Having the opportunity to study overseas is a great way to experience another country in a way that a tourist could never do. You’ll get to spend time with the locals along with other foreign students giving yourself insights and contacts that will last a lifetime. You’ll see your studies through different eyes and assess how it measures up to what you’re used to. If you’re studying languages there’s no better place to do it than where it’s spoken daily.

The most popular way to study overseas is to go on an exchange for one or two semesters rather than complete a degree overseas, which is well nigh impossible unless you have access to lots of dollars or a scholarship. Postgraduate studies overseas are more likely to be supported by a scholarship and your postgraduate office or equivalent will have information on this option.

Application Process

The application process for studying abroad is time consuming and requires applicants to start preparing well in advance of their anticipated start date. It is very important to begin the admission process early because in many cases application deadlines are far in advance of the start of the semester (sometimes as many as ten months). You also need to allow time for scheduling any standardized tests needed for admission and then having the results of these tests sent to schools. There is no uniform world-wide application system. Each college or university establishes its own unique policies.

The 6 basic steps for applying abroad are:
• Identifying country, universities and the course of your interest.
• Request universities for Application forms
• Taking various required tests.
• Arranging and preparing Essays and recommendation letters
• Completing and Sending Application forms along with required documents
• Reporting various test scores to the universities

Application Requirements

Once you start receiving application forms and material, go through the material in detail and check the application deadline, minimum scores required in the standardized tests, recommendation letters needed and other such information.

Tabulate all these requirements and compare them with your objectives and group the universities under three categories:
• Schools that seem to match your requirements.
• Schools that are not suited to your needs.
• Schools that do not completely fit in any of the above two categories.
Eliminate schools in Group 2 and check out in detail again the universities in Group 3. You can try and focus on departments that you would most like to attend and the school rankings in that field and any special facilities that the school may offer you in that field. Try and make a list of schools on basis of fresh and more specific criteria like:
• Objectives of the program and kind of methodology as well as approach
• Admission / Entrance requirements
• Availability of assistantships and funds in the field of your choice
• Research facilities
• Location Profile of students enrolled
• Narrow down your list to about 6-8 universities to whom you intend to apply.
Once you have decided on the universities to apply to, you have to start filling up the application forms. The forms will ask for your personal details, academic record, official transcripts, various essays, personal achievements, extra curricular activities and recommendation letters.

Admission Stage

Universities usually inform students of their admission decisions well in advance of the beginning term. If you have received admission in more than one university, you will have to decide which one you want to attend. At this stage, you should compare a few objective and mostly more subjective criteria. The points you should focus on :

Objective Criteria
• Best program curriculum, length of program, choice of courses
• Best funding offer or best program with respect to costs
• Cost of living
• Strength of related departments/program
• Subjective Criteria
• Overall reputation of university/department/program
• Location-region, safety of neighborhood
• Climate
• Social life
• Facilities available
• Accommodation & housing
Basically the decision factors at this stage would be mainly three points:
• Best program
• Best funding offer
• Best for your personal goals and needs
It is essential to do a lot of research on the universities and their offerings. Colleges and universities offer varied educational packages. You will have to find out which of these are likely to meet your goals by spending time in the reference library. The more time and effort you put in and the better you utilize your researching skills, the greater are your chances of achieving your goals.

What to do once you have been accepted:

Each college will tell you exactly what steps to follow to confirm your acceptance of their offer of admission and how to prepare for your first term. This information will be included with the letter of admission or in materials that will be sent to you shortly thereafter. You must respond with a "yes" or "No" for each offer of admission. You may also be required to submit a financial deposit to the institution that you plan to attend. This is to guarantee your place in the class. Make sure you do not miss any deadlines.

If you are in the waiting list:

You may receive a letter that informs you that you are on a ‘waiting list’. This generally means that the admission office determined that you were qualified for admission but there was not enough room to admit all qualified applicants. If you are placed in the waiting list of a college you wish to attend, you will be asked whether you are interested or not. If you say yes, you may be offered admission if space becomes available.

If you are placed in the waiting list of your first choice college and confirmed in the second choice college, you may do the following steps to remain on the safer side :
• Accept the offer of the second choice school and pay the deposit
• Accept the offer of remaining in the waiting list of the first choice school
If you get admission later in your first choice school, you can join that but you will have to forfeit your deposit (usually around US $50-$500) otherwise you can decide to study in the second choice school.

Has anyone of you ever realized that CAT is as much about those who take the test as about those who shy away from it in fear of crunching numbers? Well, contrary to popular belief, Management is not just about technical competence and analytical ability. Experts say this has more to do with interpersonal skills, leadership, teamwork and plain common sense. On the job, these are what you need rather than computing speed or technical wizardry.

Small wonder, then, at the IIM campuses there has been a three per cent increase in the number of arts students, and the numbers are expected to grow. So, don’t stop nurturing your dream of making it as a corporate honcho, if you are a student of, say, political science. Chances are you will make a better manager than your engineering compatriots.

In the management syllabus for the second year students at IIM- Calcutta, you have as many as 16 optional on subjects like Environment, Regional Development and Organizational Behavior. Most of these have nothing to do with the functional area of Management. As most bright students in India head for pure sciences and technology, that this is reflected in the composition of those who ace the CAT. An MBA is supposed to be a generalist and it is just for the sake of placements that students specialize in a particular area.

A management study essentially is a "social science". It deals with people, teams, organizations and social and economic institutions. That’s the reason why topics like modern social and economic history, and social structure is compulsory at the best B-schools. There is no reason for students from social sciences to feel that they can’t make it or that B-schools discriminate against them. Avers management author Patricia M. Buhler in an article on industrial management, "Today employers crave for managers with the critical soft skills. Topping the list for most American businesses are skills such as communication skills, interpersonal skills, team player skills, ethics, creativity, an ability to value diversity, and a willingness to change."

And, of course, it is universally accepted that non-technical students excel in these areas. Be it planning, coordination, leadership or inter-personal skills, humanities students do much better than their science or engineering counterparts. They are definitely much ahead in communication and presentation skills, which give them an edge in a managerial position. Arts students make more efficient managers because they have a higher Emotional Quotient (EQ) as well. Another area where non-technical managers score is interpersonal skills. Employees must be able to get along with others. Modern management thrives on creative ideas and on breaking stereotypes. You’ll have to be able to "think out of the box."

It’s just for this creative edge that we need more humanities students in Management. There’s an overdose of technical inputs at the moment. So, if you are an arts student but able to think beyond the theories, give management a shot. You could end up doing better than the number crunchers.