Beginners Guide on How to Study Abroad
“the scariest moment is always just before you start”
If you love to travel, learning new cultures and living in different places — living abroad is definitely something that you should experience! Study abroad is one of the best options if you want to have experiences this. However, some people find it hard to get information on how to study abroad. Most people don’t know where to start. If you don’t have friends or family that live abroad, it’s hard to obtain reliable information.
But don’t worry! There are still plenty of sources out there to get the right information on how to study abroad, just like this post where I will share with you #5 easy steps on how to study abroad!
#1 Go to the International Student Expo / Events
Find information as many as you can. One of the best options for this is to go the International Student Expo or any similar events. On this kind of events, there will be many representatives from different countries and different universities that you could ask plenty of information about. Usually, this kind of event gets sponsored by different agencies, as well as the universities. Most of the times it’s free, so you don’t have to worry about paying anything. The best parts about this is that it gives you lots of options so you can consider many things before making decision. Definitely very good opportunity for you to get information as many as you can.
#2 Find the Right Agency
Finding the right agency might be difficult at first because some agencies can’t be trusted. You have to be very careful on this. But don’t worry, there are lots of agency that are trustworthy, you just have to find the right one. The right agency won’t ask you to pay for any fees — until you are about to apply to the university — and the amount of fees they ask is normally very low, only between 25–50 dollars to apply for one or more institutions/schools. If the agency asks you money before you even decide to apply, that agency might not be right. Normally you just need to pay the school tuition fees (which is depends on the university), pay for the visa application and other stuff you need — and if you have to pay to the agency, it should be under 100 dollars.
If you think you can apply alone without agency, I would recommend this. But if this is your first time studying abroad, it could be difficult to do it all yourself. So getting the right agency would be good for you. If you don’t want to use any agency, you still can visit them to ask as many information as you can, for free. Then you can decide whether using agency is right for you.
#3 Go to the Embassy
Another option to get accurate information is directly from the embassy. You can go to the embassy of countries that interests you. It’s a very good opportunity for you to make sure that the information you get from other sources (such as internet, etc) are accurate. It is important to note that the embassy normally don’t really know the detail of which school you’re about to apply or what kind of document you need, and stuff like that — but the embassy will give you a brief summary on how to study in that country and how it feels like to live there (the situation of the country). They will also give you some information about any scholarship if it’s available and/or if you intend to apply. They’re often very busy, but they will make time for you, even if only for a short time.
It is also important to note that there are different department within the embassy. Make sure you contact the educational department. Also make sure that you contact them first in advance before coming in. Some allows you to just walk in but some needs appointment in advanced.
#4 Where Is Your Destination?
After finding the right information from reliable sources as well as the right agency (if needed), then it’s time for you to decide which country you want to study. If you have decided this even before you read this blog post then that’s great! But sometimes your first plan is not what about to be the reality. For me, my plan was to study in Australia but I ended up in the UK (lol). There might be several changes to your first plan — because of so many different reasons, and honestly that’s ok! In the beginning, try to open as many options as possible, but when it’s time to make decision, try to narrow it down to two or three countries and start writing the pros and cons in each of the country. This will help you to make the right decision.
Remember that making a decision on which country you want to study is very important, so make sure that you have a deep thought about it before making any decision.
#5 Choose the University
After you choose which country you’d like to live, now is time to choose the university! Often choosing the university is related to choosing the country where you want to live. Some people tend to choose a specific country because of the university they want to study. If this is your situation then you are on your way. But, if you haven’t decided, don’t worry! You just need to weight the pros and cons of each university you want to apply. For instance, think about your subject/degree, where is best for it and/or think about the tuition fees, which/where is more suitable for you. You can also think about the location of the university, such as in which city it’s located, etc.
If it makes it easier, you can apply for more than one university! But often this will cost you more (depending on which country you choose). Don’t just choose one option at first, open as many options as you can, consider so many different things. Try to eliminate the options one by one until you find the right university for you!
