Aspiring international student? 26 awesome tips to launch you to the future

Wouldn't it be great if you could go forward in time and see who you will be 5 years from now and how you got there? When making the decision to study in another country, the unknown is greater than the known. It is hard to know whether this huge financial investment will pay off and whether you will make an academic or private sector career that will maximize your potential.

"Back to the Future II Delorean rear (5134039427)" by The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek from Los Angeles, CA, USA

Since we can’t take you to the future, we will try to do something close. We are bringing you a collection of some of the best tips from top graduates of the best schools in the world, who are serving as mentors for future students on GradTrain. Take note – and learn from their experience. It is worth it!

26 Tips from great mentors from 13 countries

Argentina

1. Connect with students from those schools you would like to go, and ask them all the things you would like to know to enhance your application.

2. Ensure that those who will write recommendation letters, know you well and like you... (and will write good things about you).

3. Study, study, study for the GRE, GMAT, etc.

4. Put passion into it... (they can tell)

India

5. Define your future ambitions, shortlist a set of schools, set up a to-do list and start preparing immediately!

6. Focus on what you want to achieve from college education and yes, you have to do this upfront. Get this clarity first because your college is very unlikely to give that clarity. 

7. Once you are clear what you want from the program and college, then start applying to only a handful of institutions that will provide you the platform to launch your career.

Turkey

8. Think well about who you are, what you want from life, what do you want to do, how much you want to do it, and what are you ready to go through in order to achieve it.

9. Make sure to research the schools you are applying for closely. What are their acceptance rates, what are the main areas of study in your field, what types of facilities and career development programs does the school offer? And use answers to these questions in guiding your decisions in terms of which schools to apply to.

10. Try to find a place where you can find nobody to speak in your mother language. It will push you to learn English faster.

The best reference for you is previous graduates from your department who are currently enrolled in your target graduate program.

Costa Rica

11. If you are applying for a PhD program, review carefully all your potential advisors' profiles. Try to find a perfect match before applying.

Israel

12. The right university and program of study is an investment of time and money which will bear bountiful returns in career, networking and satisfaction.

13. You are more than just your grades - whenever possible, on your essay and statement for example, try to tell an interesting story. Let the admission commitee know why you're unlike the rest. With that being said, stay humble and simple.

Macedonia

14. Find an academic advisor/mentor for your PhD that you really really like; find a program you are passionate about; and choose a town/city that best suits your lifestyle, where you would enjoy every second of your stay while pursuing your grad degree. It's easier to get funded for PhD, than MSc.

15.Follow your dream. Be persistent and believe in yourself and in the future in front of you.

Colombia

16. Before applying to grad school abroad, I recommend to work for as many years as you need to be sure about what is the job that will make you happy for the rest of your life.

Bangladesh

17. Before applying, understand what you will be able to accomplish after completing the program.

18. Focus on what you want to achieve from college education and yes, you have to do this upfront. Get this clarity first because your college is very unlikely to give that clarity. Once you are clear what you want from the program and college, then start applying to only a handful of institutions that will provide you the platform to launch your career.

19. Take to GRE while you are in fourth year of your undergrad, and prepare a good research report/article.

United States

20. First Step:  Find scholarship money

Second Step:  Pick a University

Brazil

21. Do extensive research about the school, the requirements for application, find an advisor from the school who can help you with the process and be aware of the grant opportunities available in your home country.

Pakistan

22. Be clear on what your end life objective is before you start applying

Italy

23. Show why they should pick you telling your story through your achievements, and not through a checklist of experiences.

24. Chose the right place. Do not be fooled by College rankings.

Germany

25. Talk to alumni from your target school to really understand if this is the right school for you.

26. Do the best you can. That's just enough.

Want to hear some more great tips and learn from the experience of people who are where you would like to be? You can find the people who provided the above tips on GradTrain. Check it out and be sure to add your tips in the comments below!

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Latest stats on international students - on the up and up!

Up or down? What is happening with international students worldwide? According to the latest stats from the Institute of International Education (IIE) in their annual "Open Doors" report, the answer is quite clear - UP! 
More and more young people worldwide are going on the life-changing journey of studying in another country.

In this post, we will focus on the trend of international students traveling to the US - the largest destination for international students. Note that the trend is similar for the other global market in general. The upward trend is strong in other major study abroad destinations, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Germany.

