Thursday 31 March 2011

How to Apply for Studying in New Zealand


New Zealand is one of the most beautiful destinations to study abroad. The calm and peaceful environment blended with high standards of education have made it very popular destination for higher studies. Number of students every year comes to Study in New Zealand for there higher education. In the past few years the number of students coming to study in New Zealand for has been increased significantly. Every year number of students applies for various Universities in New Zealand but due to lack of information about application procedure number of applications gets cancelled. There are certain important things that candidates must keep in mind while applying for universities and colleges in New Zealand which are discussed below.

Application Form of Universities 
It is advised that students must start there preparation well in advance before applying in Universities. The first thing that is required for applying in any university is application form. Every university and College in New Zealand has there own application form. Students can find these forms on the website of university and submit them online. There are a few universities which requires applicant to download the application form from the University’s website and then post the application form along with required documents. 

International Educational Qualification Requirements 
While Students apply for various universities it is highly recommended that they must ensures that the University they are applying for is approved by New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA). Students must go through the data base of NZQA to ensure that the course they are applying for is present in the database of NZQA or not. You can search up to 5 different courses at the same time. Once you make your search you find the three different levels of assessment on which you can ensure that institute and course you are applying in is approved by NZQA or not. There are three different levels on which assessment is made. 

1. Pre-assessment Result (PAR)
2. International Qualification Result (IQA)
3. Overseas Study Assessment (OSA)

Once you ensure on the all the course and institute are recognized by NZQA then you can take admission under the desired course.

Intake Session 
There are two intake session in most of the universities and Colleges in New Zealand. It means that students can apply two times in a year for taking admission. One of the intake sessions is in the month of October and November while the other intake session is in the month of January and February. Students can apply any time as per their requirements. It is highly recommended that students must ensure not to forget the application submission deadlines of universities for particular session. Students can be updated with the deadlines from university’s website.

Keeping these points in mind will definitely help students while they will apply for studying in New Zealand.

Tuesday 29 March 2011

How to Select Best University to Study in USA

Universities in USA are considered to be one of the best universities in the world and that is why a number of universities are included in top 100 universities in the world. Excellent teaching methodologies and high standards of education are few of the reasons that make them different from other universities in the world. Numbers of students around the world have a desire to become a part of these universities as result every year many international students come to study in these universities.

There are number of top notch Universities in USA like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Columbia and Penn.   Including these elite institutions there are in total of 6000 small and big Universities and Colleges in USA. Stats shows that more than 600,000 International students turns out every year comes for studying in US Universities for there higher education and there number is keep on increasing every year. There are number of universities in USA and international students find a great difficulty in selecting the best institution for them. Many students every year gets disappointed when they were not able to find best institute for them and gets admission in intuitions which are below there expectations. Here are a few points that help students in selecting the best institutions for them.

Rankings of Institutions
Before applying in various Universities and Colleges in USA students must confirm there rankings and then apply accordingly. There are various organizations like US News, Forbes and various other organizations which publish the rankings of institutions every year. Ranking of institutions are prepared for various categories like study Programs, most international students, acceptance rate, value for money and etc. These rankings are totally unbiased and prepared after surveys carried out. Students must go through these ranking carefully before making any decision.

Institution Campus
Campus is a very important part of any university and activities and facilities available on college campus plays important role in Student’s life. The extracurricular activities like sports, theater, festivals and etc shows how happening is the campus and students enjoy there time while studying. There are various facilities like cafes, libraries, student clubs, and etc which are essential requirements of students.

Environment of College
The environment of college has a very strong effect over student’s life. One must ensure that university they want to study must offers good academic environment, social environment and have good faculty and placement records. The environment of college or university is essential for academic and personal growth of students so, while selecting a college students must keep this factor in mind as well.

Location of University
There are number of universities and Colleges in USA and most of them are located near big cities while a few of the institutes are located near small towns and similar locations. Students have to decide which location suits them the most. Some students like peaceful and calm environment while many students like the environment of big cities more. Depending upon their requirements students can decide which location suits them the most and select the university accordingly. 

Financial requirements
The annual tuition fees of universities are different from one another while the living expenses depends upon your boarding, books, fees and other personal requirements. If these expenses are quite high for you to afford you can look forward for universities that are providing financial aid and scholarships for students.

Campus size
There are number of institutions in USA and there campus size varies from one another some institutes are smaller in size while a few are quite large.  It depends upon student in which campus they feel comfortable a small size campus where one can interact with every one and faculty provides individual attention or a large campus where thousands of students are there.

