Mental health, already a matter of grave concern for the global society became a critical concern with the Covid 19 pandemic, as that led to sudden spurt in number of people requiring mental health related support. Given the existing acute shortage of skilled mental health professionals, the waiting period to meet a Counsellor reached an unreasonable high of 6-8 months in a country like the US. However, as ‘online mode’ became the default mode for providing every service, clients began seeking help of skilled professionals across the globe. For example, many clients especially belonging to the Indian diaspora in the US reached out to Counsellors in India. 

That to my mind is a big ‘change’ that began globalization of the market for Counselling services – hitherto considered unacceptable. Driven by cutting edge research, universities abroad offer study options in psychology benchmarked to such global standards. While many countries in Europe and elsewhere can boast of having such universities offering excellent educational programs, given their sheer number, the US or the UK naturally becomes the top study destinations for most foreign students. 

The first step of preparation towards applying to study abroad begins with building a suitable student profile. For graduate studies, apart from good academic performance, there should be evidence of individual research activities undertaken, roles played in community service and leadership. These should find a place in your resume. Hence it is recommended that a student begins his/her preparation for studies abroad as early as possible but not later than the second year of the bachelor’s program. While the GRE score may not be insisted upon by most universities, a good GRE score obviously adds significant weightage to your graduate application. 

As an applicant for a masters’ program, it is expected that the student is aware of his/her specialization of choice – such as Counselling, Clinical, Developmental Psychology and future career plans. While some of the programs offers a lot of flexibility in deciding the area of specialization even after joining the program, many others do not offer such features. Having decided the area of specialization, one will finally choose the specific program and university that best suits the candidate’s profile and aspiration. 

While it is not feasible to curate a specific university list that meets everyone’s requirement, a demonstrative list of some top universities in the UK would include UCL, Manchester and Kings College and those in the US would be Rochester, NYU and Columbia.  

As a critical part of the application process, students should pay adequate attention in preparing the two important documents, the Letters of Recommendation and Statement of Purpose. The applications are evaluated over 2-3 rounds spanning 2-3 months. While the first round for US universities commences in October of the year prior, that for  UK universities commences around November. However, as a rule, students should apply as early as possible. That improves their chances of not only admission to the university of choice but also scholarships and other forms of financial aid. 

Having completed the master’s degree, starting the professional journey requires you to be licensed by the regulatory authority of the specific country. While different for each country, the requirement typically will include minimum hours of supervised practice and passing a qualifying examination.

Santanu Choudhury, Founder Director of Lesli India Education (P) Ltd., and an alum of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad.

This article featured in “Uncommon Sense 2023-24” annual magazine of St. Xaviers College, Mumbai, Department of Psychology.

I have often been called technologically challenged by my technologically competent kids but I love being one. Hear me out……

In times when Netflix gives me suggestions on what I should be seeing, Apple Music plays its own playlist, assuming very conveniently that I am in a mood to listen to some hip-hop or jazz without even knowing that I no longer fall in that category of music lovers, I really want to be technologically challenged.

I no longer need to remember numbers or even names. I am told that ChatGPT can even write Essays for me, make presentations and so on. 

My love for reading has been stolen by Kindle, do not misunderstand me. Yes, it saves space and so much content is available in my palm but I love the smell of pages,the sound of turning pages, writing my name on the first and last page so that no one takes my book away. Ah! the simple joy of holding a book!!

Bear with me a little more….

Uber and YouTube have made us parents unnecessary. The panic call for pick up when a taxi is not available or a teary call to mom to know “Why my curry does not taste like yours” are all conversations of an era bygone. YouTube does all that and better, no judgements, no criticism, no scolding. It’s just them and some random person on a screen.

I was still getting over the idea of some person who knows nothing about me advising me on where to go, what to wear, how to talk, and here comes another challenge. This one has no face, no place, and not even Real; it is Artifical Intelligence. The name itself brings contradiction to my simple layman mind- Artifical yet Intelligent and here I am Human yet challenged….

The irony in which we live!!