The growth trend is strong and getting stronger
The number of international students has more than doubled since the year 2000, and continues to grow. In 2013/2014, the number of international students in the US grew by 8.1%.  

Source: IIE Open Doors 2014

The countries that showed the largest growth in terms of students going to study abroad were Kuwait, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran and Venezuela. 

Source: IIE Open Doors 2014

The gender gap is closing

In terms of gender - the gap is closing, with more and more females going abroad for studies. In 2013/2014, women comprised 44% of international students.

Source: IIE Open Doors 2014

International students contribute to the local economies

International students contribute significantly to the economies of the countries they are studying in. In the US alone, they contributed $27 billion to the local economy in 2013/2014.

The vast majority (81% for undergraduates and approximately %95 for graduate students) of the funding for the cost of living and tuition comes from the international students themselves. This is vastly different than for American students, where only 40% pay full tuition.

Source: IIE Open Doors 2014

What does the future hold?

All of the research indicates that the number of people worldwide who will move to other countries to enhance their education will continue to rise. At the current rate, the number will double itself once again by the year 2025.

Source: OECD and UNESCO data

To sum things up, the value of gaining international experiences, especially through international education is becoming more evident to more people worldwide. Even with the virtual technologies and MOOCs that enable people to take courses online, there is no viable replacement for the real-life experience of physically travelling to another country and immersing oneself in the local culture. 

Are you thinking of studying abroad? Not sure what path to take? Check out www.gradtrain.com and talk to someone from a similar background to yours who is now studying abroad or has done so in recent years.

For the full data from the IIE Open Doors report, check out this link:
http://www.iie.org/research-and-publications/open-doors/data

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8 steps to finding your dream job abroad

If your objective is to find a job abroad after graduation, planning is key.

It might seem exotic to travel across the world, change landscape and experiment local food, but your only chance to make it happen is to adopt a very structured strategy. We have identified 8 steps to help you attain that objective.

1.       Select the country and focus

Identify in which country you wish to start working after graduation. If you don’t, you will just err from one lead to the other, switching from Europe to Asia without coherence, wasting time and drastically reducing your chances to find opportunities abroad. This does not mean that once chosen, you cannot change your mind or simply follow a different lead from the one initially planned.

2.       Master the language

Provided you want to find a job in Argentina, take Spanish classes, hang out with South American natives, watch the local news and learn the culture. The most radical yet effective way to learn a language is obviously a previous language immersion: go to a Spanish speaking country and find Spanish roomies.

3.       Research the country dynamics

Understand which industry is hiring, which jobs are in high-demand and adapt yourself to those dynamics. To give you an example, last week a French candidate asked me about finding a financial advisory job in Tel Aviv. That candidate did not understand the dynamics of the Israeli economy. Indeed, the financial sector there is not as developed as in other locations, unlike the startups / entrepreneurship sector that is one of the most developed in the world outside the US. Finding a financial position will be very challenging in such a case, whatever the profile of the candidate is.

4.       Make your Resume understandable

Your university / degree / grading system might not be readable for a foreign recruiter. Certifications and standardized tests will help you solve that problem. Some certifications are more recognized in certain regions of the world, so pick them wisely. At the very least, you will need a language certification that will prove your fluency in the language of your target market. If you are applying for a junior position out of college, convert your grades into the local grading system. Specialized certifications can prove useful as well, such as the CFA in Finance.

5.       Do your online networking

-         Update your LinkedIn profile with a proper picture. Remember that last profile you checked without a picture? It seemed dusty & abandoned, right? Don’t fall into that category. A nice picture of you dressed professionally will serve your applications well.

-         Reach out to Alumni. Contact Alumni from your school currently living or that previously lived in the country of your choice.You can find such people on GradTrain. 

-          Congratulate. Top executives nominations often make the news. A new Head of EMEA got appointed at your DreamCo? Shoot him a congratulations email, it works especially well to get interviews or contacts.

6.       Don’t forget the offline networking

-          Your career center must provide valuable resources and contacts to work abroad

-          Explore your immediate network: friends, family, neighbours. They will provide you with invaluable contacts. They are undoubtedly the most valuable source of information. Remember that French penfriend from highschool? Time to find him on Facebook!

