Study Abroad News & Alerts

Students preparing for class 12th chemistry board exam might be facing some challenges because of so much syllabus and less days left for the final exam. Here are some effective tips for you that can help you score 90+ in your chemistry board exams.

1. Go through all the topics and chapters from your NCERT book.
2. Make sure that all the concepts of organic chemistry are conceptually clear to you. The topics of organic chemistry depend on each other, which is why it is necessary to make sure that you have a clarity of all the topics.
3. Make short notes, especially for the physical chemistry part as it can be prepared following this strategy.
4. Chemistry heavily relies on the foundational knowledge of the individuals to make sure you have the foundational knowledge for the same.
5. Regular revision is extremely important to make sure that you keep in touch with all the topics.

Summer programs range from 1 week to 10 weeks that are structured in a way to allow students to learn a lot of things in this brief span of time. Generally students have to pursue their summer programs in universities abroad or some other educational institutions. Here is a list of some summer programs that all international students must know.

1. Lehigh University 

This university offers a four week residential summer program for international students to enhance their network and meet alike minds.

2. UC Berkeley 

This is for students from age group 14 to 18 and is an opportunity for students to earn credits for college.

3. Lumiere Education

This summer program allows students to work on a one-on-one level with some of the most esteemed researchers in the field of STEM. This opportunity is provided by the US and generally the mode is online.

4. Surval Montreux

This summer program is specifically for girls students, and to allow them to explore their capabilities and develop a strong mindset. It is organised in Switzerland.

Most of the top management institutions in India accept a high CAT percentile score. But there are a lot of other good institutions in India that accept candidates with a low percentile score. Let's have a look at these institutions.

1. International Institute of Business Studies, Noida
2. Pune Institute of Business Management
3. IIKM Business School, Calicutt
4. Bengal Institute Of Business Studies
5. Presidency College, Bengaluru
6. Institute Of International Trade, Kolkata

Symbiosis University of Applied Sciences has started the admission process for students who want to take admission in the MBA program. All the students who have scored a minimum percentile of 50 in CAT, XAT, SNAP and MAT are eligible for admission in Symbiosis University. The admission process will be conducted and three stages. In the first stage candidates have to give a CAT skill test. After that candidates will have to give a second exam which consists of four different portions. The final step is the group discussion and personal interview round. The candidate who is able to clear all three stages will get admission in the university. It is also compulsory for candidates to have a minimum 55% marks in the bachelor's degree to be eligible for admission.

Majority of students going abroad for higher education  are propelled by reasons like better after study, work opportunities, lifestyle and education. If you are someone who is looking for internship opportunities during their program, then we will tell you the best countries for international students that can help them get a paid internship.

1. United States of America

The US has been a top choice for international students for many years. Most of the universities in the US believe in the holistic development of students and Internship is a major event during the programme. Most students are able to secure summer internships and winter internships at various companies.

2. Argentina 

Argentina is a great place to be, especially if you know the Spanish language. There are wonderful internship opportunities for students pursuing Marketing, communication, law, and business. 

3. New Zealand 

New Zealand has a lot of interesting internship opportunities for students. The average stipend that the student is able to secure is NZ$450.

4. Spain

Spain is one of the most beautiful countries to be in and study. There are a lot of internship opportunities that you will get as an international student. You can easily earn a stipend up to €1000.

The CBSE Pareeksha Sangam portal has remained closed due to which many schools had to postpone their class 12th practical exams. This is a portal that is meant for submitting the practical exam marks of the students there and then. As many schools were unable to open this portal, practical exams had to be postponed. It is being expected that the portal will be fully functional from 10th January, 2024 onwards. Due to this technical error, practical examinations of class 12th and 10th had to be cancelled in a lot of schools in the country. This is a very important part of the examination and it is not possible to carry out the examination without the portal working. Practical exams constitute 20% to 70% of the total marks for class 12th depending upon the subject. This is why it is necessary for the students to appear for the practical exams as soon as possible so that they can get back to preparing for their theory exams.

The UGC chairman has formally inaugurated the four year undergraduate programme at IGNOU in various disciplines. These programs will also be available on the SWAYAM portal for candidates to register. The credit system for the four-year undergraduate course will be very different from the three-year undergraduate courses. Students will read about communications, general electives, and the core subjects all together. This new program is an alignment with the NEP 2020.

IGNOU has also released the answer key for the BEd entrance exam that was held on January 7, 2024. All the candidates who appeared for the exam can check the answer key to analyse their performance.

