✦ Our Story

We've Been
Where You Are
Standing Now

We're not a call center. We're a team of former international students, visa officers, and education counselors — people who understand the paperwork, the panic, and the thrill of finally landing abroad.

12K+ Students Placed

98% Visa Success

40+ Countries Served

Talk to Our Team ✨ Read Our Story ↓

💬 From Our Founder

"I spent three nights before my F-1 interview convinced I'd filled out the wrong form. No one should go through that alone. That's why we built this."

Arjun Mehta

Founder & CEO · Former F-1 Student, Purdue University

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Top Rated

Consulting Firm 2024

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40+ Nations

Student Origins

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24 hr

Response Guarantee

Journey

🏠

Home Country

📋

Visa Application

🎓

University Abroad

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Career & Life

2015 Founded

📖 How We Began

A Story Born From
Frustration & Purpose

In 2015, Arjun Mehta was a graduate student at Purdue University, watching classmate after classmate struggle through the same maze of conflicting advice, outdated online forums, and expensive consultants who barely knew their case files. He'd been one of those students himself — three embassy rejections before finally getting his visa right.

He started answering questions in student Facebook groups late at night. Word spread. Within a year, he had helped over 300 students — all pro bono, all from his dorm room. When his roommate Priya joined him after completing her MBA at LSE, they had a simple question: "What if we did this properly?"

CollegeApplicationAid launched officially in January 2016. Today, we're a team of 28 specialists across 6 offices, with alumni networks in every major study destination and a 98% first-attempt visa approval rate that we are deeply proud of.

2015 Arjun begins advising students informally while studying at Purdue
2016 Official launch. 300 students helped in Year 1. First hire made
2019 Offices open in Mumbai, Dhaka & Colombo. Team grows to 12
2022 10,000th student placed. Recognized as Top Study Abroad Consultancy
2025 AI-assisted application tools launched. 12,000+ students and counting

Meet the Team →

🧭 What Drives Us

Our Mission &
Core Values

Every decision we make is measured against a single question: does this genuinely help the student sitting in front of us?

"To remove every unnecessary barrier between a motivated student and their dream university — with radical transparency, genuine expertise, and care that doesn't stop after approval."

— CollegeApplicationAid Mission Statement

🔍 01 — Honesty

Radical Transparency

We tell you the hard truth about your application before you submit it. No false promises, no inflated success rates, no upselling services you don't need.

🎯 02 — Expertise

Insider Knowledge

Every counselor on our team has personally lived the student visa process. We hire former students, ex-consular staff, and admissions experts — never generalists.

💛 03 — Care

Human-First Service

You're not a case number. We remember your name, your situation, and your goals. Your counselor is reachable on WhatsApp, and they mean it when they say "let me know."

⚖️ 04 — Access

Education for Everyone

Financial constraints shouldn't determine who gets to study abroad. We offer tiered pricing, scholarships guidance, and free consultations because this shouldn't be a luxury.

👥 The People

A Team That's
Been There Themselves

Every single person on our team is a former international student. That lived experience is non-negotiable — it's why we actually understand what you're going through.

👨‍💼

🇮🇳

Arjun Mehta

Founder & CEO

Former international student (Purdue, MBA Northwestern). Three visa rejections before finally getting it right — and swearing he'd stop others from going through the same. Built CAA from a dorm room in 2015. Personally reviewed over 4,000 applications.

USA Specialist Canada SOP Writing

🎓 Purdue University · Northwestern (MBA)

👩‍💼

🇱🇰

Priya Senanayake

Co-Founder & COO

LSE graduate (Finance) and former Standard Chartered analyst. Runs all operations and client experience. Known for her 48-hour document turnaround and the fact that she has personally read more UK visa refusal letters than most immigration lawyers.

UK Specialist Australia Scholarships

🎓 London School of Economics

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🇧🇩

Rafiq Hossain

Senior Visa Counselor

Former Canadian visa officer. 7 years at the IRCC before joining us. Knows exactly what officers look for — and what flags a file.

Canada ExpertEx-IRCC

🎓University of Toronto

👩‍💻

🇳🇬

Amara Okonkwo

Europe & Schengen Lead

Studied in Germany, Netherlands and France. Expert in blocked accounts, language proficiency requirements, and Campus France procedures.

