As Rhea’s parents, we never considered American universities for her undergraduate degree. It wasn’t a calculated decision, just one made within the scope of our understanding of what was best for our daughter at the time. This was until we met Mr. Nirmal Agarwal at a talk he gave at Rhea’s school in 2016. I distinctly remember recognizing Mr. Agarwal’s expertise in the international education system, which was reinforced by his own educational background (he is an alumnus of Stanford University and La Martiniere, Calcutta). His perspectives on selecting the right university and his deep knowledge of the international education system, especially of the U.S., encouraged us to broaden our understanding of what constitutes a holistic, fulfilling education. At this time, we ventured to consider universities in the U.S. for our daughter’s undergraduate degree.
As we began engaging with Nirmal, we realized that what could have been an extremely stressful process of preparing college applications, tracking deadlines, and producing essays had been made simple, navigable, and most importantly, educational. Every step of the two-year long process had been meticulously planned – from preparing for and taking the required standardized tests to writing focused, effective essays, from our weekly calls with Nirmal to track progress to preparing college lists and setting deadlines, Nirmal and his team worked like clockwork to guide us through one of the most challenging and trying times of our lives.
We knew we were in good hands when we realized how incredibly detail oriented Nirmal is. He provided critical feedback on every essay that Rhea wrote and made sure that even minor errors or inadequacies were corrected and improved upon. Nothing was missed – not even a misplaced comma in an essay. This gave us immense confidence and clarity on the way forward. He never left anything unsaid, lest we set unrealistic expectations. Ultimately, he made sure that Rhea presented her case to the admission committees to the best of her capability.
One of our most crucial learnings from this journey was, as Nirmal explained to us, that your child maybe right for some of the best colleges in the U.S., but those colleges might not be the best fit for your child. On his advice, we applied to Cornell University for Early Decision, as he believed that Cornell would be the right fit for our daughter. As of May 2018, she has completed her first year at the College of Engineering at Cornell and is on the Dean’s List there. Thanks to Nirmal’s theory of finding the best fit college, and not just the best college, Rhea couldn’t be happier!
Thank you so very much to Nirmal and his team! We shall always be grateful to you.
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Anupam and Sharmita Dutta ,
Parents of Rhea, Cornell University