Admission and Study Abroad

Admission and Study Abroad
Application Procedure
Selecting Universities
Tests to Be Taken
Essays / SOP
Recommendation Letter
Interviews
Resume
Cost of Education
Financial Aid

Why study abroad?

Study abroad opportunities have the specail purpose of introducing students to the process of crossing cultures. They help students acquire the skill they need in order to be comfortable crossing cultural boundaries in the future. International firms increasingly send new employees abroad in the first few years of employment. Students who gain that experience through study abroad will be ready for the opportunities that lie ahead.
In response of increasing pace of global communication, business schools all over the world are developing exchange for their students. Administrators of schools of business recognize the critical need to prepare their graduates for a world of international marketing, information technology, commerce, and management. Undergraduate business programs, too, are encouraging students to go abroad in order to familiarize themselves with the global economy.
Scientific research is another area in which scholars are moving back and forth across the boundaries to share their findings and their expertise.
Educational Benefits of Study Abroad
Here are some of the changes educators say that they notice in students after they have been overseas:

Comfort with complexity and ability to cope with ambigious information
Willingness to challenge answers that seem too simplistic or formulatic
The ability to see more than one side to a question
Tolerance for the opinions of the others
Flexibility, the ability to expect the unexpected
Willingness to understand differences and to try to understand different cultural perspectives
Confidence in their own opinions, coupled with willingness to justify their position
Craetivity in looking " outside the box" for solutions to problems
Willingness to research a question thoroughly before offering solution.

Career Benefits of Study Abraod
Some fields in which international experience pays off and international job opportunities exist are Journalism, law, diplomacy, the fine arts, music, theater, education, envirnomental studies, commerce, finance, fashion, architecture, information technology, counseling, engineering, geology, health services, extractive industries, economic development, relief services, energy, agriculture, resource management, computer graphics, and more.
Hopwever, even in fields that do not seem to require overseas experience, the fact that you have studied abroad is of interest to employers. They recognize the skills you acquire through learning other languages and adjusting to other cultures, and they ways to use them.

Every student has his own reasons for admission to study abroad. Some students choose a foreign university or college just because they were unable to have admission in their home institutions, Some want to study in a particular field of study which is not available in home country, and some other want differentiation in their qualification.

Whatever the reason may be for study abroad, it is a fact that a foreign degree adds considerable worth to your personal as well as professional development. A degree from reputed university or college provide accelerated growth in sucessful career. It broaden the horizone and reveals a variety of opportunities for accelerated growth in career.

The largest misconception that prevents students from participating in study abroad is its perceived inaccessibility. Students who do study abroad are often amazed at how easy it was to put the whole thing together. Scholarship is often available, every major field of study can be taken, and study abroad is an experience available for every student. The following information is just that, it should be used only as a guideline, each university or college has its own study abroad policy.

With the right planning and guidance, you can have opportunity to study in a reputed university or college abroad at very low cost and even some times with scholarships or loan. In the success of gaining opportunity to have a foreign degree the application process for admission make a marked difference.


Application Process
The application process for studying abroad requires patiences as it is time taking. An applicant must start preparing to apply well in advance of the anticipated dead line of the institute for which he is willing to have admission for study.. It is very important to begin the admission process early because in many cases application deadlines are far in advance of the start of the semester (sometimes as many as ten months). You will also need time for scheduling some standardized tests required for admission and then having the results of these tests sent to the schools. There is no uniform world-wide application system. Each college or university establishes its own unique set of policies.

Basic steps for applying abroad:

Identifying country, Select universities or colleges and the course of your interest (Select Universities)
Request universities or colleges for Application forms
Preparing and Taking various standardize admission tests required by the university or college as admission criteria (Test Preparation)
Arranging and preparing effective Essays and recommendation letters ( How to write Effective Essays and Recommendation letters)
Completing and Sending Application forms along with required documents
Reporting various test scores to the universities
Start visa process (Visa for Study Abroad)
For a detailed and printer friendly format calendar and checklist of applying abroad process to help you with your college admissions planning, Click here

Selecting Universities

Selection of suitable university or college is vital for the future success in the career. It is a laborious job as it takes time and as it involves cost. You may follow the table below for the selection of a best fit university.

It is not necessary that you select a famous and expensive university, but your criteria for selection should based on

Your academic requirement (your desired field of study)
Cost of the study. It must includ Tuition fee and living expenses)
University ranking and repute.
On campus jobs and other financial assistance availability.
Visa availability based on political relations of your home country and the country in which the university is located.

