"They say no way. I thought why not" - KEAM/ABROAD Study

Heloo guys or hello everyone,... i just got some free time so i thought i should post this here.

I’ve seen so many people asking if studying abroad is worth it, or assuming it’s something only rich families can afford. I get where they’re coming from. I used to think exactly the same way back in my school days.

Right now, I’m doing my Bachelor’s in Artificial Intelligence at Johannes Kepler University in Austria . A university that most Indians have not heard of, and Austria itself isn’t exactly the first country people think of when they hear “study abroad.” But for the record, my uni is pretty decent - globally ranked under 500 overall, and under 200 in my field. I’m not saying that to brag, just to show that good education doesn’t always come from the places everyone talks about.

When people hear I study abroad, the first thing they assume is that I must’ve spent huge amounts of money to get here. Maybe they imagine 15-20 lakhs flying out of my pocket. But honestly? The entire process of coming here : including the flight ticket, visa, first month’s rent, deposit, winter clothes, and all those random expenses you don’t plan for : cost me under 3 lakhs rupees. I know that still sounds like a big number for many people, but compared to what people spend in private colleges in India, it’s way less.

Bit of my story ( will be lengthy - bsy peeps can skip ....)

money aside, what really mattered was how this whole thing even started. Because, to be honest, I never planned to do studies abroad in my life. I always thought it's out of my reach esp for bachelors.

During school, my only goal was to crack NDA and join the army. I didn’t write KEAM or JEE because I was 100% sure NDA was my path(how naive i was then 😅). But life had other plans. A medical condition made me unfit for NDA, and suddenly I was stuck with no backup plan. For a while, I thought maybe I’d drop a year and prepare for JEE, like many others do.

I was then i heard thag one of my friend went abroad for his studies. That news made me oddly interesting about abroad studies as i thought " hey, why cant you just look on that too, that looks interesting". I wast serious at all, Then something small but weirdly important happened. I was at a family gathering, and one of my relatives casually asked what my plans were. Just like that, in front of my parents and everyone. I wasn’t sure why, but I said, “Maybe I’ll try to study abroad.” I still remember the laugh that came next. Not in a rude way maybe, but one of those laughs that says, “What are you even talking about?” They said something like, “You’re dreaming. That’ll cost lakhs and lakhs. Just focus on eating properly first, you’re too skinny. Join some nearby college.”

Until then, I wasn’t even serious about the abroad idea. But that laugh hit something in me. Somewhere deep down, it bothered me. I started reading, watching videos, checking forums, emailing universities , all on my own. (Consultancies are scam , it's for people who cant keep their lazy ass on chair atleast to google things ) I continued the research, i then become my "vaashi" to pull it off without much of a financial burden.

If you ask about my financial background, let’s just say it wasn’t easy. My dad’s a farmer, my mom’s a homemaker. Our family income was less than 3 lakh rupees per year. Growing up, money was always tight. There were months when we’d argue about basic expenses. That’s why the thought of spending 20–30 lakhs for a degree abroad seemed like pure fantasy to me.

But when I really sat down and researched, I found options that made sense. And i did everything , i failed many times along the way while trying different countries. Now am here writing this after completing my assignment and works.:)

And no, it wasn’t all roses after coming here. Life here has its struggles too ,cold winters, homesickness, and of course, the language barrier. Yes there are expenses afyer coming here ,I got part-time gig (16 hours a week). That covers my rent, food, transport, and even leaves me a little something to save up.

Here’s something people rarely say out loud: education in India isn’t cheap either. If you don’t crack IIT or NIT,(or other good govt colleges) and end up in a private college, you’re easily spending 10–15 lakhs over four years. Places like SRM, VIT, Rajagiri — they’re all good colleges, but they cost a bomb too. So when people say, “abroad is expensive,” I sometimes wonder compared to what?

I’m not here to say studying abroad is for everyone. Imo it's too much hyped in kerala esp by those consultancies , i have seen many going without doing a proper research/plan. And it’s not some fairytale either. But for people like me — who come from simple families, who didn’t grow up in metro cities, who maybe got laughed at for dreaming a little too big — it’s not impossible. You don’t need to be rich. You just need to be curious enough to start googling. (Also be good at academics and have a clear career plan. it's for studying we are coming here not to save up money by doing random shyt)

And yeah, you will fail a few times along the way. I failed so many times, I lost count. But none of those failures mean you stop. They just mean you figure out a different route.

That's it .thanks for reading this far

• sorry for making it lengthy

• If anyone else here is studying abroad, I’d love to hear how much it cost you to get there. Just curious how different people’s journeys look.