The world has become a far smaller place than it was decades ago. More and more people are traveling across the globe for fun, business, study etc. However, going to a foreign land involves more and more hassles. On one hand, we are shrinking the world and on the other, we are making it difficult to get a simple permit to enter a foreign land, the Visa. Protectionism was a hot topic in the latest G-20 summit and I believe that getting work permits, student visas and even tourist visas will get tougher by the day (at least as long as the recession and its aftermath last)
There are 8 Indians in the 2009-2010 Vlerick batch and all of us are finding it difficult to understand the Visa requirements. All of us are well-traveled people and none is applying for a foreign Visa for the first time. However, there are so many confusions regarding the Belgian Student Visa process that I have really started wondering whether I would make it in time. The problem is not just for Indians. We have 2 batch mates from Chile and they too are facing similar difficulties, maybe even more so.
Anyway, this post is not about the Belgian Visa. I found that some of my batch mates have come across my blog while searching for Vlerick related blogs. I feel that I can reach out to other batch mates across the globe if they do find my blog. We have a dedicated Facebook group for the 2009-2010 Vlerick batch, created by one of our batch mates. All the Indian admits are already part of the group and our Chilean counterparts too found the group and joined. We have all introduced ourselves to each other and have some very informative discussions going that are benefiting all. It feels great that we already know each other well, months before starting the program. I know when Shrini's brother is getting married, I know what food Sanjeed likes, I know what problems Julio and Javiera are facing with their Visas, I know who got their loans cleared and at what rate of interest, I know when Abhi started his French classes. That is the level of interaction we already have.
I invite all 2009-2010 admits of Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School to join our Facebook group and be a part of all informative as well as personal chit chat. We have plans of taking the group forward by forming various interest groups and by inviting suggestions from everyone. Whoever has the latest bit of info, he/she shares it with others on the group and the rest of us save a lot of time and energy. It would be great to have all the batch mates there and the sooner the better :) I am really looking forward to know the group of people with whom I am going to share a very exciting year of my life.
20 comments:
Why cant countries be Facebook or orkut groups, just come,send an invitation to moderator and join!
hey make this post with some SEO trickies so that it turns up in google search engines...
would be easier to find mates...
god bless
www.chronicwriter.com
Mr Chronicwriter has few advices, have heard of them before ? :)
@Karan:
U mean send a 'request' to moderator :)Wish it was that easy.
And you want me to write here that I have learned few SEO things from you, haina? :P
@Chriz:
I did try some SEO tricks on this post. Like, putting Vlerick's name in blog title and providing a link to Vlerick's website. Karan suggested that I could do more by altering my blog's name in IE's title bar but I didn't want to do that.
If I search for Vlerick blog on Google, this post comes on the first page, so I think it should work.
Thanks for the suggestion :)
Hi Nicky,
good job! cool nice post. You have really put things in perspective about our facebook profile..... brief, yet in a personal way...quite apt... hope, it will guide many more batchmates to join the group and turn up the tempo of activity!
small world,indeed :)
No news for me yet :(
@Shrini:
Thanks Shrini! I really hope my post gets noticed by some of our batchmates and guides them to our Facebook group.
@pseudo intellectual:
Oh yeah! :)
@Jack:
Awww. I am sorry about that. I do hope you hear soon from a great school, even if it is not Vlerick.
Hi, I am Rajesh from Kolkata. I have received an admission offer from Vlerick in their forthcoming MBA class (2009). I have decided to join. I am happy that other Indian students have already started discussion in a common forum. I am also interested to join with you. Any admitted student can email me at rajmaji@gmail.com
@Anon:
Hi Rajesh, I am glad my post helped you find our Vlerick group. I saw on FB that you have already joined. Good to have you among us :)
Hi Nikita ...
great to see your enthusiam on Vlerick.Hope to see you there soon.
I too just made it.
Soumya
Hej, I was also accepted for Master in Financial Management this year. I am Russian, but the closest Belgiam Embassy is really far away from my hometown in Russia. Fortunately I am currently in Tokyo, so could apply there. Anyway, it was really hard, expensive and time-consuming to get all the papers. However they issued the visa very fast, in 2 days, but all the papers were completed and I suppose they do not have so much job in Japan, cause tourists go visa-free from here.
Good luck with papers! Hopefully you go through it...
Thanks Ivan. I got my visa couple of weeks back. Yes, it was a time consuming process to collect all required documents. But after applying, the embassy took a week to grant me the visa.
Will you be in Leuven or Ghent for the masters program?
HI Nikita,
I have got admission to Vlerick 2009. I am still to make up my mind.
Hi varun,
You got admission into the MBA program or masters? If you need any info to help you decide, I will be glad to provide it :)
HI NIkita,
I got an admission in MBA. well i have been thru the posts on pagalguy.. seems like lots of indians this time.. well i have still not paid the fees..one question though.. till which date is the student visa issued for vlerick?as in our course endin on sep 30 2010.. after that how long can we stay.
I am currently working in Belgium. I went to Leuven to meet Rahul today (the guy who posted on pagalguy)
The number of seats have been increased to 80 this time. This time they will have two classes. (NOt so good.)
the placements have not been good in the current the batch of 45. (Not so good.)
Companies came but did not hire much due to financial crisis.
Many have come on study leave and therefore, they will be goin back to their company.
the existing batch did not have a compulsary china project. It starts for the coming batch.
Overall, the course seems to be good if you have a job backup. Finding a job in Belgium is very Difficult.
@Varun:
Regarding your first question about date of student visa, I am not sure. In India all students get a temporary visa for 3 months. Once we reach Belgium, we will register at the town hall and get a residence card for an year or so. I am sure you know this. But, till what date the card is valid, is something I don't know yet. I have heard that we get couple more months to stay after the program.
Regarding your other concerns, the placement scene for the 2009 batch all over the world has not been good. It's not just Vlerick or Belgium or even Europe. In India, ISB could place only 50% of its batch. Same story everywhere. Don't judge next year's placements by those of present year. This year is more like an exception.
I think making the residential program in China compulsory is a good move by Vlerick. It will be a great learning and exposure opportunity.
Regarding the increase in number of seats. This is something that is worrying most of us. However, lately I have started realizing that it is not such a big thing after all. RSM has a class of 17 students with 6 Indians! As compared we fare better at Vlerick. If you think that this is the right time for you to do an MBA then it would be a bad idea to pick a college based on 2009 placements.
All the best :)
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