Study-abroad consulting in India is largely unregulated. Anyone can open an office, and the quality range is enormous. This is a guide to telling the difference, written by a consultancy — so apply it to us as well.
Eight questions worth asking
- "What do you charge, and for what?" Get it in writing, before anything. Ask specifically what is free, what is paid, and at what point the paid part starts.
- "Which universities do you work with, and does that affect what you recommend?" Most consultancies have partner institutions. That is normal and not disqualifying. Being unwilling to say so is.
- "Will you tell me if my plan is unrealistic?" The useful answer is a specific example of having done it.
- "Who writes my SOP?" If the answer is that they write it for you, ask what happens at the visa interview when you are asked about something you did not write.
- "What happens if my visa is refused?" Nobody can guarantee a visa. What they can tell you is what the process looks like afterwards and what it costs you.
- "Can I speak to the counsellor who will actually handle my file?" Sales and delivery are often different people.
- "Where did this fee figure come from?" A good answer points at the university's own page. A bad one points at a spreadsheet.
- "What is your refund policy?" In writing, before payment.
Four red flags
- A guaranteed visa. No consultancy can guarantee one. Student visas are decided by the authorities of that country on the merits of each application. Anyone promising otherwise is either misinformed or lying, and both should end the conversation.
- Pressure to pay today. Deadlines are real; urgency manufactured in a sales meeting is not.
- Vagueness about money. Fees that cannot be named, or a quoted cost of study with no source behind it.
- A shortlist with no rejections in it. A list where everything is a safe admit is not a shortlist, it is a commission plan. A good one has ambitious options in it that you might not get.
What "free counselling" should actually mean
Free should mean you can leave. If the free session ends with a shortlist you can take elsewhere, it was free. If it ends with documents you cannot get back or a payment you did not plan, it was a sales meeting.
At Vibedu the free part covers shortlisting universities, matching scholarships and talking through loan options, and there is no obligation to apply anywhere afterwards. You can check our catalogue without talking to anyone at all — universities, programmes and scholarships are all open, with the fees we have verified shown per programme and left blank where we have not confirmed them.
Check the reviews, properly
Read the middle reviews rather than the best and worst — three-star reviews are where the specifics live. Look for whether the consultancy replies, and how. And check that the office you are told about exists at the address given.
Documents: what to hand over, and what never to
A consultancy needs your transcripts, test scores, passport details and CV to do its job. It does not need your original certificates held in its office, and it does not need your bank credentials or your visa-application password.
Keep originals. Share scans. Create the university and visa accounts yourself so you own the login and can see your own application status. If a consultancy resists that, it is because visibility is leverage — and it is leverage over you.
Commission is not the problem; hiding it is
Most consultancies are paid by universities when a student enrols. That is how the free-to-student model works, here and almost everywhere. It is not inherently a conflict — it becomes one when a recommendation is shaped by which university pays more and you are not told that partner institutions exist.
So the question is not "do you earn commission". It is "would you tell me if a better-fitting university were not a partner of yours". Ask it directly and listen to how quickly the answer comes.
One last test
Ask what they would advise if the honest answer was that you should wait a year, improve your profile and apply next cycle. A consultancy that cannot imagine giving that advice has told you what it optimises for.