AIRTEL is now a visible face in most of Africa. Tata owns Jaguar and Tetley. The biggest consumer durable company in India is a Korean MNC, LG Electronics. Most Indian IT giants are predominantly owned by private equity players located in obscure islands.  The world as we know is changing drastically. MTV is as much an Indian product as it is American. Even as we integrate at a fast pace there is still tremendous resistance to migration.

While the foreign universities are opening up their doors for both intellectual as well as financial reasons, their governments are still less forthcoming. Immigration issues at times deter free movement of students. Racial tensions do exist like the recent one’s in Australia. Cost is a deterring factor. Despite all this, a foreign degree still holds allure to innumerable students.

Read out quick guide to these countries:

USA | UK | Australia | Canada | France | Germany | Italy | Singapore | Switzerland | New Zealand

Source: The tables are constructed on the basis of the search terms on Uniguru on the country pages of six different countries for the period 1st Jan 2011 - 21st Sep 2011. Uniguru is a premier portal for study abroad options and is part of the hotcourses website (www.uniguru.co.in).

Earn While You Learn: The easiest way to supplement your allowances while living abroad is to work part-time. But as immigration rules gets tighter, it is next to  impossible to find employment outside the university premises. And as you can see from the following graphics (the hours permitted is given in smaller circles and the wages in the bigger ones) the lowest possible income is about Rs. 179. So plan accordingly.

Student living costs: High as they are, fees alone are not the only cost one must consider while applying abroad. As this research by www.uniguru.in shows, invariably the accommodation cost is the highest. Transport remains yet another major cost. The food prices are not calculated on a monthly basis since it is a function of individual preferences. But the price of a Mac burger shows the relative price differences.

The journey ahead: Admissions abroad is a long-drawn process; for the fall 2012 admission, one begins work by September 2011 (view timelines below). In case you are out of touch with respect to the basic aptitude exams, then the preparation time extends back to May or April. Be prepared to slog it out!

Application process: Foreign universities put a lot of emphasis on the application package, both Statement of Purpose (SoP) as well as recommendation letters. And since the focus of the programme varies from institute to institute, the SoP must be fine tuned for each university and recommendation letters tweaked. So in some sense not only you, even your professor who is willing to write out recommendation letters would be forced to sweat it out. Putting together an application package is less daunting than putting together finances.

Financial aspect: If you score very high and the university you apply to offers you a generous fellowship package then life becomes easy. Or else you will have to apply to multiple sources for partial fee waiver, bursaries, teaching or research assistantship. If nothing works then you have to put together the required finances from your end. This would mean another long haul with different banks for a foreign education loan, organising the collateral and securing adequate foreign exchange. But the sheer thrill of studying in a foreign environment which values your academic growth would be a just compensation for all your efforts. So get on the foreign studies bandwagon! 

Application timeline (about 16 months)

1. October-November 2011

• Schedule an exam date for the GRE and TOEFL respectively.
• Start studying for the GRE. 3. Start surveying universities, departments.
• Make sure you have a passport before your GRE exam date.

2. November 2011

• Keep studying for the GRE. Increase frequency of practice tests.
• Begin shortlisting universities.
• Start work on your Statement of Purpose and writing sample.    
• Ask teachers (or others) for recommendations.

3. December 2011

• Keep up the GRE preparation and now, start revising.
• Practise GRE writing essays.  3. Finalise universities based on your research. Email professors in departments you have finalised.
• Revise, re-read and polish your SoP and writing sample (s). 
• Collect your sealed letters of recommendation if you plan to send them in paper form.
• Take the GRE and the TOEFL.

4. December-January2012

• Finalise your SoP.
• Send GRE and TOEFL scores to the universities
• Start and complete your online application.
• Make sure that your referees receive the link by email   
• Make sure that your entire application is complete and has been received in its entirety .

5. February - March 2012

• Look out for European/Australian Schools which accept application.
• Apply if they have fully paid positions

6. March-April 2012

• By March-end, at the latest, you should know where you have been admitted and where not.
• If you have multiple admissions do not go by fellowship value alone. Take a balanced view.

7. September 2012
Fly out