Goodluck to everyone applying to US colleges today :)
true that,
but coming to your exchange program point. Exchange programs are only for the best students in the uni. Most students will probably never be offered exchange programs. You got to maintain a very high grade point as well as be in the good books of a good amount of proffs and very high social skills.
You cannot just say that every student goes for an exchange program cause that would be just misinformation. And if there is an American university that does not have such extremely strict rules, then most probably they are not sending you to any decent uni anyways and that exchange program is just a waste of time.
Then you have the fees that you have to pay in the US. Education is extremely cheap in Asia and EU compared to the US. The student debt thing is more problematic than most people think it is. It literally ruins your financial stability for the first 10-15 years of your work life assuming you got a 6 figure job. If you get anything less, you will be living paycheck to paycheck cause most engineering jobs require you to live in cities with extremely high cost of living.
So yes you have connections but those come at a heavy cost :)
Honestly, it is you who is spreading misinformation (from a global perspective, since I believe you're talking specifically about India). Students can go for exchange if they manage to cross the threshold GPA (which isn't very high) and a few academic requirements, the only competition is getting your preferred university for exchange. It doesn't require any social skills and you don't need to be in anyone's good books, since the professors are not even involved in the exchange/study abroad process. It is either the international engagement team/global programs team/exchange office that looks after exchange and study abroad.