Those who are interested in post-graduation abroad should plan ahead of time. Remember, it might take at least 1 year to
fully understand the whole process and then get the chance to have the
admission. I would like to share my personal views on the steps for preparing
for higher education abroad.
Step 1. Determine your subject and what type of degree (Coursework
or Research or a blend) you want to achieve with self-conviction.
Step 2. Make a list of the countries where you want to study. Because depending on the country, admission requirements, funding sources, application and admission process and graduation time change. All these are vital considerable facts to make a plan in accordance with your need. For example, not all country requires GRE for application and if you choose such a country and take full-time GRE preparation, you are wasting your time. Again, in the UK most of the Masters programs are one-year but in Australia, the minimum length of Masters is 1.5 years. It might vary from university to university. So you need to consider all these issues and select the country to narrow down your options for efficient searching.
In the meantime, you must plan
for sitting for IELTS (required for almost all good ranked universities and
scholarship) and GRE (if applicable).
Involvement in extra-curricular activities and job/research experience in related field may add value to your application. So, if your current status and capacity permits you, try to get involved with such activities.
Step 3. Make a list of the universities that provide your desired
degree from the database in QS University Ranking or Times Higher Education
website. If you like to have a research course, you also need to make a
database of the potential supervisors from the chosen universities with their
contact details. Then you need to contact them gradually. Don’t be frustrated
if you do not get responses. It’s quite normal. But make sure you know the email etiquette before writing to the
professors.
Step 4. You need to visit the scholarship opportunities on the
university website. Along with the university scholarships, there are some
common scholarships opportunities that are highly competitive. Mention may be
made of Commonwealth Scholarship (UK), Commonwealth Shared Scholarship (UK), Chevening
(UK), Erasmus Mundus (Europe), Commonwealth Scholarship (New Zealand), Swedish
Institutes for Scholarships-SIS (Sweden), DAAD (Germany), Australia Award
(Australia), Research Training Program-RTP (Australia) MEXT (Japan), Asian
Development Bank (ADB) Scholarship and many more. When you select the country,
you can easily find out the common scholarships in those countries. You may
search local funding opportunities in Bangladesh as well. Say for example Prime
Minister Fellowship.
Step 5. Keep in touch with the websites which publish scholarship
news. Here are a few examples:
- Ministry of Education, Bangladesh
- UGC Bangladesh
- Governance Innovation Unit, PM Office, Bangladesh
- Australia Awards
- OYA Opportunites
- Scholarship Positions
Note 1: Maintain an excel database for keeping your search work
(e.g. university, potential supervisors, scholarship opportunities, applications
to be lodged, and important deadlines) organized.
Note 2: The application process for admission and scholarship vary from
institution to institution. You need to study the process very well for
positive outcomes.
Final Note: Remember, you need to be highly persevering and invest a lot of time in this search process. There is nothing called ‘overnight victory’. As said earlier, it might take 1-2 years after starting the search process to accomplish the mission. Of course, if you are a very lucky one, you might get the triumph earlier than the stipulated time.
So, let’s get on!
I wish you a very happy preparation stint!
The article was published on The Daily Sun on December 15, 2019
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