Study Abroad News & Alerts

Knowing more than one language is always an advantage as an international student. It's very important for students to learn a new language as it helps in making one's resume look better and also makes one able to communicate in a better way. Here are schools where you can learn language through VR-

• University de La Sabana 

This university follows the content and language integrated learning (CLIL) program which is very popular among psychology and medical students. By using VR, it helps in simplifying the content and also creates an immersive environment where students can learn well. This improves the speed of learning.

• Catawba Valley Community College

Their Virtual Learning English Program was launched in the fall of 2021. This used VR to give an experience into different landscapes while teaching.

• University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield has partnered with Immerse VR to give an immersive experience to language learners.

• Simon Fraser University

Under the English Language and Culture Program (ELC), all the international students can improve their English. The university has partnered with Virto for a new language learning app called Argotian.

Getting a scholarship is a big deal. It releases the financial strain off your shoulders and you can study debt free without worrying about paying the loan with higher interest rates. Almost every university offers a scholarship and for that you must fill a scholarship form. These are the documents you need for that -

• CV 

Prepare a CV that makes you stand out from others and make full use of it. 

• Academic report

Your scores of all the past degrees or high school.

• Statement of Purpose

This is a picture of your personality to the jury in synopsis. Be very vivid and specific about it.

• Recommendation letter

Letter of recommendation from any two of your latest teachers would work. This gives a testimony for your self proclaimed skills.

• SAT

Though standardised tests are no longer a compulsory requisite, it can give you an upper hand in the situation.

• Passport or ID

This is important because it helps you travel from one country to another.

Students have to remain on a budget as they have to save and also have limited money. So for them thrifting and doing discounted shopping is the best way to save money. Here are some of the best discounted stores for you if you are living in the US-

• Dollar General

This chain has around 18000 stores across the whole USA and is planning to expand more. Here you will find food, beauty products, toys, home furnishings and almost everything under 5 dollars. 

• TJJ Max

This is one store that you will for sure find near your university or college. It's a good place to avoid unnecessary splurging.

• Big Lots

There are 1400 stores of Big Lots across 47 States and they offer discount coupons all around the year.

Here are the best universities in the world of you are planning to study international according to the QS international rankings-

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, USA). Overall score: 100
• University of Cambridge (UK). Overall score: 98.8
• Stanford University (USA). Overall score: 98.5
• University of Oxford (UK). Overall score: 98.4
• Harvard University (USA). Overall score: 97.6
• California Institute of Technology (Caltech, USA). Overall score: 97.0
• Imperial College London (UK). Overall score: 97.0
• University College London (UCL, UK). Overall score: 95.0
• ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Switzerland). Overall score: 93.6
• University of Chicago (USA). Overall score: 93.2

Universities in the UK have faced a huge loss due to the pandemic and because of that they are encouraging more international students to occupy their seats. They claim to be at a 'financial risk' as there has been an enrollment drop of 55.1% down from 60.5% in 2021. Some universities with high seats for international students include -

• Edinburgh University 
• Manchester University
• University of Warwick 
• University of Aberdeen 
• City University 
• King’s College London 
• SOAS University of London 
• Coventry University 
• University of St Andrew's

International Baccalaureate 2022 results were released on July 6th, 2022. This year students have performed really well with many of them even getting a perfect 45. It was anticipated that students might not perform very well due to the previous no exam year but the results were surprisingly good. The scoring has improved around the globe which is a very good sign. Some students have given class board exams of class 12 directly as they missed out on class 10 boards due to the pandemic year. IB exams involve Theory of Knowledge and the extended essay. which needs critical thinking and higher-order thinking skills

Language proficiency tests are an important criteria for students to study abroad. But they are sort of a hurdle for students who lack in the language area. But fortunately there are many universities that exempt students from the compulsion of the ielts exam. These universities are-

• University of Nottingham

This university in the UK is ranked 114th globally. You can apply here without submitting ielts score by having a qualification in English equivalent to GCSE English Language or English Literature grade of C or above.

• University of Dundee

This university of Scotland waives off the need of ielts but only on the following conditions-

• You must have an English proficiency test that is considered eligible.
• You have a qualification in English approved on an international level.
• Passing their pre-sessional English course.
• University of Leicester

This university allows you to apply without submitting your ielts scores if you have attended a secondary school or university in a country approved by the university as teaching in the medium of English. Students from India might get exemption if they are from some particular universities. If a student gets selected but is weak in English they can enroll in a pre-sessional language course at the university’s English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU).

In India there are 605 medical colleges with an intake of 90,825 students each year for the MBBS course. More than half of these colleges are government funded. The fees of these institutions vary from  less than Rs 10,000 (AIIMS) to Rs 1.5 lakh (Kerala) annually, but is up to Rs 83 lakh (Mullana) to Rs 1.15 crore (DY Patil, Navi Mumbai) for the whole course in private institutions. Every year around 15 lakh students appear for NEET. This means that the ratio of seats is very less as compared to students. Studying in private institutions is not feasible for many students. In that case students choose to study abroad. The fees of a medical degree ranges between 20-25 lakhs in many Asian and European countries. Just make sure that you are really good at what you are doing.

Medicine is a nobel profession. You must choose your university very carefully as this profession depends equally on your knowledge and your skills. It's not just about scoring well but also being able to treat people well. You can be a saviour or a destroyer of life. Here are some of the best universities in the world for -

• Harvard University, USA
• John Hopkins University, USA
• University of California, Sans Francisco, USA
• Stanford University, USA
• University of Toronto, Canada
• University of Washington, USA
• University of Pennsylvania, USA

All the new generation kids must have heard of Discord. Recently it gained a lot of popularity as a communication platform for tactics and strategies. In 2021, Discord had 150 million active users which is a huge number. Discord serves as a great platform to interact with people from around the world. As an international student it can come in best use for you because you can develop your network. Some of the best discord servers that you can join as an international student are-

• Study Together

Here you can find students  from Asia, Europe, Oceania, Africa and America who study together virtually. You can set timers and also have access to private study sessions with 20-25 students in it.

• Design Buddies

This one's for all the UI/UX design students. It is currently the largest online design community.

• Language Zone

You have the opportunity to learn a new language. Students can select their country, continent, preferred pronoun and language preferences from 200 self-assignable roles.

Many international students will be going to their respective countries in the coming intake for studies. Now every country has dos and don'ts. There are somethings that you must avoid packing if you are going to Australia which are-

• Dairy products

Dairy products are not advisable to carry.

• Dried Fruits

Dried Fruits may pose a biosecurity risk to Australia so it's advised not to carry them.

• Sweets

Sweets like burfi, ras malai, rasgulla and pedas are not permitted in Australia.

• Spices

Spices like Cumin, coriander, fennel, and dried chillies or capsicum are not permitted.

• Rice 

Rice is also not permitted.

• Fake designer things

Don't bring any fake designer items to Australia. Not only will you lose the item but also will have to pay a penalty.

You must be very careful while packing your luggage as a student. Countries have very strict rules for baggage. So you must be very careful while packing your stuff. Also you must have travel insurance. Many airlines give relief to students in terms of the weight of luggage but the maximum weight for a single bag for most airlines such as Emirates, British Airways, Air Canada, Cathay Pacific and Malaysian Airlines, is usually 23 kilograms plus a carry-on piece of seven kilograms. Singapore and Qantas allow 30 kilograms. For luggage beyond that you will have to pay extra. 

ACT and SAT passages are really important. So it's important that you pay attention while preparing for them. There are six important parameters of an ACT and SAT passage -

• Length.
• Number of passages.
• Genres.
• Order.
• Graphics.
• Difficulty.

ACT and SAT passages are around 800-1000 words. The SAT Reading test has five passages, and the ACT contains four. ACT passages can be classified into genres but SAT passages are not labelled. The order of the passage cannot be labelled. SAT contains visuals whereas ACT is purely textual. Although the difficulty remains the same for both ACT and SAT, ACT passages are longer and multi-layered.

