For the past few months, I have encountered several questions from many of the enthusiastic students, who wish to study abroad. Finally I decided to write on this platform to let them have few of the important views on this topic.
To start with, you need to answer few questions by yourself before you start applications for Universities abroad.
1. Why do you want to study abroad??
Is it only because you want a well paid job after your studies? If yes, you should have a second thought on your decisions. Having a job is of course the most important thing to consider but not the only thing to consider. When students ask me about studying abroad, the first question they make is "will I get a good job after the course"? and then I get confused what to answer them. I give them a tricky answer or to be more precise, a french answer, that is "it depends"!!! I would suggest to focus on personality development and adjustment in International culture rather than focusing only on employment. If you can, you should develop the personality to make yourself someone useful for job creation rather than making you a job-seeker!! If you are an Indian, this personality trait of yours can be a wonderful and fruitful asset for the country as well, and the same holds good for other nations too, of course!! Thus, you should be abroad not only to get a job, but also to recognize yourself and find your OWN self! Let yourself wander in an unknown place among unknown peopel with unknown language and then you can know yourself.
2. How comfortable are you in learning a different language?
If you are from India and planning to apply to English speaking countries, this might not be a issue for you but if you are planing to apply to European countries or the non-English speaking Asian countries such a Taiwan, China, Japan and other non-English speaking countries, you must consider this point very carefully. Even though the course which you are applying is in English, it does not give you the reason of saying that you do not need to learn the native language of the country. Apart from your course and academics, you will always need the local language to communicate with persons over there. Learning the native language of the place you are planing to study is also very important if you have the plan of working part time to support you in your fees payments and other financial supports. It would be really tough to find a part time job if you do not have a grasp over the local language of the place. The same holds true if you are planning to apply for an internship or job in the country after your studies. Hence, you should consider the fact of leaning a new language, even if you are applying to the English course. For example, if you are planning to study in France in an English course, you should be prepared for the French language course and accept the fact that learning French is almost compulsory, may be not to get your degree but to let you survive throughout the course to have your degree!! From my very own experience, when I was having my internship at NTU, Taipei, Taiwan, I went through several occasion when I was in need of speaking and understanding their native language, Mandarin. Though the internship program was in English, an understanding of Mandarin would have been really a very important factor by which I would have added several more memories to my stay of 8 weeks in the capital city, Taipei. While I was working in the laboratory, Mandarin was the main language of communication which made me to stay away from all the conversation going on around me and you can very well understand that feeling when you cannot participate in the conversation because you do not know the basic equipment, that is the language. Though my academic tenure and evaluation was not at all effected by this Mandarin vs English efficiency of my personality but I guess, my life inside the laboratory would have been far more better, had I been speaking Mandarin. Well, Mandarin is one of the toughest language to learn, so I still convince myself of better not trying that. Currently, while I am having my course in France, I am once again facing the same situation, though not as significant as Mandarin but yes, even French is not my native language.
3. Can you take care of yourself?
Well, this question is a bit philosophical. I mean to say, are you able to live on your own, make your own decisions, support yourself in your bad times, and make yourself happy when you cannot find a company to be with. When you be abroad, you are out of your comfort zone and the people over there would be different, of course! You should really be motivated and strong enough to keep yourself calm through any hard times, you come across during your studies. At times, you might be frustrated and start thinking that you should go back to your place. Sometimes, it will be tough for you to have a trustworthy company and support from them. The friends are good in parties and social gatherings but not the same when you personally encounter them. It may be because of the cultural difference or something but it is a fact to be considered before you leave your native country. When you are in your own country with your family and friends, it is quiet tough to feel that there are many number of people taking care of you at several points of time. When you are abroad, all these support vanishes suddenly and you are left alone with skype and telephone contacts. It is then, when you realize that you have to take care of your own!! Then starts the real experience of living abroad. From the laundry, to the cooking and studies, all you have to do on your own and this might be new for many of us. But this is what makes you independent and this is the challenge you should consider taking. Be prepared for time management skill development, if you are leaving your country in the coming future!!
4. How are you planning to pay off your fees?
When you are thinking of applying abroad for higher education, probably you might have spent a lot at your native University for your under-graduation education. It must be tough for you to find yourself capable enough to pa off the school fees and most importantly the living expenses of the dream destination where you are planning to be in the coming years (well, this might not be the case with everyone but yeah for most of us, it is!). For few, countries there are no tuition fees for the public Universities and these countries includes Finland, Germany, etc. If you are planning to minimize the cost of education, these countries may be one of the destinations you should choose. There are several scholarship programs which you can take advantage of. Going into the details of scholarship would take me to another section of discussion here, so I would just leave it here and move on! For the scholarship details and opinions, I might write another post very soon! You opinions are most welcome for the same. There is a Facebook page named "We make scholars" and "Scholarships!!", which is really very helpful fort he students looking for scholarship programs all over the world. Do have a look if you are in search of a scholarship somewhere. My best wished for your search. Apart from scholarships, there are other means to pay off a part of your tuition fees and living expenses. One of them is the part time jobs, for which you MUST know the native language. S