Before anyone comes to any unfounded conclusions, I struggle, I learn each day but I do try to keep pace with the rapidly changing world even though I feel that I should be able  to write what comes to my mind, not what someone else is suggesting, not what ChatGPT says. I may just be in the mood to listen to some slow numbers or some instrumental music with a cup of hot coffee today, particularly because my mood is not the same as yesterday and will not be the same tomorrow.

It’s all supposed to make our lives simpler, easier but is it? We eat supplements to compensate for what is available free outside, we travel by cars and run on treadmills, our calendar reminds us of birthdays and meetings and we say that more people are suffering from dementia. The simple joy of baking a cake which got burnt, or too much salt in a dish, the joy of totally ruining it and then trying and trying till we get there. 

I wonder, are we becoming technologically- abled or challenged?

Do we have free time or are we becoming enslaved in an AI generated world?

Are we the liberated ones or are we being fed information by what has already been fed  by someone?

My art may not be perfect, but it is mine, not some AI generated masterpiece.

My creation is what will give me satisfaction, a feeling of achievement.

If all art pieces or writing have been done by AI, how do you decide a Best Seller or a Masterpiece?

What makes us Human is our uniqueness, our differences, our originality; we have not been made in a lab. Our differences are what set us apart or else we will soon be a crowd with no direction.

Imperfection is good. It will make you strive for something better and unusual.

I do not want to be perfect; I want to fail and learn again, get lost to be found again. I do not want to live someone else’s suggested life. I want to continue to be technologically challenged because…

I AM ME and YOU ARE YOU!!!

Do you remember a day when you did not google for information? If you did that, it must have been an unusual day for you. All information you could ask for is at your fingertips, the world is at your doorstep including an ice cream at 3am in the morning. That is the world we live in.

Hence coming back to researching for college admission information, undoubtedly you will find abundance of information. And possibly too much information that is difficult to peruse and process. Now information can be of two kinds – opinions and facts. When a college website states that the lowest GMAT score of a successful candidate for the last session was 710, that is a fact. But when someone states that that college is ranked 45th, that is not exactly a fact but an opinion of some organization based on many facts and figures compiled by them. Ideally one should know the reputation of the organization doing the ranking, what objective criteria have been used to arrive at the ranking and do they also match your criteria of what defines for you a good college.

Second, when we are reading about a college, its academic excellence, great community life and placement prospects, beware that outside of the official college website, most of these are opinions of the author. Does that mean the creator of the content is an authority on the subject? Is the site hosting such information unbiased? What is the objective of the host site?

As someone eloquently said, “Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but everyone is not entitled to their own facts”. The world had its first massive encounter with “Fake News” in the 2016 presidential election in the USA. Unfortunately for the users, the net is full of information which is sometimes partly true, sometimes false, put up with the intention to influence the audience to align to the interest of the host or the content creator. And neither the worldwide web organization or Google or any other search engine is responsible for checking the authenticity of the information.  

It is quite natural that you as a student will look for college admission related information on the net using google or other search engines. But since it is not the best Mexican restaurant in your neighbourhood that you are searching for, but a matter of far greater import, you will need to exercise caution. For example, if you are feeling unwell and concerned, ever typed a symptom of sickness in one of those medical websites. If you did, sometimes you will find the information educative and sometimes scary. So of course, we do not jump to conclusions based on that information and instead go consult a doctor. Why - because you are not shopping for Burritos and Tacos!

Now just like the doctor, college admission too can be a specialist job, especially if we are talking about applying to study abroad. Perusing and analysing terabytes of information from and regarding 100s of colleges itself can be daunting. Making a shortlist of where to apply, writing your SOPs, preparing your LORs, interviews, networking with the college and alumni, requires a lot of attention and skill.  Not to mention, you must do it all in time to meet the application deadlines. Be sure that you are confident of managing it all by yourself. Otherwise find a counsellor who has your best interest in his/her heart, has had enough experience of successfully guiding students in the past and gives you the time and attention you deserve.

 Hope you found the information useful. You can speak to us for more details.

Santanu Choudhury, Founder Director of Lesli India Education (P) Ltd., and an alum of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad.