Higher Education from Foreign Universities

How to Study Abroad?

Many of the Indian students want to get their higher education from foreign countries but they don't get proper information on time . In a competitive environment of today , it is necessary to prepare yourself as early as possible.

Basic Requirement to get Education in Foreign Universities

To get education from any of the foreign(For courses in English) country one has to compulsorily qualify any of the two exams:

IELTS

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) measures the language proficiency of people who want to study or work where English is used as a language of communication. It uses a nine-band scale to clearly identify levels of proficiency, from non-user (band score 1) through to expert (band score 9).

What IS IELTS details

TOEFL

TOEFL is the most popular English proficiency exam accepted at North American universities. The full form of TOEFL is Test of English as Foreign Language. TOEFL tests the international students’ usage and understanding of North American English as it is spoken, written and heard in college and university settings. The TOEFL test is developed and administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS), which sets the questions, conducts the test, and sends each examinee the score report.

Which Exam is better IELTS or TOEFL?

IELTS is more preferred in UK, Australia, and New Zealand, while TOEFL is popular among applicants to universities in US and Canada. So knowing the required average scores for US universities and average scores for Canadian universities is an important start.

Why IELTS or TOEFL score is required?

Foreign universities and visa granting authorities need to be sure that you will not have communication issues while staying in the country. You need to show a good understanding and strong command of the English language and that is why your overall IELTS/TOEFL scores are so important.Many universities might even not even require IELTS scores for admission purposes. But remember that if you don’t give IELTS, your chances of getting the student visa might suffer as the visa officers may not be convinced about your English proficiency without IELTS scores. So it is safer to appear for IELTS and aim to score at least 6 bands overall. 

Eligibilty

IELTS /TOEFL assesses the student’s abilities in all four skills - listening, reading, writing and speaking of the English language in under three hours. 

Students are required to be above 16 years of age to be able to appear for the IELTS Exam.While candidates who cleared high school or equivalent can appear for the TOEFL exams. 

Students who are applying to study in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand ,and Australia are required to appear for the IELTS exam. Medical professionals who are planning to work or pursue further studies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia are required to take the IELTS test. Candidates who are planning to settle down permanently in Canada, Australia or New Zealand are also required to take IELTS the test.

Graduate Program from  Foreign Country(GRE)

To get the admission in the Graduate courses in most of the foreign universities one has to qualify GRE .The GRE General Test is the world’s largest assessment program for graduate admissions. Full-form of GRE is Graduate Record Examination. Over a half million individuals take the GRE General Test in over 1,000 test centers in 160 countries every year, and scores are accepted at thousands of graduate programs around the world, for masters and doctoral degrees.

GRE also has subject tests, apart from the basic GRE exam.Each subject test is intended for those students who have a bachelor's degree in the particular disciplines. The subject tests being offered currently are Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Literature, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology. GRE is a computer-based test and has a user-friendly design. Individuals applying to graduate schools in order to pursue a Masters of Science (MS) or MBA are required to take the exam

Eligibility for GRE

Candidates who plan to appear for GRE are required to have successfully completed their Undergraduate course to be eligible for GRE. Students can register for the exam irrespective of age and qualification.Whether a candidate requires to appear for his GRE is entirely dependent on the university and the course he is pursuing.

Things to Remember 

After getting good score in IELTS/TOEFL and GRE one has to apply in different universities of a country as per choice. Different universities have different cut off score in IELTS/TOEFL and GRE. So you should apply in at least two three universities of preference .

While selecting courses one has to do proper research about language of course .For bilingual courses one has appear for language proficiency test of the country's language (Other than  English Speaking) in which university is situated .

Before going to any country for any Graduate or post Graduate course, proper research is required about Expenditure of study and accomodation and possible source of income like Scholarship and duration of part time work allowed by university. 

Proper information about embassy of own country and possible way to contact home in case of emergency .

It is also recommended sometimes to have medical insurance before going abroad and pay regular premium regularly as medical expense of most of the countries is very high.