Studying abroad

By Taru Bahl

STUDYING abroad was a fad till a few years ago. Barring the reputed and really well known university like Cambridge and Oxford it mattered precious little where you did your under-graduate or post-graduate study. The very fact that you had a degree or diploma, from the USA was enough to catapult you into the category of the movers and shakers. This is not so today. Students and employers have become "educated" about courses/ university/ faculty/ methodology/ placements. Students are choosy about where they apply, choice of subjects and practical training.

Although the job scene in the international market is dismal, there are those who seriously want to pursue higher education abroad. Since there is a lot of money at stake, students need to check and cross-check with those who have studied or are studying abroad on how best to apply to foreign universities. Many countries have set up their counselling centres and are aggressively wooing the Asian student community.

Under-graduate study is expensive but bank loans are available. There are students who prefer foreign universities when it comes to taking up specialised courses like robotic engineering mass media or creative writing. The first thing you need to decide is which country you wish to study in. Procedural formalities vary from country to country. For studying in the USA you have to clear your SAT I and SAT II (Scholastic Aptitute Test) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language).

For Australia there are a set of guidelines and codes of conduct like the Australian Education Council Code which need to be adhered to. The student can choose from under-graduate and graduate colleges, professional schools; institutes of technology and polytechnics, to specialised institutions impart professional training in science and engineering.

In the UK there are three kinds of institutions offering under-graduate degrees — university; colleges and institutes of higher education; degree awarding colleges. Foundation courses enable overseas students to prepare for specific courses, vocational courses prepare you for technical courses and sandwich courses allow you to undertake commercial training while studying.

In the USA you can pursue higher education after putting in 12 years of schooling. The first level is the post senior school education which is the four-year-long undergraduate study. Associate degrees are for two years.

SAT I is used for undergraduate admission and placement, purpose being to assess whether the student is likely to succeed in the first year of college. It is designed to measure verbal and mathematical proficiency. This is a three-hour test, comprising seven section. Scoring is on a scale of 200 to 800. The ideal score would be 800 each for the verbal and maths tests which total to 1600. Only about 0.7 per cent of the applicants can achieve this score. A score of 1400 is considered excellent. The average score is usually 430 for verbal and 480 for maths.

SAT II measures knowledge and application skills. It is an objective multiple-choice one-hour test. Scoring is on a scale of 200 to 800 and a score of 500-600 is considered excellent. If you have a score of 1200-1300 in SAT I you are eligible for taking your SAT II.

Finally, it is your overall academic and extra-curricular record and recommendations of teachers which clinch the admission. There are more than 2500 schools and colleges in the USA which require students from non-English speaking countries to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). This is a two-and-a-half-hour exam divided into three parts (listening comprehension, structure/written expression and reading comprehension) sponsored by the College Board and created/administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS).

Most countries have moved to the computer format for TOEFL but in India it is the paper format which is being followed, although it is only a matter of time before in India too the computer format gets streamlined. Biggest score for the paper-based exam is 677, while for the one on computer it is 300.

For the SAT exam it pays to opt for subject swhich are scoring and competitive like engineering, pre-medicine, pre-business, pre-law and computers. Coaching centres have come up all over the country. They might be expensive and/or commercial but that is perhaps the only way to be guided and prepared. Getting hold of old test papers gives valuable insights into the pattern of questions asked. Time yourself and develop the skill of intelligent and intuitive guessing most centres train students for SAT, GMAT and TOEFL. An ideal time to start preparations would be after your class XI exams. The internet has a college board web-site devoted to sample test questions (—http://www.collegeboard.org.). In addition there are test preparation books like those published by Barron and Arco.

More foreign universities insist on an essay to be submitted along with the admission form and this (as any successful applicant will tell you) is a crucial bottleneck. The purpose is to assess the student’s reasons for applying to that particular course and the extent to which he and the institute can benefit. It reveals your ability to organise thought processes cogently, grasp of the subject and fluidity of writing style. Your personality should be projected through your form and eassy.

Subjects for the essay could be on subjects like highlighting career ambitions; what or who constitutes a global leader; describing a challenging situation which changed the direction of your life. The text should be original and spontaneous not verbose, didactic or a clone of what we keep reading around us. On the whole it should be a well-knit piece of impactful reading.

Getting a foreign degree without leaving Indian shores is a low cost option for those who don’t want to leave the country and who don’t have the financial resources. Students are increasingly opting for long distance courses in management, fashion, beauty, chartered accountancy, travel, tourism and design. A two-year MBA programme by correspondence would set you back by Rs 76,000 to 1,50,000 depending on the country and the kind of course material provided, whereas had you been a regular student, you would have had to shell out more than Rs 5,00,000 excluding board, lodge and travel.

On-line computer training is also fast catching on. Here you have teachers acting as moderators. They explain the contents of video cassettes to their students and access information and course material of a leased line, via the satellite.

Students have to be extremely cautious because for every genuine and authentic institute there are at least a hundred fly-by-night operators who either have no tie-up or have one with an unrecognised foreign university. Most function out of dingy single-room premises. There may be no support staff who could handle your queries regarding course curricula, fees, exams etc. At the time of collecting the initial fee-cum-deposit a misleading picture is presented.

Some even have plush offices but their degree or diploma certificate holds no value in the Indian and overseas market.

Reputed institutes conduct entrance exams, interviews and panel discussions but at times these also could be an eye-wash.

The only way to make sure you are not cheated is to verify your facts, do your scouting around, track down ex-students and try routing applications through well-established networks such as the British Council.