One must consider all these factors before finally selecting an institute for them and definitely they will get a best institute for them.

Monday 28 March 2011

New Student Visa System for Studying in UK


Universities in UK from past few decades have allured number of international students to study in UK. Every year number of students comes to UK for their higher education and number is increasing significantly from past few years. The popularity of UK among international students is clearly shown by the number of international students and employees who are living in UK. The number of students coming to UK is increasing every year.

UK government has introduced a new point based system for student visa which is made for assessment of students who wants to Study in UK. The new student’s visa system is known as “Tier 4” of the point based system and this system was in effect from 31st March 2009. According to the new system the Applicants are required to score 40 points to get a student visa. The distribution of points is given as 30 points are given for a visa letter issued by a licensed sponsor and remaining 10 points are given on the basis of financial assets that show that candidates have sufficient financial assets required to meet expenses on studies and living expenses.

The first requirement is a visa letter which is an ‘unconditional offer’ that is provided by education providing institution. The visa letter provided by institution which shows that candidate is eligible for admission in applied course and is capable of accomplishing it successfully. The letter also shows that the educational institution is sponsor for student’s immigration and holds the responsibility of student during the stay in UK till they complete there course.          

Glimpses of New Visa System
  • Educational Intuitions holds the complete responsibility of students coming to study there. The responsibilities of the institutions have been increased to the grater extents. In addition to the responsibilities universities are required to confirm the individual is capable of accomplishing the required course or not. This is a very crucial change in the system and will filter out all those applications which are not capable of completing the required course and hence improve the number of quality applications. 
  • Under the new system it will be ensured that whether the educational institutions are responsibly taking student’s ability test and English language proficiency test. The standard of test is verified to ensure that only right candidates can get through with the tests.
  • Institutions which are sponsoring the international students they are required to have a license from UKBA which is an agency of home affairs that holds the responsibility of protecting the borders of United Kingdom. Therefore it is mandatory for students to confirm that whether the educational institution they are looking for there admission is registered with UKBA or not.
  •  The visa officer holds the responsibility of analyzing whether a student have sufficient funds to meet up their financial requirements or not during there stay in UK.
  • Earlier there were many students who receive multiple offer letters from different universities and it becomes a difficult job for authorities to keep a track of students in which university they get admission. Now as per the new rules students have to give visa letter from one university and later on when they change their university they have to take permission from UKBA.  
  • Under the new system it is ensured that students who are having visa letters from registered colleges will study in the same institution. This system will definitely help in preventing unscrupulous colleges from misleading overseas students. Improved system is very beneficial for students.

Thursday 24 March 2011

How to Choose Right University for Studying in Canada


Canada in the recent years emerged as one of the best destinations to study abroad. Top notch universities, high standards of education and peaceful and secure environment are to name a few reasons for which number of students coming to Study in Canada from all over the world.  In the last few years number of students coming to Canada has been increased and most of the students are from south Asian countries like India and China. Such large number of students coming to Canada every year clearly indicates the popularity of universities in Canada among the students all over the world.

Every year number of students comes to Canada for there higher studies and it becomes very crucial for them to choose the university or colleges in Canada for there higher education. Selecting a right college is very important for students as it provides right opportunity to learn and enhance your skills and knowledge and ultimately gives you a launch pad to start your career. There are number of factors which matters during your admission in various colleges like score of your entrance exams like GMAT or GRE, then financial requirements are also different as per your study program and university and similarly there are few more matter of concerns before taking admission in universities.

There are various colleges and Universities in Canada which are highly ranked in Canada and renowned for imparting education in various areas like management, mass communication, design and arts, computer and IT and many more. There are few reputed institutions which proved various courses and are renowned for providing courses in particular areas. Below is a list few courses which are provided by various reputed institutions. Students must keep these institutions in mind while applying for universities in Canada.   

Animation and Designing
Canadian institutions are renowned for providing quality education in Animation and designing. There are various popular courses that are provided in the field of animation and designing. A few of the popular courses are Video Game Design, 3D & 2D Animation, Visual Effects, Audio Engineering, Film & Digital Arts, Perspective and Structural Drawing, and Fashion Designing.  Universities provide certificate, degree and diploma in these fields one can choose any of these courses as per interest.  There are various reputed college that one must consider for courses in animation and designing. A few of these are Harbourside Institute of Technology, Vancouver Film School, Pacific Audio Visual Institute and academy of fashion design. 