The steps involved in the selection of universities:

Level Criteria for short-listing Number of colleges shortlisted
I Self Evaluation 50
II Academic Eligibility
Academic Record (Grade point Average)
Standardized Test Scores
Financial Aid Considerations
Other issues
25-30
III Application Stage (After receiving prospectus & forms) 6-8

For more details, check out Selecting Universities

Requesting application forms

This is the first stage of your application process. At this stage, you can write to the selected 25-30 universities. You can directly request application materials from the universities. You may visit their websites and email to send the application material or some time download directly the required material. So there are two ways to get application forms:

Requesting Application Forms via email : You can request application forms from the universities website. Most universities have a form on their website which can be completed online to request application material.

Downloading from the university website : Many universities have a downloadable and ready to print versions of their application forms on the net. These can be used for applying just as regular forms.

Application Requirements

After receiving application forms and other requirements from the selected universities, tabulate the data and compare them with your objectives and group the universities under three categories :

Universities that seem to match your requirements most appropriately.
Universities that are not suited to your requirements.
Universities that do not completely fit in your needs.
Finally select up to six universities on the following grounds

Objectives of the program and kind of methodology as well as approach
Admission / Entrance requirements like enterance tests like GMAT, GRE, or SAT.
Availability of assistantships and funds in the field of your choice. Financial Aid
Research and other academic and field facilities
Location Profile of students enrolled
Admission Global can help you select universities that are best suited for your requirements. Click here to find out more about selction of universities

Recommendation Letters

Most of the reputed universities base their selection criteria for admission on Refference Letter or recommendation letter. A recommendation letter is a signed statement from a person who knows you well professionally may be your boss or has taught you in a subject that is related to the course you are applying to. It should list your personality attributes he observed during your interaction with him. It may include positive and negative qualities, strengths and weaknesses, your character and integrity and other such information.

The author or teacher must indicate his position, how long he/she has known you and in what capacity you have been interacting with him/her. He/she should briefly discuss the need, importance and usefulness of the study the applicant proposes to undertake. All this helps admission officers to interpret the academic credentials of foreign students. Students should obtain letters of recommendation (often on the prescribed forms sent by the institutions) from teachers who know them as a person as well as a student.

For more details on letter of recommendations, formats and tips, check out Letter of Recommendation

School Records/Academic Transcripts
The transcripts of your academic record are absolutely essential for the evaluation of your academic abilities and your performance during studies. Academic records vary from one education system to the other. Systems of evaluation or grading and the formats used to present also differ widely.

If the transcripts are in a language other than English, then it must be translated into English only by the issuing authority or university otherwise it may not be acceptable.

Essays/Statement of purpose
The personal essays, and/or statement of purpose, also play an important role in the process of evaluation of your application for both admission as well as financial aid because it gives the faculty a solid base to assess your application. Specially for MBA candidates this is probably the most important criteria used in most of the presitigious business schools.

In the statement of purpose, the student must define his or her academic goals precisely , and/or research plans. It should include justification for choosing the academic program and specialization, and for selecting the particular college as well as the advantages and benefit of studying that particular course.

For more details on various essay topics, tips, sample essays, check out our Essays section

Admission Stage

Universities inform students about their admission decisions well in advance the commensment of the term. If you have received admission in more than one university, you will have to decide which one you want to attend. At this stage, you should compare a few more precise objective. You should focus on :

Objective Criteria

Best program curriculum, length of program, choice of courses
Best funding offer or best program with respect to costs
Cost of living
Strength of related departments/program
Subjective Criteria

Overall reputation of university/Faculty/department/program
Political relations of both countries, Location-region, safety of neighborhood
Climate and over all envirnoment
Social life
Facilities available
Accommodation & housing
What to do once you have been accepted :

Each college will tell you exactly what steps to follow to confirm your acceptance of their offer of admission and how to prepare for your first term. This information will be included with the letter of admission or in materials that will be sent to you shortly thereafter. You must respond with a "yes" or "No" for each offer of admission. You may also be required to submit a financial deposit to the institution that you plan to attend. This is to guarantee your place in the class. Make sure you do not miss any deadlines.

If you are in the waiting list :

You may receive a letter that informs you that you are on a ‘waiting list’. This generally means that the admission office determined that you were qualified for admission but there was not enough room to admit all qualified applicants. If you are placed in the waiting list of a college you wish to attend, you will be asked whether you are interested or not. If you say yes, you may be offered admission if space becomes available.

If you are placed in the waiting list of your first choice college and confirmed in the second choice college, you may take following steps to remain on the safe side :

Accept the offer of the second choice school and pay the deposit
Accept the offer of remaining in the waiting list of the first choice school
If you get admission later in your first choice school, you can join that but you will have to forfeit your deposit (usually around US $50-$500) otherwise you can decide to study in the second choice school.

Applying for student visa

Each country has its own procedure for visas.For more details, check out the requirements and formalities of each country :