Blogs
All You Need to Know Before You Venture to Study Abroad
Studying abroad has always been the most profitable option when it comes to education. Studying abroad means starting your life afresh, getting the exposure that you always wanted, building and redefining your professional life, broadening your career opportunities, making a social statement, or being ahead of your peers. To be precise, if you ask what is a study abroad then the answer is simple: it's adding value to your existing profile be it academic or professional. To study abroad, a student must have the credentials like the budget, aim and perseverance to achieve the desired goal. We will explain all the details about study abroad in this article.
1. Preparation for Studying Abroad
Once you make up your mind to study abroad, there are things you need to consider systematically. First thing is the program. This should always suit your interest and something that gives you the best value. When you decide on your desired program, applying for it is the second step. This step is crucial as where and how to start the process of dropping an application can be confusing. When you are offered a conditional offer letter, the immediate option left is to apply for a visa. While you do all these procedures, know that your health conditions are up to the mark, this is entirely for safety considerations. Meanwhile, you need to have a clear-cut financial plan which is the budget for a year.
2. Arriving in Your Destination Country
When you arrive in the foreign country that you have always wanted, there will be too many things that must be encountered, be it cultural shock or not seeing the media stereotype. But, you as a study abroad must settle in as quickly as possible. A study abroad student must be open-minded to see the diversity of land in terms of cultures, languages, ethnicities and food. Some amount of cultural shock would be there but to cope with that is to learn the language at least with the communication skills. This helps you in daily life, also to make friends and to build relationships. Adjusting and adapting to the native culture gives you a warm welcome. When you travel to the destination, don’t forget to get a local transit map. This map will direct you to the subway, buses, and cycle routes. Enjoy your thrill while you are still fresher!
3. Academics While Studying Abroad
This step is important. You must research the academic system, about the courses. Once you understand, you apply. But there’s more to it. After you visit your study abroad campus, you need to check with the department too. You should know about the classrooms, seminar halls and faculties where you will be spending most of the time. This you should do a few days before the commencement of the class. First, balancing your academics and daily life exploration is also important. Side by side, know the basics of the local language, this is indicative of you being approachable. Apart from all these, decide what elective courses you want to opt for and what amount of credit you would be taking.
4. Experiencing Culture and Travel
Studying abroad opens the door to unlimited life experiences. It is a great scope to reflect on life and adventures. When you get the opportunity to learn a particular culture, learn and understand. This makes your immersion much easier and smoothens your journey in a foreign land. Your understanding of a particular culture leads you to explore the locality and at last, the country becomes your interest. A study abroad candidate should be up for that and it is valuable to your future employer. When a student on campus will find themselves among academic tasks like seminars, symposiums and research papers, however, if you know how to manage time for the weekend you can tour a destination nearby, or during the semester break, you can take a holiday. We can provide some amazing budget-friendly travel tips. When you travel or want to do that solo traveling try to have less luggage, board a train, try street foods and buy from the flea market.
5. Study Abroad Immediate Things to Do
Although we have planned the possible outcomes of studying abroad efficiently, there are things you need to do now. Let's plan the problem of the hour:
Food: First and foremost decide your flight food and your arrangements right after the landing. Don’t get food poisoning. Try to adjust to the local food as it will save a lot of your expenditure.
Cash: You should have some cash (dollars, euros) for emergencies during and after the flight lands. For this, contact the agency who can do the currency conversion for you or you can do that at the airport.
Maps/app: Understand the locale/area through a handheld map or on your phone. We suggest a physical copy right at the airport is the best option in this way your phone battery won’t die out.
Documents: Don’t forget to carry authenticated and valid documents when you travel to your study destination. You have to pass through several checkpoints.
Luggage: lesser the luggage, the sweeter the journey. Do not pack clothes from your domestic climate as they wouldn’t be suitable for other climates. Cultural attire is a different matter altogether.
Jobs: Look for a part-time job. So that right after the commencement of the academic session, you may join the local workforce. Be careful, do not violate the visa laws. Also don’t expect your part-time wage to fulfill all of your expenses.
Societies/associations: There will be societies and associations per your religion, region, culture, ethnicity, or state. If you are moving from India you will find varieties of these groups. Do get in contact with them. They can accommodate you far better than local folks.
Location: You should find a location that would be easier for convenience and budgeting. You will have options for on-campus/off-campus, single/shared, studio/apartment etc. Think about the job and campus location while renting. Do check the status of the accommodation online as well.
6. Returning Home and After Study Abroad
After a successful study abroad program, one viable option for the students is to return home. However, when such a student returns, more things are waiting for them. What could that be?
6.1 Reverse Culture Shock
After living in a different country for two-three years of study abroad, it can be difficult to revert to the old practice for a while when it comes to hygiene standards, navigating crowds, driving, food, clothing etc. can be difficult for a person.
6.2 Utilizing Your Study Abroad Experience in Your Career
This is a good thing. You can teach or can popularize a particular aspect of your life abroad in your home country. This can add good value to society.
6.3 Staying Connected with Friends and Host Country
After you spend a significant amount of your life abroad, you build ties, professional relations, or otherwise loyalty to the host country. You shall stay connected to these people and nourish and nurture them.
6.4 Continuing to Learn and Grow
Learning never ends. Whether it is degree after degree or personal enlightenment, always stick to your domain of knowledge. Explore the boundaries and tenets of your field. Furthermore, add your knowledge to grow in your career.
7. Conclusion
In the end, studying abroad brings you a vast amount of change in your professional and personal life. You see the world with a renewed value system, you know how to navigate among people, cultures. Not only that, the career boost that you get is long-term. We suggest that if you have the means you must venture out. So the question is to study abroad or not to study abroad for next intake 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is completely up to you how long you want to study abroad. Although most international students take study abroad programs for two to three years, there are shorter diplomas or trade courses and years-long doctoral programs also. To make things simpler, you need to decide if the study abroad program you want to pursue is in between your career graph or if you are someone that hasn't started their career yet. Or does the intended study abroad program allow you to pursue part-time?
It takes your willpower to study abroad. If you are a meritorious student you can cut down the study abroad tuition fee or you may be able to avail living expenses as well by working part-time in the country. On the other hand, there are student loans that don't demand collateral when you apply for study abroad. You can contact us to sort out your academic profile for further evaluation.
Yes, you can receive financial aid and scholarships to study abroad. These are merit-based and some are need-based. For both kinds, you need to go through scrutiny in front of the respective committee. The application process is as important as the initial admission to a study abroad program. Thus, you must prepare the needed documents to apply. Lastly, some scholarships are extremely prestigious and highly competitive.
This condition can vary from student to student. As the old proverb goes, where there is a will, there’s a way. If you are a study-inclined student, you’ll manage to keep up with your studies while living abroad. There can be frequent distractions like your local area, but you can manage to continue your studies by the same method the way you have managed so far.
International students are fully taken care of when it comes to studying abroad at universities. The universities have guidance cells and authority who’ll sort out your necessities and budget. There are on-campus and off-campus options of accommodations available for study-abroad students. Furthermore, you can stay with families that rent out their places and cook for you. There are shared accommodations as well.
More About Study Abroad
N/A
N/A