Management Studies
Canadian Business schools are one the most popular ones in the world. They provide numerous courses giving ample opportunities to students to select the course of their choice. There are various popular schools all over Canada and they are compared with Ivy League business schools. A few of the reputed business schools in Canada are MC Gill Faculty of Management, University of Calgary, Faculty of Business (University of British Columbia), Queen’s School of business and Richard Ivey School of Business. 

Medical Sciences
There are various Colleges in Canada that are known for providing top notch education in the area of medical sciences. These institutes provide numerous courses in this section like M.D and MDCM.  A few of the reputed intuitions providing such courses are Mc Gill University, Mc Master University’s School of medicine, Queen’s University faculty of Health Sciences, University of British Columbia’s faculty of health Sciences, University of Toronto’s faculty of medicine and Dalhousie university’s faculty of medicine.

Mass communication and Journalism
There are various universities that provide mass communication and journalism courses that are provided by Canadian universities and in a great demand amongst students. A few of the courses which are provided by the Colleges in Canada and which are in great demand are Photography, Journalism, Graphic Design, Interactive Multimedia, Film Production, Makeup Design, Writing for Film & Television, Acting and Foundation Visual Art & Design,   There are various reputed institutions in Canada which provides such courses a few of the elite institutions are Holland college, Vancouver Film School, academy of fashion design and prince Edward island.

One has to decide very wisely before taking admission in any of the colleges and must maintain the lists of colleges where they want apply. One must keep a track of deadlines and should qualify entrance exams well in advance before applying in various colleges. It is recommended to maintain a list of at least 10 colleges so that they have ample options to choose from and select the course wisely as per your interest and financial assets to support your education and stay.

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Why USA is Best Destination to Study Abroad?


Number of students comes to Study in USA for there higher studies from all over the world. USA is very popular international destination and allures number of international students towards its reputed universities and colleges. As per the stats Indian students are attracted more towards USA then other countries.  Stats shows that there were 20,000 students from India who went to USA for higher studies in 2007 but the figure is increased more than three times in just a single year. In 2008 more than 90,000 students went to USA for their higher studies. The number is still increasing every year and after the U.S president Mr. Barack Obama’s visit to India the new opportunities are opened for students and the number is expected to increase tremendously.  Such a high number of students willing to go to USA clearly indicate the popularity amongst Indian Students.

Most of the universities that come under top 100 ranking in the world are located in USA. Universities like Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and Yale are to name a few universities where most of the students dream to study. Beside these top universities there are a total of more than 3000 Colleges in USA where students comes every year for their higher education. These universities provide variety of courses to choose from ranging from arts to business management, engineering to literature and numerous other courses. The courses provided by Universities in USA come under public system and private system. Public system courses are those which are funded by government and private system courses are those which are looked after by private bodies and there fees is quite high. So for students with strong financial backgrounds can also opt for private system courses if they didn’t get admission under public courses. Therefore there are ample opportunities for students to Study in USA.

There are various requirements like entrance test and academic background that plays important role in getting admission in US Universities. There are various entrance tests like GMAT, GRE and SAT which you have to qualify to secure a seat in universities in USA for various graduation and post graduation level courses. If you are not a native of U.S.A you have to qualify TOFEL examination and higher your score in TOFEL more easily you can have F-1 visa.  Beside these entrance tests many universities conduct there own entrance examination and admission criteria also varies with different universities.  Students must visit websites of   various universities where they want to apply and find out admission criteria and keep a track of application submission deadline for each and every institute.

The cost of living in USA is on a higher side and to afford it along with tuition fees of universities can be very challenging for students. Expenses that a student have to bear during there stay in USA is around $12000- $35000 per annum including there tuition fee and other daily expenses. There are various options that students can look forward to support there education like scholarships, financial aids, bank loans and etc. There are various government and private sector organizations which provide scholarships for international students.  A few of such international organizations are International Education Financial Aid by Rotary International, AAUW, and American Council for International Education. There are few other scholarships and fee waivers like International Graduate scholarships and International Undergraduate Scholarship are available for international students to support there education. Similarly there are few trusts in India which provides education loan for studying abroad at 2-4% rate of interest and there are various other societies and organizations are there which provides such loans.  Students are also allowed to work part time on campus and off campus by most of the universities to support there stay.

Besides all these advantages there are numerous top companies in the world like Microsoft, Motorola, Ford and etc are located in USA and they are one of the major recruiters in USA. As USA is one of the major economies of the world there are ample opportunities to start career. That is why such a large number of students go to USA every year from India.