Securing international admission these days is highly competitive especially due to increase in the number of scholars who wish to study abroad yearly.
How can one be certain, or at least be persuaded, that he or she has a chance in the midst of competition? Find out from this masterpiece I put together after a lot of research.
Let’s start from the beginning and down memory lane. Before you apply to any school, do a lot of research about several schools to determine the ones that might let your luck shine. You need to dig deep into the number of students that the school can admit for your desired program annually, find out the universities’ acceptance rates, intake periods, which country or countries most of their students are from etc.
Check the Caliber of Students Being Admitted
You will also have to find out the social status of students in those schools. Are they average students or students from rich homes or best graduating students from top high schools or students that passed their language exams or pathway programs with flying colours. Some schools mix them all up while others are biased towards a few of the afore-mentioned criteria. Believe it or not, some schools like the Ivy League schools settle for the best students in all ramifications.
Confirm their Admission Requirements
This is even more important than the points I raised earlier. If you do not meet your program-specific admission requirements and the general school’s admission requirements, stop dreaming, you don’t stand any chance. This is taken even more seriously if you indicate interest in the school’s scholarship or student aid programs. If you do not meet the necessary admission requirements, consider enrolling in a pathway program that will lead you to your desired program after you must have passed your exams successfully.
Check Your Eligibility
After getting to know the school’s admission requirements, it is time to assess yourself and see if you stand a chance of being offered admission to study in any of the schools you have done research about.
Check all required documents do you possess all or just some? What about tuition fees, can you afford them or you need a scholarship to support yourself? Have you fulfilled language requirement(s) for your course or program? What about health insurance policy, who will get it done? Do you have international passport in case you want to study in another country? What about your living cost abroad can you afford it because some schools will let you know that before you are offered any visa to travel; the embassy would want to know who your sponsor or sponsors are; if they have enough to sustain you throughout your stay abroad?
If you are your own sponsor, then your account statement should prove you can take care of your needs; if you are under a fully-funded scholarship, congratulations, you have nothing to worry about.
Draw Up a Budget
Before you even venture to apply to study abroad, you need to have a budget after you must have carried out your research about potential schools to apply to and the cost of studying abroad. Check if you can afford all expenses or if you need to consider applying for a scholarship to help foot the bills or get a student loan. Countries like USA, UK and Canada offer student loans; it could be government loans or from a private loan provider. But read about student loans to find out more information and decide what’s best for you.
Apply for Admission
After all said and done, it is time to apply for admission to some schools you selected. Remember, too many applications can get you confused and get things mixed up. Apply to about 5 schools in different countries or the same country as you so desire. I have an article on study abroad application tips and how to put up a wonderful essay for your study abroad application. A killer essay can work wonders!
Conclusion
For you to stand a chance of securing admission to study your dream course abroad, you need to do a lot of research about the schools you wish to apply to and find out their admission requirements, acceptance rates, intake periods, their students’ geographically dominant regions, student caliber and compare with what you have got; then you will know if you stand a chance or you are seriously wasting time and resources. Students who can get admission into Harvard are not same with those in University of Illinois or Arkansas State University or even University of Nicosia, Cyprus.
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