With the recent growth of the subreddit, we have seen it increasingly drift away from what it is primarily meant to be: a place for Indians who are planning to study abroad, currently studying abroad, or trying to make informed decisions about doing so.
We want the subreddit to remain a place where people can hear both the good and the bad. Critical experiences are welcome. Positive experiences are welcome. What we do not want is repetitive fearmongering, blind optimism, personal attacks, sweeping claims about entire countries or nationalities, or discussions that have little to do with studying abroad.
We will therefore be enforcing the following standards more consistently going forward:
Keep discussions directly connected to studying abroad
Admissions, universities, programmes, applications, scholarships, funding, education loans, student visas, accommodation, internships, student jobs, academic/student life, adjusting to another country and post-study career outcomes are all relevant.
Standalone questions about immigration, PR/citizenship, “which country should I settle in?”, “how can I leave India?”, Indian politics, or general expat/career discussions DO NOT BELONG HERE. Post-study work and immigration can only be discussed when they are directly relevant to evaluating a specific study pathway.
Do some research before asking others to make a major decision for you
Posts asking which is the best country to study abroad or is Germany worth without context WILL BE REMOVED. Tell us your background, what you are considering, what you have already found, and what question remains.
Claims need context
If you are telling someone that a country has no jobs, that a degree has poor prospects, that sponsorship is impossible, that a university is bad, etc., PLEASE EXPLAIN THE BASIS OF YOUR ADVICE. Relevant firsthand experience, field, approximate time period or a credible source makes advice much more useful. You do not need to disclose private identifying information. The same rule applies to overly optimistic claims.
Being critical is welcome; putting people down is not
Disagree with someone’s plan, assumptions or information as strongly as you want, but explain why. Comments whose main contribution is “you’re stupid,” “you won’t survive abroad,” “go back/stay in India,” mocking someone’s background, or similar personal attacks WILL BE REMOVED.
Do not generalise about Indians or any other nationality
I can’t believe that I need to say this but any posts generalizing a nationality WILL BE REMOVED! Experiences involving poor behaviour, discrimination, cultural differences, housing, workplaces, etc. can and SHOULD be discussed.
HOWEVER, these individual experiences should NOT be made into statements about what ‘Indians are like’ or what ‘Germans are like’ or even what ‘the West thinks of Indians’. Nationality-wide judgment is not useful advice and WILL BE REMOVED.
Repetitive doomposting and repetitive hype will be removed
We do not want ten posts on ‘Germany is finished’, ‘UK has no jobs’ or ‘Canada is dead’, etc. Comment on previous posts on the same topic. Posts without substantive new information WILL BE REMOVED.
Likewise, repetitive hype or overly optimistic posts are not exempt from the same standard.
“Announcement”, “Official”, “Mod Announcement” and official announcement flairs are reserved for moderators.
Use a normal descriptive title for personal posts. Do not use these terms in your post or it WILL BE REMOVED. Repeated misuse will get you BANNED!
No commercial solicitation
As always, study-abroad counsellors, agents, admissions consultants, or anyone offering such services ARE NOT WELCOME to use this subreddit to find clients, advertise services, or promote themselves through comments.
YOU WILL BE BANNED!
This is an India-centred community
The subreddit exists to help Indian applicants and students. People from other countries are welcome to contribute in terms of relevant firsthand experience. However, as mentioned before, unnecessary pessimism / optimism / racial attacks / hate comments ARE NOT WELCOME!
Finally, we are also looking for new moderators
We need a few active moderators to help manage the queue and deal with reports.
You do not need previous moderation experience. Though, it will definitely be a plus. People who are active in this community are welcome to apply. People representing any sort of agency / consultancy are NOT WELCOME TO APPLY.
If you are interested, please send me a message.