful admit from at least one top university. This can be a life-changing experience for you, as getting into an Ivy league school will give a tremendous start to your professional journey.

Difference between Shiksha Counselling Service and Shiksha Topper Counselling

Shiksha Free Counselling Service	Shiksha Topper Counselling
This is 100% free	This is a paid service
Students who have given or booked one of the standardized exams like GMAT, GRE, SAT, IELTS, TOEFL, and PTE	This is a premium service designed exclusively for students who scored more than 75 percentile marks in GMAT, GRE & SAT exams
Profile enhancement	A Shiksha certified counselor and editor will work with you on profile building, it goes more beyond profile enhancement
Apply to Tier 2 and 3 universities that are suitable as per your profile	Apply to only top universities
Editors don’t speak with students directly	Editors will stay in touch with the students till the finalization of the documents
Limited round of document exchange with Editors	Multiple rounds of document exchange
No assured admission	Assured admission in at least 1 university

The acceptance rate in the top universities is less than 10%, so getting into a top university is difficult. Ivy League universities like MIT have an acceptance rate of 6.7%, whereas, it is even less for Stanford (4.34%) and Harvard (4.92%) for the year 2020. Whereas the acceptance rate in Tier 2 and Tier 3 universities can be as high as 30% and in some cases, it can go to 50%. So, acceptance rates for top universities are less than 1/10th than the acceptance rate of a few popular Tier-2 and 3 universities. This is because more number of students apply to top universities so getting into a top college is extremely tough. Also, universities allocate a limited number of seats for international students particularly Indian students to maintain diversity, especially in business and management courses.

To overcome low acceptance rates, you need to work with a consultant who has a proven track record and who understands what kind of profiles are generally accepted in the top universities. With the Shiksha Topper team, you get both these benefits and the personalized attention of a counseling and editorial expert.

Is it worth spending a higher amount on Topper service to get into a top-ranked university?

Pursuing higher education in a foreign country is a costly affair; those who are looking to study abroad always focus on the ROI. As per Payscale, the average base salary for a Stanford graduate is $111K/year, whereas, average base salary for Arizona State University (ASU) graduate is $72K/year. This illustrates how ROI for studying in a top university is drastically different from studying at an average university. In addition to the salary difference, there are plenty of other benefits like getting access to the alumni network of a top university can itself take you places. Compare that to the cost of getting to a top university e.g. at Shiksha Topper service, you have to pay roughly INR 40-50K (approximately $500-$600) and in the long term, you can recover this cost immediately after being placed once you complete graduation.

One major challenge that students face while applying to universities abroad is of arranging finance. In Shiksha Topper Counselling, we will help you in getting financial assistance from the universities. We will guide you with the internal scholarships offered by the Universities. You can also apply to external study abroad scholarships that are listed on our website.

Courses covered under both the Shiksha counselling services

We provide services for degree, diploma, and certificate level programs for undergraduate or postgraduate education including MBA, MS, B.Tech, and BBA. We do not cater to Medicine, Law, or Ph.D. students.

Countries covered under both the Shiksha counselling services

We offer services for USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Ireland, France, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

How do I know if my counselor is good?

All Shiksha.com counselors are rated by students who have worked with us in the last admission season. These unedited reviews are publically displayed on each counselors profile page and can be read by everyone.

Also, we assure you that there are isn't any kind of hidden charges once you avail Shiksha Topper service. Our charges are all-inclusive for the entire end-to-end services and there are no extra charges over and above what you pay for the Shiksha Topper service.

We understand the importance of choosing to study abroad, therefore, we have designed both the services in such a way that we give utmost satisfaction to our clients. At Shiksha, we believe in maintaining transparency, so, we will give you complete and genuine assistance throughout the processes. Both our processes are student-centric. With premium services, we won’t compromise anywhere in quality in our free counseling services. We strive for the best and will offer the best we can!

Learn about Shiksha Topper Counselling Service