5 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Studying Abroad

For many students, the choice to study abroad is one that brings confusion, a lot of excitement, and a fair amount of nervousness. Studying abroad, away from your family, friends, and hometown, is a huge commitment that can sometimes be scary. However, the general consensus from students often points to this life-changing experience being one of the best things a student could ever accomplish, as it is well worth the months of hard work and planning. Here are 5 questions you should ask yourself before studying abroad.
1. Do I feel comfortable with the idea of living and studying in a foreign country?
If you are a student interested in moving to a foreign country to study, you need to consider how comfortable you will feel living in a country that has a different language, culture, and way of life. To weigh these factors, you need to know what you are looking for in a study abroad destination and what to expect. Do you want to study in a country that has a different language than your own? Do you want to study at a university that is rural or in the city center? Do you want to study in a totally different climate? Do you want similar or different cultural values and beliefs?
After evaluating your results, or looking at possible study destinations, ask yourself: Can I imagine myself living there? Do I imagine myself enjoying the food, the climate, and the culture? Or developing a basic understanding of the language? How will I get used to it?
2. Am I comfortable with the idea of being away from my family and friends?
Studying abroad means being away from your inner circle for a considerable amount of time. For some students who always have their family and friends close by, this can be quite difficult. It is not easy to be separated from those who have loved and supported you unconditionally. However, studying abroad is a great opportunity to leave your family and friends behind, to meet new people, and to make new friends. Expanding your social network can help you achieve your goals in many ways, opening the door to a variety of employment, travel, and study opportunities. Students who choose to study abroad also gain independence and learn to take care of themselves for the first time in their lives. It is important to note that having yourself as someone you can rely on allows you to establish a higher level of maturity, confidence, and freedom. Students should also keep in mind that with modern technology, great distances between family and other loved ones are essentially obsolete. Today, there are many applications that, thanks to technology, allow you to have constant communication with those you miss the most.
3. What courses will be available to me?
When deciding where to study abroad, students should also research the course entry requirements. These entry requirements are the minimum qualifications, knowledge, skills, experience and attributes that students must have to be considered for entry to a formal course or qualification. The most common courses for international students are language courses, such as learning English in a native-speaking country and in some cases if they wish to study a vocational or university course they will be asked to take IELTS, TOEFL or other tests with predetermined scores depending on the educational institution.
4. Will studying abroad help me develop academically/professionally/personally?
Studying abroad offers a number of benefits covering academic and professional development. For students who wish to progress academically, choosing to study abroad can show great academic significance. Academically, students who enroll in a course at an international university can expect to have access to world-class facilities, resources, and teachers. Studying abroad can also help students increase their employment opportunities upon returning home. By showing potential employers that studying abroad provides a number of professional qualities including academic skills, self-discipline, dedication, passion, independence, and plenty of real-world experience. Personally, students may find that studying abroad will help them develop emotionally, find their feet in a fast-paced world away from home, make new friends, experience new things, and get out of their comfort zone. Additionally, for many international students, studying abroad is also an opportunity to develop language skills, whether by studying a second language or practicing the language spoken locally. This new personal skill can also help students professionally, competing for jobs on a global scale.
5. What will I achieve by studying abroad that I can't in my home country?
Before you apply for a study abroad program, pack your bags, and fly to the other side of the world to study, you need to identify what you will achieve and how it would be different if you study in your home country or abroad. Essentially, you should ask yourself: What differences does my study have and how could this experience help me in the professional profile I am building? For example: Through exchange programs, you could study in 3 different cities such as Washington DC, Berlin or London, and this international mobility will allow you to access new global challenges that make you an international student. In addition, understanding what you will study is a great motivation tool to:
Help you decide where you want to study
Remember why you are going to study abroad
Stay committed and actively working on your career.
Having asked yourself the following questions, you must take into account how to resolve all these questions. We advise you to develop each of the questions prepared, since they are the most basic and will help you direct the compass of this wonderful and interesting journey in your favor. It is not easy for anyone to cut for a long time the family and friendly ties that we have in our country of origin, but if we analyze the other side of the coin we will see that it is a great opportunity to obtain new learning and unimaginable life lessons. Living this experience will not only make you a good professional but also a more disciplined, organized person and you will learn to give a lot of value to your time and achieve everything you set out to do in your personal and professional life.
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