Where, how and why to go to study in a crisis

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

MIT graduate and expert in education abroad, Alexandra Konysheva, specially for Lifehacker wrote an article on how to enter a foreign university without spending space money on it.

In the courtyard there is a crisis, stock market reports are not encouraging, and the boss has already said about possible reductions for the third time? If you want to immediately escape somewhere from all this, and the option of downshifting in Goa is not happy, then an unstable couple of years can be spent on education at a western university.

Studying abroad is not just a unique experience of living in another country, new friends and useful connections, but also an opportunity to drastically change your life by staying there to work. And with the right approach, you can go to study almost free of charge.

So it's worth a try. And I will tell you where to start.

How to choose a country of study

The country of study is chosen primarily based on the foreign language that you speak best.

If you have good English, then the road to universities in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is predictably open to you. It is also worth paying attention to the traditionally strong Dutch universities. Masters and postgraduate studies exclusively in English are not a whim or a whim, but part of the Dutch public education policy. In addition, everyone in the country speaks fluent English, so there will be no language barrier.

From the same considerations, you can also consider the Scandinavian countries. But to go, for example, to France or Italy, if only English is in the asset, it is not worth it. Even if the university has programs in English for foreigners, you will most likely be excluded from the general university life, deprived of the opportunity to listen to lectures outside of your limited program. In addition, there will be problems with the passage of internship, which is often a prerequisite for obtaining diplomas.

The next question to ask yourself when choosing a country of study: would you like to stay there to work. If so, look at local labor and immigration laws.

In many countries, the government is interested in a skilled workforce, so foreigners who have received degrees from local universities may well expect to stay in the country after their studies.

In the USA, for example, there is the so-called Optional Practical Training - a year after receiving a diploma, during which you can legally live in the country, look for work and accept offers from employers. The Job Search Year operates in the same way in Holland. In Australia, after receiving a diploma, you can live up to three years in search of work and a better life. In France, you can stay for up to six months to look for work. But in the UK, a student can live in the country only until the expiration of the study visa, that is, he has very little time to find a job. If you are suddenly going to Oxford or Cambridge, then keep this in mind.

How to choose the right university

Princeton, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Sorbonne - these names are fascinating and familiar even to those who have never been to the United States, Britain or France. But the academic world is not limited to the American Ivy League or the top ten universities that are not easy to get into. There are many strong and worthy universities in the world. How to find yours and not miscalculate? International ratings to help you!

The main four rankings of world universities:

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These rankings rank universities both in general and in a specific specialty. So choose your university (or rather several to guarantee admission to at least one) and go for it! A university that is in the top 50 and even the top 100 world universities is a guarantee of a good education.

How to choose a degree

If you already have your first higher education, then you can continue your education in a master's degree, postgraduate studies or receive a certificate without assigning a degree.

Master's degree is 1–2 years of study for those who want to deepen their knowledge in a certain specialty and continue making money in the real world.

Graduate studies are for science romantics. Studying in Western graduate school lasts 4-5 years, during which you study, pass exams in specialized subjects and write a serious dissertation, on the basis of which you are published in one of the important scientific journals. In the West, with very rare exceptions, only those who are planning an academic and scientific career are admitted to graduate school. The rest prefer not to spend so many years studying.

However, graduate school has one nice feature. It is free in most countries. Universities, as a rule, cover the costs of their studies themselves and even pay small scholarships to those who bravely decided to devote their lives to the service of science.

How to submit a package of documents for admission

Western universities do not have entrance exams, traditional in our understanding, but there is a package of documents that you send in paper or electronic form to the university. The traditional package of documents (it may differ depending on the country and the university) includes translated and notarized diplomas of Russian higher education, the results of official language tests (TOEFL, IELTS, DALF), certification exams (GRE or GMAT), as well as 2– 4 letters of recommendation, resume and cover letter.

The latter should be taken seriously, since it is on its basis that selection committees often make final decisions.

A motivation letter is not just a free retelling of a resume, but a convincing story of why you, the one and only (here you need to briefly but succinctly list all your professional and personal achievements), make up the happiness of this university and why you would like to continue with them study.

I advise you to write a motivation letter in advance, rewrite it at least 2-3 times and, if possible, give it to a native speaker for the final proofreading. In a cool college, one typo can cost you your admission.

In general, you need to start preparing for admission to a foreign university with a good margin of time. Considering the registration and preparation for the qualifying exams, it is worthwhile to attend to admission a year and a half before the deadline for submitting documents.

How to find money to study

Studying abroad is expensive and consists of the cost of studying and the cost of living in the country. Where can you find money for this, if you are not the owner of a controlling stake in Gazprom, and the system of educational loans is still very poorly developed in our country?

Don't panic. I have good news for you!

In some countries, especially in Europe, education can be free even for foreigners. For example, in the Czech Republic (however, provided that you study in Czech, not English), in Germany, Austria and others.

For other cases, there are scholarships. It's not easy to get them, but everyone has a chance. Scholarships are government and private. Private scholarships are awarded by the universities themselves, various corporations and foundations. Government scholarships are funded by the taxpayers of the respective countries, therefore they impose a lot of restrictions on the scholarship holders. In most cases, recipients of government scholarships must return to their country immediately after graduation and spend some time (usually two years) there, so as not to compete with the local labor force.

There are few international government scholarships left in Russia. But it is worth paying attention to the Fulbright (USA), Erasmus Mundus (European Union), Endeavor Awards (Australia), Chevening (UK) programs, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) programs.

The Russian government program "Global Education" is also functioning. It covers the costs of studying and living for Russians who enrolled in the world's leading universities.

At the end of the program, however, you will have to return and work for the good of the homeland for three years, but the program guarantees its graduates employment.

Many universities are very interested in attracting foreign students, as this has the most positive effect on their position in international rankings.

All information about scholarships, as a rule, is contained on the university website in the "Financial Aid" section. In addition, there are aggregator resources that collect information about scholarship programs from around the world, for example, a website. So with some persistence, a scholarship can be found!

It is said that in Chinese the concept of "crisis" consists of two characters: "danger" and "opportunity." Disdaining the dangers, it is worth taking the opportunity to study abroad, organizing an exciting journey for yourself until the Dow-Jones index returns to normal values. Moreover, the modern world requires from us constant self-improvement and renewal, and “education throughout life” is no longer an abstract formula created at UNESCO in the 60s of the last century.