Overseas Uni funds preparation

[sharonkhoo]

@bbbay said in Overseas Uni funds preparation:

Some interesting stuff I’ve heard from a relative who has studied in US for his local university exchange program. According to him, his result was not that great so he didn’t get to choose first. He said those popular choices are Korea and Japan. Next are the universities in UK. Universities in US were not popular. So with his relatively poor result, went to “left over” uni in US, a “small” one. I don’t know the right term, county level uni? It is so sparsely populated. while waiting for a local bus outside the train station, in his words, there wasn’t a single person within one kilometre radius. Ha ha… he may be dramatising, but I understand what he’s trying to say.

Good culture learning! I know someone who went to Montreal, and another who went to Norway or Finland (can’t recall now). 1 semester gives a good taste of living abroad, but is necessarily a more limited experience than living overseas for 3-4 years. Of course, where they live, who they mix with, how much effort/time they have to venture beyond the university… all this affects the experience. As an undergraduate overseas, I lived in college all 3 years, and my experience of “real life” was more limited than the 4 years we lived in the same country later on when married, and then with kids. But it’s not the actual place that really matters; the crucial learning is from undergoing transitions - different language and social norms, different climate, etc. It’s learning to cope with uncertainties, being new and unfamiliar, adjusting to new food etc. that is the real learning experience. Building up the ability to cope with transitions is what helps them cope better in later life.

[doodbug]

@bbbay

I’m not sure if ‘most’ is the right term - many in local universities opt not to go for semester exchanges too. Most will get to go out of Singapore at least once, but this could be 1 to 2 week programmes as well.

For those with kids studying in local universities, it. may be better not to prescribe or ‘target’ certain countries or universities. There is a huge list of exchange programme universities, but for each student, who is pursuing a particular degree, the options will depend on which partner universities there are available offering the relevant modules / courses that can be mapped back etc. Eventually the list of universities one can choose from may not be that many. It’s true that the top ranked universities overseas are likely the most sought after (I mean, who doesn’t want to go to Yale or whatever) and all students will roughly know whether they are amongst those who would be considered for these choicest exchange spots.

Regardless where one choose, there is learning value in student exchange programmes. In cases where universities freeze the GPA during exchange semester, grades don’t really count so the local university students really have a ball of a time overseas haha.

[SG_KP1]

With regards to location, the population in Canada and Australia is much more concentrated in a handful of cities than it is in the US (I’d guess that the UK is somewhere in the middle). Hence, the exchange universities there are more likely to be in a city comparable to Singapore.

Outside of the big names, the US has some very good universities, but not all of them are in the main cities and a fair number of them are in college towns (rural areas or smaller cities with not much there besides the school).

For the UK, London is probably on a short list of global cities for which there are very few peers. I’m not sure what it is like elsewhere in the UK.

The rest of Europe and Asia all have their own language/cultural nuances.

For a semester or year, I also don’t think it matters very much. The underlying experience will be similar. Hence, target where you like, but ultimately be happy with what you can get or what works with respect to courses.

There are probably other considerations if the child is looking at working abroad for a few years or potentially seeking residency. Socially, culturally, and politically, I think most of the English-speaking countries are fairly similar.

[bbbay]

@doodbug said in Overseas Uni funds preparation:

@bbbay

I’m not sure if ‘most’ is the right term - many in local universities opt not to go for semester exchanges too. Most will get to go out of Singapore at least once, but this could be 1 to 2 week programmes as well.

You are right. Local universities’ overseas exposures
could be overseas internships, overseas community services, which are short-term programs. Not all are Semester long exchange programmes.

I have the Impression in NUS, 80% qualified to apply for semester long exchange program. And around 50% Will get selected. The other 30% either opt not to go, or not selected bcos they got outranked by other students. Because many students will choose that same few popular overseas universities and there are limited vacancies

[Imp75]

@bbbay
Overseas Uni or not really depends on kids nowadays. I don’t think parents have any say in this. Hv one child already obtained a fully funded non-bonded scholarship to Japan yet is mulling over the decision to live in Japan for 5y.

[Coolkidsrock2]

@Imp75 said in Overseas Uni funds preparation:

@bbbay
Overseas Uni or not really depends on kids nowadays. I don’t think parents have any say in this. Hv one child already obtained a fully funded non-bonded scholarship to Japan yet is mulling over the decision to live in Japan for 5y.

This is true.

My kid just “informed” us that she received a scholarship and would be giving up her place locally…

For her post-graduate, the only question to us was whether to accept or give up as she already has a job offer in hand.

Her classmates are all either working or continuing studies overseas. Am sure she will “let us know” when she will leave again - many countries now offer self-sponsored visas which she qualifies and will apply at the right time.

[bbbay]

There are another groups of students, that are without scholarships and parent has to pay for overseas education, like how this thread started. The child will have to seek support from the parents? Even for child with scholarship, if they aspire to study overseas, I am sure most parents will be supportive of them. Most of us would think it will be a good exposure. But where they choose to study (the discussions have been on) I think parents can still give valuable advice, even when the child does not seek it from us, maybe they are preoccupied with the adventure ahead . Take for example one of my child has very sensitive skin. I would remind her to opt for more temperate destinations instead. For the sake of her health.

[sharonkhoo]

@Coolkidsrock2 I guess it depends on how the child and parents normally make decisions. My daughters would usually seek our input for major decisions, especially when they were still students. Even now, they do still ask our opinions. It doesn’t mean they necessarily follow, but it’s good to be able to throw in additional thoughts.

[bbbay]

@Imp75

Hope you don’t mind me asking: your child applied for the scholarship, awarded , but now she has second thoughts?

[Coolkidsrock2]

Expectations have been set clear since kids were young that we can only afford local uni and they will need to obtain a scholarship if they wish to study overseas.

Based on the offers, the choice was pretty obvious, hence from that perspective, keeping us informed is fine. Prior to that, she had interned in Canada.

On the option between furthering studies or accepting the job offer, the conflict was the universities and employer were all top names. She was able to quickly pick out the high probability of personality mismatch with some of the universities and eliminated them from consideration.

The only consideration (to her) then was funding as there was no unbonded scholorship in hand at that time.

We only told her that funding should not be a factor of her consideration and the uni’s name will open even more doors. She just need be true to herself in making that decision.