February 12th 2011
Studying abroad self-sufficient? You only need to have money to go! ”. Yes, you can, but where you go and what you learn, in a few months or a few years, depends on the preparation of both the parents and the students.
It can be likened to the preparation pathway for studying abroad as a versatile and comprehensive training course to conquer a mountain, the longer the more persistent and intensive it lasts, the higher the path is. If not fully equipped, “athletes” can give up from the foot of the mountain or just climb a short distance to the mountainside.
Conditions required: academic, English, financial
The market for studying abroad increasingly open to many countries, this article only refers to the English-speaking countries currently chosen by the majority of study destinations as USA, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Each country has different education system and each school which are at different levels (high school, college, and university, graduate) has different entry requirements for international students.
If you hold a general study abroad brochure of a study abroad company, you will find that the average condition has 3 points: academic ability, English, financial ability, and they can be roughly called Key chain opens the door to study abroad.
Academic performance: calculated by an average of 2-3 years of study before making an application to study abroad. The admission floor score is 6.0-6.5 and the higher the score, the wider the selection path for the good school as well as the grade level option. Typically, reputable schools usually require an entry score of 8.0-9.0 and higher education requires an 8.0 score, while college only requires an entry score of 6.0-6.5. Another thing to note about the score is that the subject does not differ too much and it is best that there is no subject below 6.0, depending on the target of your study abroad.
This is the most important factor in preparing for studying abroad because each school year has passed and you cannot do it again. If students want to achieve good results in all subjects and through the school years, students need to make every day effort with a strong sense of determination and passion for learning.
English: Each country, each grade and school offers different standards of English for entry. High school, though not required for English certificates such as IELTS, TOEFL … but students need to have enough English to communicate and quickly integrate into the English speaking environment. College level requires IELTS band score from 5.5-6.0 (no skill below 5) and to enter university level, students must have IELTS band score from 6.5-7.0 (no skill below 6). Many schools have programs to improve English for new students, but tuition is very expensive and time is limited, if at the end of that time the English ability of students is still not qualified, the study abroad program considered to be a broken road.
You need to know, fostering English effectively to prepare for studying abroad is also a process of practicing for a long time. Therefore, students need to practice English as soon as possible. If you choose to study at high school, it is best to achieve IELTS at least 5.5 from grade 8 and if you choose to study at college, university, you should achieve IELTS at least 6.5 from grade 11.
Financial ability: Families need to prove their ability to pay for their school fees and living expenses (from several thousand dollars per year) with accumulated assets and lawful monthly income, more or less depending on the cost level. Pay for your overseas study plan. For example, to care for a child to study in Canada with the cost of more than $20.000 / year, parents must prove that their total income is about VND $2500 / month. There are currently waivers program of financial proof for college and university studies (SDS program).
If academic ability and English are excellent, plus extracurricular performance, students can look for valuable scholarships to reduce financial pressure.
Sufficient conditions: mature, independent and “clean background”
As our research, there are cases where all three “keys” of preparation for studying abroad are converged but students still cannot reach or cannot achieve the goal of studying abroad. That is when students are not ready psychologically, not consciously independent or entangled in background.
Studying abroad in a foreign country completely different in language and culture requires students to have the ability to take care of themselves, organize and complete their study plan as well as overcome difficulties and challenges. Therefore, parents should encourage children to soon train in the ability to live independently and disciplinable, in addition to the duty to study well, they also have to do housework such as washing dishes, shopping, cooking… Education in developed countries are towards holistic, so children also need to participate in the field of fine arts such as playing sports, music, painting … to balance life, easily make friends, and thereby adapt to the new study environment to get a happy student life.
Note, students and parents need to ensure a “clean resume”, including:
Migration history: is a family’s history of traveling, studying abroad, you can travel as much as possible but you have to obey the law
Judicial Records: Students and parents never have a criminal record
History of learning and working: whether the continuous learning and working process, ever dropped out of school or cheated during the course of study, or suddenly changed careers for unknown reasons Health: no infectious diseases, serious diseases