The national testing agency is likely to release the exam city slip for JEE Mains session 1 by 15th January, 2024. The admit card in the exam city slips are released three days before the actual date of examination. The admit card and the exam city slip contain all the necessary information regarding the centre and the time of the exam. Candidates will also have different time slots for the examination. The admit card for the exam city sleep can be downloaded from the official website of JEE. It is compulsory to carry your admit card in a hard copy to the examination centre to be allowed to give the exam. You will need to submit your date of birth and application number to download your admit card from the website.

The United Kingdom is one of the top preferences of Indian students to study abroad. Despite the higher tuition fees and cost of living, Indian students continuously choose to study in the UK because of its  after study prospects. Today we will talk about the emerging job sectors in the UK so that students can choose their courses accordingly.

1. Green technology and sustainability

The UK is aiming to create zero emissions by 2015. This will lead to a rise of jobs in the green technology and sustainability sector and students can decide to pursue a course in this field. 

2. Artificial intelligence

This is the age of AI and all the countries are looking forward to implementing artificial intelligence and robotics in different fields, especially health care for the benefit of humanity. If you choose to do a course in AI and robotics then you can easily get a job somewhere between £50,000-£70,000 annually.

3. Cyber Security 

The governments of all the countries are always under the threat of cyber crimes. This is why all the big companies and the government employ a proper team that provides them safety from hackers and other disturbing elements. On an average as a professional, you can and £45,000-£60,000 annually. 
 

4. Blockchain

The UK is one of the leading countries in Blockchain and fintech. Indian students who want to get into the field of Blockchain, crypto currency and financial services must do a course in the same field. It is a thriving sector and can make you earn £50,000-£75,000 every year easily.

The University of Sheffield is offering an engineering excellence scholarship for overseas undergraduate students who want to study in the university in 2024. Scholarships up to £3000 will be given to the selected students. All the students who decide to take admission in the university on the September intake of 2024 are eligible for the same. This is being given by the faculty of engineering of the university.

Also, students must fulfil the standard UCAS conditional offer. Only students who have a level of A**AA grades or equivalent will be eligible for the same. Students must make the University of Sheffield their first choice in the UCAS application. The amount of scholarship money awarded will be used for tuition fee purposes.

The French Parliament has approved a new law related to international students who want to study in France. From now on international students who want to study in France will have to pay an extra fee to be eligible for a French student visa. Under this new law, students will be required to pay a deposit amount which is unspecified as of yet. This deposit amount is refundable and will be given back to the students as soon as their student visa expires. However, this amount will be kept with the government in case the international student does anything illegal or criminal while staying in France. France might also increase tuition fees for non-EU students. Also students having a visa that allows them to stay in France for multiple years will have to show a proper proof or evidence of studying in an authorised institute. 

As a final year MBBS student who wants to pursue their residency in the US, it is both an exciting and anxious stage. Medical profession is quite demanding but rewarding at the same time. Let us look at how you can prepare yourself to pursue your residency in the US while being in the final year.

1. Early preparation

You will have to give your USMLE, and for that you must start preparing as early as possible. You can take a small Crash Course or also prepare by yourself as there is ample online material available for preparing for this exam.

2. Networking

Try to connect with your seniors or other acquaintances who are doing or have done their residency from the US. In this case, networking can play a huge role and you can get residency from someone's reference easily.

3. Strong CV

Make sure you have a very strong CV that displays your personality and academic achievements. Also try to include your extracurriculars as well.

4. Clinical rotations

Clinical rotation is generally adjusted by the coordinator as per the preference of the student. Students should try to explore as many programs as possible as it will help them in choosing a specialisation going forward.

IIT Madras has collaborated with Deakin University for its PhD program. Under the scholarship program, Deakin University will offer 10 different scholarships to students whereas IIT Madras will offer 20 scholarships to the selected students. A new research academy is being set up by IIT Madras to nurture young minds. This research Academy will represent scholars from SAARC and ASEAN countries. Both the universities have been collaborating with each other since 2012 to offer research opportunities to students. These 30 scholarships will be offered to students from both the universities. It is an early stage opportunity for students in their PhD programmes that will help them with their by getting the opportunity to enrol in different research programmes across the two institutes.