GermanyNetherlandsFrance

🎓TU Munich · Sciences Po

👩‍🏫

🇵🇭

Marisol Reyes

SOP & Interview Coach

Former university admissions reader at University of Melbourne. Has reviewed 2,000+ personal statements. Gets results from the first draft.

SOP WritingInterviews

🎓University of Melbourne

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🇵🇰

Zain Iqbal

Scholarships Analyst

Personally won 4 international scholarships. Has helped students secure over $3.2M in scholarship funding across Chevening, Fulbright, DAAD, and more.

CheveningFulbrightDAAD

🎓University of Edinburgh

💬 Real Students, Real Results

They Were Exactly
Where You Are Now

🇮🇳 ★★★★★

"I had a gap year that I was terrified would kill my UK application. Priya helped me reframe it as intentional experience. I got into Warwick Business School. I still can't believe it."

Nisha Patel

Mumbai → Warwick Business School, UK

UK Student Route Visa

🇧🇩 ★★★★★

"My first two F-1 attempts were rejected before I found CAA. Arjun personally coached me for 4 hours before my third interview. I got approved in 3 minutes."

Tariq Rahman

Dhaka → University of Texas Austin, USA

F-1 Visa (After 2 Rejections)

🇳🇬 ★★★★★

"The DAAD scholarship seemed impossible for someone from my background. Zain mapped out every part of the application. I got the scholarship and admission to TU Berlin."

Emeka Obi

Lagos → TU Berlin, Germany

DAAD Scholarship + German Visa

🇵🇰 ★★★★★

"Rafiq knew Canada's SDS system inside out. He caught a financial document issue that would have caused a refusal. My permit arrived in 18 days. I honestly cried."

Sana Mirza

Karachi → University of British Columbia, Canada

Canada SDS Study Permit

🇱🇰 ★★★★★

"I'm an older student — 34, career changer, applying for a master's. The team never made me feel like an outlier. They got me into University of Melbourne with a partial scholarship."

Dilshan Fernando

Colombo → University of Melbourne, Australia

Subclass 500 + Scholarship

🇵🇭 ★★★★★

"Marisol completely transformed my SOP. She said 'you're writing a CV, not a story' and she was right. The version she helped me craft got me into 3 of my 4 choices."

Kristine Santos

Manila → UCL, University College London

SOP Writing + UK Visa

🌱 How We Work

The CAA Difference
Isn't a Slogan

We've seen the other side of this industry — consultancies that over-promise, ghost clients after payment, and give copy-pasted advice regardless of individual circumstances. We built CAA specifically to be the opposite.

Every student gets a dedicated counselor, not a rotating team. That counselor reads your full application, understands your personal context, and gives you advice tailored to your specific situation — not a template.

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One Counselor, Start to Finish

Your dedicated counselor knows your file by heart. No handoffs, no starting from scratch, no repeating yourself.

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WhatsApp Direct Access

Real people, real numbers, real responses. Not a ticketing system. Your counselor responds within hours, not days.

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We Don't Stop at Approval

Pre-departure checklist, airport tips, first-week survival guide, and local student community connections — all included.

🌍 28

Team members from 14 countries

We hire from the communities we serve — because lived experience is the most irreplaceable qualification.

⚡ 24h

Response Time Guarantee

📞 Free

First Consultation

🏆 4.9★

Average Rating

💰 $3.2M

Scholarships Won

We've Been
Where You Are
Standing Now

A Story Born From
Frustration & Purpose

Our Mission &
Core Values

A Team That's
Been There Themselves

The Track Record
Speaks For Itself

They Were Exactly
Where You Are Now

The CAA Difference
Isn't a Slogan

You've Found
the Right Team

We've BeenWhere You AreStanding Now

A Story Born FromFrustration & Purpose

Our Mission &Core Values

A Team That'sBeen There Themselves

The Track RecordSpeaks For Itself

They Were ExactlyWhere You Are Now

The CAA DifferenceIsn't a Slogan

You've Foundthe Right Team

We've Been
Where You Are
Standing Now

A Story Born From
Frustration & Purpose

Our Mission &
Core Values

A Team That's
Been There Themselves

The Track Record
Speaks For Itself

They Were Exactly
Where You Are Now

The CAA Difference
Isn't a Slogan

You've Found
the Right Team