Dilip Oak is a Chartered Accountant by profession and also a Cost and Works Accountant. He has done his Masters in Commerce and Bachelors in Law. For nearly 10 years, he worked in the corporate sector -- with Tata Motors, Thomas Schmidt (Libya) and Thermax. But he wished to do something different and innovative in the field of education. Meanwhile, during an official tour of the US in 1989, he visited the University of Michigan. There he noticed that most of the international students were from China. There were very few students from India and those who were there, were from IITs and government engineering colleges. When he asked why there were so few Indians, a professor there told him that there was no awareness among Indians about the higher education prospects in America. Oak also realised that although the cost of education in the United States was very high, thanks to their intelligence, students from India could easily get an education there without spending much, with the help of scholarships. It was just that the necessary information was not reaching our students because India did not have any institution that could give complete information about it. It was then that Dilip Oak thought of starting such an organisation. This incident in the United States was a turning point in his life.

After returning to India, he discussed the plan with his wife Kishori and she too encouraged him to quit his corporate job and start such an organisation. But it was not easy. There was no internet at that time to get information about American universities. Also, their admission procedures were complicated. He had to get information leaflets from all American universities by post as courier services were very expensive. He spent almost 4 years collecting information about various universities and understanding their ranking, available courses and visa formalities, etc. Since he is a Chartered Accountant, he had to get information about various engineering and computer science courses. In the meantime, on January 1, 1990, as a temporary business, he started conducting classes for the entrance exam for MBA which was a thriving field in India back then. In a short time, his classes became popular in Pune. In the ’90s, private engineering colleges were gradually growing in the country. As a result, the number of engineering degree holders was increasing too. Oak trained a trial batch in 1994-95. Since 1996, he devoted himself completely to this work. Initially, he had to make some efforts to convince parents to send their children for studies to the US. He came up with the slogan ‘America in ₹ 2 lakh’, mainly to attract parents, and it became popular in a very short time. The first batch started with 25 students and later, it increased to 3,500 students per year. In the last 25 years, Oak’s Academy has managed to send 30,000 children to America for higher studies. It has particularly helped middle class students realise their dream of going to America without spending much and has become the largest organisaiton in the field in India. A full-fledged professional team is operational in the Academy to guide students wishing to go abroad, especially to the United States, for higher studies. Besides America, guidance is provided for those wishing to go to Canada and Germany too.

Along with the US, the number of people going to Germany and Canada for education has also increased over the last few years. In both these countries, the number of local youth is declining and so there is a need for overseas people with technical knowledge. Also, getting Permanent Citizenship there is easy. Universities in Canada offer excellent education, other facilities, and job opportunities, just like those in the USA. However, to get admission in reputed universities in both these countries, students should have secured very good marks in the degree exam in India. The admission process for Germany requires one to know German; one should have completed at least A1, A2 level German language education. Germany does not charge for postgraduate education. Some of the top universities consider the GRE scores.

Nowadays, there is a cut-throat competition to get into institutions like the IIT and NIIT. Out of the 10 lakh who apply there per year, only 30,000 (3%) students get admission. Compared to that, getting admission in the best universities in America is easier. Moreover, many parents are now well-off, so they can easily afford quality education for their children. Several universities offer quality-based scholarships and financial aid to university-eligible candidates. So bright students from middle-class families too can go there. Students in India have to select their choice of branch, like Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science at the beginning of the degree course. They cannot change their field of study later. However, in the USA, you can study the subjects of your choice for the first year or two. And in the second or third year, you can choose the subject you wish to specialise in. This flexibility gives students the opportunity to make the right decisions. “If you want to send students abroad for education, then the process has to begin right from the school, which means it needs to be introduced to Std IX and X students. For that, in addition to studies, students have to participate in various other activities because that is very important to secure admission in American universities,” says Dilip Oak.

Our goal is not just to send Indian students to the United States for higher studies. We provide all kinds of guidance to the students from getting admission in reputed universities to actually getting there. Thanks to the trust placed in us by students and parents, we have been at the forefront in this business for the last 25 years. So far, we have sent over 30,000 students to excellent universities.