The Delhi high court has recently taken a decision regarding the internal assessment marks of students who will be giving their board exams. As per this decision schools will not be able to modify the marks for internal assessment once they have been uploaded on the official website of CBSE. Schools only have a single chance for uploading the marks correctly. Any mistake or rectification is not allowed.

This is also a step to stop any kind of malpractices as CBSE won't be able to verify if the marks rectification is valid or not for each and every student. The bench of judges said that it is debatable. If the new marks submitted by the school for a particular student are legit or not.

The current norms for the H1B visa for the US are pretty strict. The US has understood that due to the caps that it has put on immigration and all the money that has been invested in STEM, there will be a generation of more jobs. But due to the restriction on the number of people who can come to the country every year, there are not many candidates to fill the vacancies in STEM. Currently there is a slot of 65,000 individuals for H1B visa and 20,000 more seats for candidates who have pursued a master's degree from the US. Any engineering graduate who doesn't get a slot in the H1B visa category doesn't have any other means to stay back in the country.

Also, there is a restriction of 7% per country for seat allocation under this visa category. This is a problem for countries with higher populations like India and China. Also any person who loses a job under this visa only gets a time of 60 days to get a new visa, otherwise they have to go back to their respective countries. Recently, the US has announced a new rule under which H1B visa holders do not have to go back to their countries to renew their visas, which was the previous norm. Now individuals can get their H1B visas renewed by staying in the US itself. The US is planning to introduce more such rules that will relax the process of getting an H1B visa. 

Canada has introduced new reforms for international students. One of these is the increase of the minimum financial requirement for international students that has been doubled. Also the verification process followed by Canadian authorities has become stricter. There has been a 40% refusal rate for Indian aspirants in the past few months that has been the highest in many years. This has led students worried about their future prospects in Canada. students are being rejected for unspecified reasons and the IRCC is checking all the letters and documents properly.

As per the Canadian authorities, this has been done to make sure that no candidate with fake documents. Enter the country and is later on deported. In 2023, more than 700 Indian students were deported back to India because of suspectible documents. On the other hand, the minimum financial requirement has been increased to make sure a student is able to study in Canada, even if they do not work part time. The rents have been increased in Canada in the past few years due to which the cost of living has also become higher.

The welfare office of Delhi University has released a financial support scheme for 2024. Under this scheme, students can apply for 100% fee waiver from the University. The application for the same is open till 10 January 2024. The scheme will allow both undergraduate and postgraduate students to apply for 100% fee waiver for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Students who have a family income under Rs.4 lakhs annually are eligible for 100% scholarship. Students who have a family income between Rs.4 lakhs to Rs.8 lakhs annually are eligible for a 50% scholarship. The fee exemption will cover both the tuition fees and the hostel expenses of the selected students. Candidates can apply for the scholarship scheme on the official website of Delhi University. It is compulsory to submit all your necessary documents like mark sheets, caste certificates and personal details.

All the parents will now have to give feedback regarding the report cards of the children under the New Education Policy. This will be initially implemented in the junior classes to promote the overall development of the child from the perspective of both students and parents. The feedback will be incorporated in the official assessment of CBSE.

This type of reform will help in understanding the diverse talents of students that extend beyond the school and activities related to study. This will help in creating a more collaborative environment in which assignments are more practical and knowledge based. Parents will now have the liberty to share their constructive criticism and insights about how they feel their child has grown due to the efforts made by school.

If you are planning to study in Australia in 2024, then it is important for you to note the latest changes made by the Australian government related to student visas. Let's have a look at some important alterations that have been made by Australia recently.

1. Students are no longer allowed to work for an unlimited number of hours during their ongoing classes. The limit was put off during the pandemic when the government wanted international students to support themselves financially. However, the limitation was put back on 30th June, 2023.
2. Australia has also put a limitation on the number of skilled visa graduates who can stay in Australia for 18 months after completing their education to look for jobs.
3. Students will now have to show a minimum amount of AU$24,500 in the bank account to be eligible for a student visa. This amount makes the government sure that you will be able to manage your expenses if you do not do a part time job.
4. International students are no longer eligible to apply for two courses for at least the first six months of coming to Australia.

If you are planning to study in Australia and are confused regarding which city to choose, then here is a list of the top Australian cities for international students that are safe.

1. Sydney
2.  Melbourne
3. Brisbane 
4. Adelaide
5. Perth
6. Canberra
7. Gold Coast

All these places in Australia are the best in terms of security for students. You will find a friendly community and your stay in Australia will be extremely comfortable.