1. Is there something that you can’t get in the universities of your home country?
Can you not get the same kind of education in your home country’s schools? If you can ultimately get the same thing out of your local schools, why pursue your education elsewhere? Education basically is all the same everywhere. The only difference is how you would apply the knowledge you learned into daily uses.
2. Can you afford to study abroad?
This is probably the ultimate question you should be asking yourself. Do you have the ability to pay for your full education? Studying abroad is very generally very costly. You should be mentally prepared the financial burden that you or your family might have to confront in the upcoming years. If your pursuit of education is essentially a huge burden to your family, why not save that money and study locally.
If you are thinking about part-time studying and working concurrently, you should find out more about the restriction you might be having with your student status since different countries differ in their regulations and laws on foreign student employments. For instance, in the U.S., foreign students are not allowed to work without a special working permit, which students have to apply from the Homeland Security Department.
3. Are you prepared to leave home and not seeing your family for quite awhile?
Studying abroad means you will be focusing on your studies for months or years, and you might not be able to see your family for a long time. If you are fortunate enough, you could fly home for every single vacation but flying costs big bucks especially when oil price is at its all-time high right now! If that is not the case, can you afford to leave home for years?
4. Are you good at English? (Or the official language of the country you are going to study in)
If you can speak well English, congratulations! You would not have much problem studying in a foreign country. If not, make sure you would want to find a school which provides good English as a second language program, which allows you to learn adequate enough English before getting into the real deal. Not all schools have such program, therefore, please do your research properly.
Cultural shock is the most common challenge international students have to face when they first get to new environment. Some people might enjoy being around with people who are very different than yourself, but some prefer having people with similar backgrounds around you. You can easily check the diversity percentage of the school when you check out their websites. Usually, 10% international students is consider fairly diverse in a decent size school. Some small school which targets international students even have as high as 30% international students ratio. Knowing better before you apply to schools abroad gives you a sense of security, and it can mentally prepare yourself to a different environment.
6. What field of subject are you trying to pursuit?
If you are applying for high school abroad, probably you haven’t yet made up your mind of what would you want to pursuit career wise. If you are applying for Universities, you would want to think it through before applying for schools that interest you. Once you have a desired path or a general idea of what fields you are interested in, you would want to research on schools that might be specialized in those areas. In this way, you are more likely to find a “perfect” school that suits your interest and help you build a strong foundation before stepping into your career.
7. Are you a city person or a suburb kind of person?
It is important to know what you are getting into. If you are a person who cannot stand living without convenience that city life could provide, you might want to consider researching on the schools that you are applying for and see if they are in locations that are near the city. Don’t blame anyone because of your lack of investigation, if you got into a school which is located next to a farm, and takes you 3 hours to get to a mall or even to a McDonald or Starbucks.
Are you looking for a smaller class size which you can develop a better understanding between classmates and also a professor who is actually accessible if you needed help and guidance? Or do you enjoy an environment where you could meet a new person everyday but yet no guarantee for seeing them the next day, or the day after next.. or maybe more? If you feel that it is essential to have an approachable professor on campus, a smaller institute is probably a better choice for you. Research on their school size, which should be published on their websites.
Living on-campus and off-campus are totally different kind of experience. On-campus is usually most costly, but it is the fastest way to meet friends and easier to social with your schoolmates. Off-campus housing might provide a better living environment in an affordable price. Not all school provides on-campus housing or some do not have enough for everyone in the school. Therefore, it is best to again do your research before applying for schools!
Transcripts, photos, essay, SAT score, TOEFL score, and completed application forms are the most common documents need to be mailed when applying for schools. Different schools have different requirement, so be sure to read the application instruction carefully and follow it properly. Don’t forget to keep a copy of everything you sent to them as a record. (at least you would know what you actually sent to them later on when they happen to request for more information from you!)
