Finding the way to the right overseas college

Finding the way to the right overseas college

Simon Marcus Gower, Executive Principal, High/Scope Indonesia School, Jakarta

The world of education, by its very nature, has to be a world
of change. A world that changes in response to the needs of
people in terms of the education they need and the qualifications
that will allow them to make progress in the world beyond their
educational experiences in an institutional setting.

One of the ways in which education has changed significantly
is that it has become much more of a competitive business
venture.

Increasingly educational institutes from all around the globe
compete with each other for students. Certainly, there are still
those colleges and universities that exist with their hallowed
halls of learning and their ivory towers of academia and so are
able to remain above and aloof to such "market forces" but more
and more colleges and universities around the world are obliged
to literally market themselves to potential students from all
around the world.

This naturally means that students must be increasingly savvy
to marketing ploys and wise to what they require and how well
colleges and universities can really meet their needs. There is
now quite literally a circuit for representatives to travel to
different parts of the globe -- attending exhibitions and fairs,
making special (and sometimes rather openly commercial)
presentations and even doing direct visits to high schools -- all
in a quite powerful attempt to secure enrollments.

This can create a quite dizzying array of information. From
glossy brochures and leaflets to slick video presentations that
may present testimonials from existing or former students, the
abundance of information can, quite literally, be overwhelming.
Into this overwhelming arena must step a prospective student who,
it is quite likely, will not be entirely sure of what he or she
is really looking for and to whom much information may either
remain hidden or difficult to ascertain.

The abundance of information out there is matched by the
number of education institutes that are out there ready and
willing to receive students from practically any country in the
world. For example, in the United States of America alone there
are more than 3,000 colleges and universities that may be chosen
from. All of this can present quite a heated and stressful
predicament to prospective students, but in heated times and
anywhere where stress is a factor some perspective on what is out
there is beneficial. Along with this "outward" perspective, it is
important to exercise a healthy degree of introspection.

Knowing one's own needs and being able assess one's self will
make the task of gathering information, (and cutting through all
the mountains of information that may be gathered), easier and
more effective; and hopefully more successful in finding the
right college or university. We do seem to live in a world in
which people like to think in terms of "bests" and so quite often
lists of "best colleges and universities" can be found or league
tables of "top universities" may be read; but any such lists or
league tables should be matched with one's own needs and indeed
capacities. What the lists or league tables claim to be good for
people generally may not be best for you.

Among the key considerations a prospective student should keep
in mind when considering the puzzle of which colleges or
universities to apply to are quite obvious things like admissions
policies and academic matters. Of course, matters of admission
have to be a consideration; no matter how well suited a student
thinks an institute may be to his or her needs the institute may
think otherwise and so being aware of the entry requirements is a
pre-requisite. But alongside that matters of academics are also
very important to be considered. The faculties or fields of
learning that a student wishes to enter need to be carefully
considered.

For example, a student who wishes to study law may find a
college that has excellent facilities, is wonderfully located and
has comprehensive and up-to-date resources but that same college
may not have visiting lecturers of a suitable caliber. Visiting
lecturers, who are practitioners in their field, can be a hugely
advantageous learning experience for students.

Likewise, access to or direct contact with professors may be a
consideration. Obviously beneficial guidance and experiences can
be gained by having access to or working with professors in one's
field of study but some colleges may have their professors
sequestered away in research departments whilst others may not
even have any professors to offer as support to learning.

Clearly, then, it is necessary to not only consider the
material and built facilities that an educational institute has
to offer but to also carefully consider the human resources that
it has. This points us in the direction of the social aspects of
attending college or university. It is probably one of the most
noted features of this level of learning that one is entering
into a new and often distinctly memorable stage in one's social
life and this should be thought of when thinking of the right
place for your studies.

For some people the priority may be very much focused to study
hard and secure that degree at the end of the years of study and
deal with whatever social or geographical conditions arise. For
these people a relatively remote and small town-based university
might be an appropriate option. Some people may prefer a more
active social life as part of their study life and so big city
settings may prove more supportive.

Other people still may wish to combine their hobby interests
with their study interests. For example, some students have made
their choices based on the academic profile of the college they
wish to attend along with their wishes for athletics facilities.
Similarly, recently a student chose a British university because
he has had a lifelong love of British culture in all its forms.

Ultimately, there are quite huge numbers of variables that can
go into and influence the choice of one's university or college.
But a key and critical variable is self-knowledge. Who are you?
What do you want to study? What do you want to do in life? Where
do you want to be? What are your capabilities -- both potentially
intellectually and financially? Knowledge of one's self will help
cut through the jungle of information out there.

Being wise and aware of one's self is key and being wise to
others will help. Educational institutes want you to enroll and
are marketing themselves accordingly. Sales jargon will be used
that should be interpreted for what it is and even mindless
language will be used -- such as "the hottest college for this
year" -- that should be just swept aside. In short, choosing a
college or university can be a challenging and useful learning
exercise in critical thinking. -- The views expressed above are
personal.