As an interesting student everyone considers working part-time. Some students are even able to finance their jobs along with their education through part-time jobs. But there are some lesser known facts about part-time jobs that you must know which are-

• You must first check the guidelines of your study permit. Check how many hours you are allowed to work. Students can generally work for 20 hours a week and full time during semester breaks.
• Make sure that you get your Social Insurance Number as it access to various government programmes and benefits. 
• Around 15-20% of your earnings will be deducted for taxes.

One of the major reasons why students study abroad is to be able to work there after completing their education and settle down in that respective country. But for that post study work visa is important. Here are some countries that offer you a visa to work in that coin after completing your education -

• Australia

Australia gives you a two year work visa.

• United Kingdom

The UK also gives a work visa of two years

• Newzealand

Newzealand allows students to stay back for one to three years depending upon the profile.

• Ireland

Under the Third Level Graduate Scheme Permission, students can stay upto 24 months in Ireland.

• Canada 

Canada allows students to stay back only if they have completed their education from a designated learning institution (DLI) in Canada. Students can get a post-graduation work permit ( PGWP) from a minimum of eight months to a maximum of three years.

Australia recently announced some changes that will affect international students who are planning to come to Australia for study. These changes will be followed from July onwards. These are-

• The cost of student visa is now AU$650, which is AU$20 higher from the previous rate.
• The minimum wage rate has been increased to AU$812.60 per week or AU$21.38 per hour. This is an increase of  AU$40.
• Students can apply for a replacement temporary graduate visa.
• Students won't be able to change their courses now contrary to earlier rules.

Are you one of the students whose study permit has been rejected and are confused about what to do next? Well we can suggest the right steps to take if you are in the middle of a fix. First of all you must know that the reason why the majority of applications get rejected is because of the lack of financial resources. Now if your application has been rejected, you will receive a letter from the immigration officer stating the reasons you got rejected. Carefully go through the letter and see what it is that caused the rejection. Generally the reasons might be- Financial stability, Academic performance, Letter of acceptance, IELTS or TOEFL, Inadequate documents or something like that. You can reapply for the visa within 20 calendar dates if you are able to fix your problem. You can also approach the federal court if you don't find the reason for rejection satisfactory but that is not expensive.

Now international students need not be vaccinated in order to enter Australia. Unvaccinated students will be allowed to enter Australia from July 6th. However, wearing masks during flights is still compulsory and everyone has to follow that.  Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil has said that he is more confident than before about the healthcare system and believes that the country is ready to welcome people from around the world. Removing these requirements will save everyone's time and will make the commuting easier. 

News during the Russian invasion of Ukraine gained highlight where some Nigerian students reported they faced racism in flight during their way back. Just after that, another problem seems to have risen for these students. Nigeria has announced that a medical degree from Ukraine will no longer be valid in Nigeria. The official statement was released by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) on June 18, 2022. The MDCN has advised the affected students to get their degrees transferred to another international college or university. The decision has faced huge controversy and condemnation from students. The most affected remain the ones that have just completed their whole education and can no longer even get their degrees transferred. 

Studying medicine is very tough. You need to be persistent and resilient as it demands a lot of sacrifices. You may have to quit your social life and devote all your time to studies. Other than being very difficult, medical degrees are also very costly. Medical colleges are very expensive and competitive at the same time. Here are some universities which offer you medical degrees in affordable fees-

• University of Szeged, Hungary

This university has been teaching students from 35 years in English. Annual tuition fees is around 15200 euros excluding the scholarships that you can get. 

• University of Messina

The fees of this Italian university is just between €200 to €4,000. Because of its low fees, university admission is extremely competitive but for sure worth a try. Everything is taught in English during the six years degree.

• Medical University of Lublin

This university is based in Poland and follows an English curriculum. With an experience of 70 years, it has partnerships with Gulf Medical University in the United Arab Emirates and Wenzhou Medical University in China. The fees can be around  €13,000 annually.