How to Choose a School Abroad

2021-10-18

Pursuing your degree abroad will open you up to a whole new range of experiences, allowing you to see the world while furthering your studies and career prospects. Many students find studying abroad attractive; it develops language skills, enhances employability, and offers the chance to get to know different cultures.

There are lots of factors to consider before deciding on the school such as international travel, accommodation, availability of subjects, tuition fee, etc. There are unlimited schools in the whole world to choose from. In this article, we help you to find a school abroad that is perfect for you.

How to Choose a School Abroad

1. Know your preferences and choices?

You cannot research all schools in the world. You need to begin your process by setting criteria according to preferences and choices to limit the search. So you can create a manageable shortlist of schools which can be researched furthermore. Here are the questions you should get answers for:

Why do you want to study abroad?
How long do you want to study abroad?
What do you want to achieve from the study abroad degree?
How much living costs can you be able to afford abroad?

2. Where do you want to study?

It’s time to fix the country you want to go to for your further education. Almost all the countries in the world are open to accepting students coming from other countries to study in their universities. You can start to do some research by checking countries, and cities that meet your expectations. You can consider the following things:

What is the language of tuition?
What are the tuition fees?
Are you a big city person or do you prefer smaller cities?
Which countries are famous for the subject you want to study?
How will studying this course in this country benefit me?
Are there career opportunities after studying this course?
What kind of environment do you expect while studying abroad?
What are the student visa requirements? Will you be able to meet them?

Some of the popular countries international students choose to study in are:

3. What subject do you want to study?

What do you want to study? In which subject do you want to study in that particular country you have chosen. There are primarily the following things that you should consider while deciding

What are you good at?
What are your passions?
Which subjects do you most enjoy learning about?
What skills do you want to gain during your studies abroad?
How does the job market look for the subject fields you are interested in?

Finalizing the subject you would like to study can help you cut down the countries in your study abroad destinations list. Go through the following list of fields are select your subject:

Management courses
Engineering courses
Information technology courses
Medicine courses
Arts courses
Hospitality and tourism courses
Banking and finance courses
Law courses

4. Find the list of schools abroad

Once you have decided on the course, Now you will be able to select your preferred universities based on the courses and curricula they offer. You should start researching about the schools in the country you have decided to study in. You can go through the websites of the universities and check the campus, facilities, and so on. Your decision must consider the following questions:

Are you looking for a private or public university?
Are you prioritizing the popular colleges or affordable colleges?
Are you looking to study in the local language of the country or English?
Are you eligible to study in that particular university?
What kind of school and experience are you looking for?
If you are looking for campus accommodation, check whether this facility is available or not?

Below we have mentioned the top 10 ranking Universities in the world as per the QS world university ranking 2022:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
University of Oxford
Stanford University
University of Cambridge
Harvard University
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Imperial College London
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
UCL
University of Chicago

5. How do I research my shortlisted schools?

Once you have gone through the above steps you will be able to shortlist interesting schools. Go through the websites of the schools in the location that you are interested in. Do they match the criteria you set up? Look for the following:

Popularity
Available programs
Intakes available
Admissions procedures
Deadlines of the application
Tuition fees
Scholarships available
Campus life and activities
How big the school is
Accommodation options
Rankings

6. Get advice from others

You should also look at external reviews. What students, both current and former, say about the school. Go through the social media accounts of the schools for example Facebook, Instagram, Trustpilot, etc. Read the reviews on google. You can learn a lot from external reviews. You can check our student experience articles. The best way is to talk to the students directly. You can connect with some of them online.

7. Finalize the school

It’s time to finalize your University based on the above-mentioned steps. Once you have done your research you should get answers to the following questions:

Which schools can you afford?
What is the scholarship program that could help me out?
Which schools do you find likely to have a chance to be accepted based on their admission criteria?
Which schools have the most attractive location, campus, accommodations, or facilities?

Based on this information you should be able to finalize 3-5 schools. Now you can start your process of application from the very first higher education institute on your list. You can continue to apply to other schools if needed. All the best..!!!