-Dilip Oak,
Founder-Director, Dilip Oak’s Academy

• Proper guidance is given to students going to the US, Canada and Germany for higher education
• About 3,500 students are trained every year.
• Tie-ups are made with various US universities
• For middle class students, admission to low cost but good universities is facilitated, along with financial assistance.
• Educational loans are made available.
• Having sent students for education only to reputed universities, good jobs are ensured for them
• Since students are provided accurate guidance and preparation, 99% of them get visas
• Before go to US seminar for students and parents

• Admission Centre Services: Excellent guidance to students to get admission to good universities in the USA, Canada and Germany
• Classroom and online coaching for GRE, SAT, TOEFL, IELTS exams
• German Language Coaching: For A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 Levels
• Oak’s Online GRE Test’ to practise for the GRE Exam; Oak’s Vocabulary App
• Online Practice Material: ‘Oak’s Focused Practice, Oak’s Test Prep
• Oak’s Study Plans’ to get a good GRE score

• In the last 25 years, for more than 30,000 students, admission to universities in the United States, Canada, and Germany has been facilitated.
• Each year, about 1,000 Academy students enroll in 125 major universities in the US.
• These include reputed universities such as Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Columbia, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, etc.
• Since the last 5 years, separate departments have been set up for the universities in Canada and Germany. There is a huge increase in the number of students for that too.
• Since the last 3 years, a separate department has been set up for admission to a Bachelor’s degree course in the United States after 12th board. It is expected to receive a great response in the next few years.

“Fifteen years ago, I came to the US to pursue higher education. After completing MS Computer Science (Indiana University), I have been working in the field of Software Engineering for the last 13 years. I had enrolled with Dilip Oak’s Academy in 2007. It helped me prepare for the GRE. In addition, good counselling helped me choose a university and prepare the necessary documents. Dilip Oak’s Academy has a lion’s share in fulfilling my dream of securing higher education in America! Thank you very much.”

-- Namrata Lele,
Atlassian, San Francisco

I really wanted to get a Master’s degree from a US university. The teachers at the Dilip Oak’s Academy prepared me well for the GRE. They taught me to properly formulate the Statement of Purpose (SOP) and helped me prepare a suitable resume while choosing a university. And I got admission to the Georgia Institute of Technology for MS Computer Science. The first step to carve out a life in the United States is to get admission to a good university. I am grateful to Oak’s Academy for giving me such great guidance for that.

-- Ashwin Kolhe
Senior Engineering Manager, NVIDIA Corp. San Francisco

The guidance given for the selection of universities and for the Statement of Purpose proved to be extremely beneficial. Also the systematic and effective counselling for the visa process and the great practice sessions with Oak sir for visa interviews helped me understand what questions might arise at the visa interviews. This excellent guidance led me to earn a full scholarship (₹ 46 lakh per annum) for a PhD, Computer Science at the reputed Yale University in the US.

-Ketaki Joshi,
Ph D, Computer Science

I really appreciate the GRE professors who taught us how to study rather than what to study. My counsellor helped me prepare the extremely technical SOP. My GRE score and the SOP resulted in me getting admission to 9 universities like Stanford, New York, Cornell, Michigan State, etc. My dream of studying at the world’s top university like Stanford came true with the help of Dilip Oak’s Academy.

- Anvesh Badamikar,
Stanford University, MS Civil Engineering

I benefited a lot from the GRE coaching at the Dilip Oak’s Academy. My Verbal Section was weak but due to the proper guidance from teachers, I got good marks in the GRE exam. Oak Sir suggested universities based on my profile for which he considered not only my GRE score but also the financial support from universities and their curriculum. This led me to receive the full scholarship (₹ 39 lakh per annum) from the reputed Virginia Tech University to pursue MS Mechanical Engineering. I thank the Academy for the valuable help.
मार्गदर्शनामुळे मला GRE परीक्षेमध्ये चांगले गुण मिळाले. ओक सरांनी माझ्या प्रोफाइलवर आधारित विद्यापीठे सुचविली ज्यासाठी त्यांनी केवळ माझे GRE चे गुण मानले नाही तर विद्यापीठांकडून मिळणारी आर्थिक मदत आणि त्यांचा अभ्यासक्रमदेखील विचारात घेतला. ह्यामुळे मला Virginia Tech ह्या नामवंत विद्यापीठामध्ये M.S. Mechanical Engineering मध्ये संपूर्ण शिष्यवृत्ती (वार्षिक रु. ३९ लाख) प्राप्त झाली. अकॅडमीच्या बहुमूल्य मदतीबद्दल धन्यवाद.

- Mrunal Bhalerao,
MS Mechanical Engineering