As an undergraduate, finding the right university to pursue your higher education can get challenging, especially if you plan on doing your Master’s from a foreign institution. While most Indian undergrads choose to do their MS in the USA, other countries offer the same educational opportunities to their international students at half the price.
That said, it all depends on your choice of Master’s program, budget, and research whether you will be able to find the university of your dreams. Apart from the tuition fees and housing costs, you also have to explore student aid and scholarship opportunities to keep your studying cost to a minimum. Here’s a guide to help you choose the best university abroad for your interdisciplinary Master’s program.
1. Choose your educational niche
One of the most common mistakes that undergraduates from developing countries like India make is not giving themselves enough time to figure out their educational niche. There’s no point in going through hundreds of thousands of web pages, online articles, and blog posts to find the list of the most popular universities among international students if you are clueless about the kind of discipline you want to pursue your career in. Since this article is about choosing the best foreign university for your master’s, we will be assuming that you have already completed your undergraduate degree from a reputable national institution. While doing your research, you might find a lot of universities and colleges abroad to pursue your master’s from, but it is your responsibility to choose the one that provides ample research and employment opportunities in your field of interest.
A university that provides excellent research opportunities for medicine might not have the best curriculum or staff for courses like art history or music theory. A lot of the popular international universities you see on the internet specialize in providing quality education in conventional interdisciplinary Bachelor’s and Master’s programs. So, if you’re planning to pursue your higher education in a discipline that’s not as mainstream as engineering and medicine, you should widen your research to choose the right university for yourself.
2. Filter out colleges in your desired geographical location
Once you have made a list of international colleges and universities that provide interdisciplinary Master’s programs in your field of interest, the next step is to filter out colleges according to their geographical location. This is not to say that you shouldn’t consider colleges that are not located in your desired geographical location. The weather conditions, however, should not be the only reason for discarding any university or college from your list. You can manage extreme weather conditions with appropriate clothing. Electrical appliances, like room heaters and air conditioners, have also made adapting to a newer environment easier.
You would also have to consider the accessibility of the place from your homeland, as you might have to make several trips to your homeland in between your education. Not only that, but you will also have to consider multiple other factors like food, local commute, facilities, accommodation options, and cost of living before choosing the right university for your higher education. Don’t forget to take the basic spices from home and learn the basics of cooking if you are not a fan of the local cuisine, as it would help you save a ton of money.
3. Check international rankings of foreign universities
To find your ideal university, you would have to put in more effort than just searching for the “best universities to pursue your master’s from abroad” in popular search engine platforms. Don’t take this the wrong way, the internet can be an excellent source of information to help you find universities offering interdisciplinary Master’s programs in your field of interest, but blog posts and articles on the “top ten foreign universities for Master’s” shouldn’t be your only source of information.
To make things easier for international students, multiple private and public organizations have developed ranking systems for universities based on their campus life, library benefits, food, cultural and social activities, teaching staff, management, dorm facilities, placement opportunities, the quality of laboratories, etc. Therefore, you must look into these rankings before finalizing any university and college for your Master’s abroad.
4. Check their curriculum, tuition fees, and scholarship opportunities
While checking the international rankings of your desired list of universities is important, don’t forget to check out the curriculum, tuition fees, and scholarship opportunities provided by each institution individually. Some universities provide additional benefits, tuition aid, and scholarship opportunities to their international students, the information for which can only be accessed on their official website. When it comes to pursuing higher education abroad, the majority of people struggle with managing their finances.
Since the majority of international students take some sort of student loan to complete their degree, understanding the degree of employability of your master’s degree is important. You shouldn’t choose an international university or college just because a random career coach on the internet told you so. Instead, do your research, look for credible online sources for the latest information on foreign universities, and consider other factors like accommodation, local commute, food, language barrier, social life, etc. You must visit the university’s website regularly to find the latest updates on the admission process, required documentation, changes in the fee structure, and scholarship opportunities.
This ends our guide on choosing the right college to pursue your Master’s from abroad with Jamboree education. If you have any doubts about the underlying interdisciplinary Master’s programs offered by foreign universities and colleges, you can try connecting to the US graduates of that particular university to find more information about the curriculum, accommodation options, teaching staff, and employment opportunities.
You may also find people who have dealt with the same level of misconception, doubt, and cultural shock on social media platforms. We hope this article gave you some insights on how to find the right university for your master’s abroad. Check our blog section to find more such articles, the latest information about foreign universities, and study material for the most competitive international examinations.
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