7.       Seize opportunities

Opportunities are everywhere in the news. You just need some chutzpah to make it work. A US company launching a new business in Brazil? A new joint venture in Russia just got announced? A new fund specialised in South Asian investments? A local headquarter of a recognized NGO just opened? A startup just raised money to expand its operations in India? These news are fantastic opportunities to reach out to those companies and emphasize your desire to work abroad.

8.       Prepare for your interviews

Preparation is key, just as it is for any job interview. Finding an open sloat abroad is definitely harder than in your country, but don’t forget that you will be competing for the position with other candidates, and you need to demonstrate that you’re the best for the job. In addition to the required skills for the position, you will need to demonstrate your interest for the region and your language proficiency. If you consider applying in competitive sectors such as investment banking or consulting, your competitors come from all around the world and your country of origin does not matter. You will be assessed on the same criteria such as financial knowledge, mental calculation, fit interview preparation, ability to effectively handle a case interview, demonstrating analytical skills, business sense or time management.

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Michael Ohana is the Founder & CEO of AlumnEye, the French Leading Consultancy firm specifically dedicated to the preparation of candidates for their job interviews in highly selective fields such as Investment Banking, Financial Markets and Strategy Consulting. AlumnEye has partnerships with the best European Masters in Finance programs and has placed over 1000 candidates in the most prestigious Consulting Firms and Investment Banks.

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How to access your favorite content while studying abroad

If you’ve traveled abroad before, you might have noticed that some websites and media are blocked when you’re outside of your home country. Common examples are Netflix, Pandora and Amazon Prime, which are restricted. But there’s a very simple trick to get around it. Let us guide you through it so you’re prepared when going to study abroad!

What are the website restrictions abroad?

It’s tricky to cover all the sites here because it depends on where you’re coming from and going to. When it comes to copyrighted material, popular movie sites like Netflix and Hulu or music sites like Pandora, Spotify and Beats Music offer limited access abroad.

Moreover, your local TV station’s website or sports channel subscription are usually also blocked abroad. So if you want to follow your favorite shows or sports, you’ll need to find a workaround to get access.

On top of these restrictions, some countries censor their internet. China is censoring heavily, for example you can’t access Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and a lot of other sites from there. Other prominent censors include the Gulf States where a lot of social media and VoIP apps like Skype and Viber are blocked either from time to time or permanently. Surprisingly, about 60% of the most popular YouTube videos are blocked in Germany due to copyright issues.

What can you do about it?

Without getting too techy and lengthy, let’s put it this way: The website or service you’re accessing will look up your current location using your Internet Protocol (IP) address, which is your unique address on the internet that can be used to identify you.

Now, if you’re located in Italy and want to watch American Netflix, their servers will look up your IP address and block your access since they can see that you’re surfing from abroad.

The simple solution is to get an IP address from your home country. It’s really easy to do so actually and your solution is a Virtual Private Network (VPN). It’s essentially a software that you download to your computer or mobile device. Use it to connect to a server in your home country to get all your online traffic rerouted through it. You can then surf the web as if you were in your home country, being able to access any website you want, watch your favorite shows and listen to whatever music you like. These VPNs are really simple one-click solutions nowadays and anyone can use them, you don’t need any tech experience at all.

What else can you do with a VPN?

Some universities and colleges will block your access to certain sites. With a VPN, you can bypass such restrictions and access whatever website you want, even if the school is blocking it.

You can also save a lot of money by using a VPN. For example you can get your software or e-books much cheaper from the American versions of web shops if you’re located abroad. Also pricing on flight tickets depend on your geographic location: sometimes you can save a few hundred dollars on a long haul trip if you connect with a foreign IP address.

How to get started

There are several companies that provide VPN services. You can start by trying SaferVPN’s free VPN trial, it is fast and really easy to use. Their 20 server locations include United States, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Scandinavia, Spain, Italy, France and Germany to name a few - meaning that you can unblock content from all those countries.

Go ahead and give it a try, there’s no risk since they don’t ask for a credit card and there’s a 15 day money back guarantee too if you change your mind.

Enjoy!

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Should I re-take the GMAT?

"Well? What do you think? Do I have a shot at improving my score?" Karen looked really anxious. Following a friend's recommendation, she came to see me with a typical dilemma: despite taking a long prep course at a well-known prep company and investing many months in study and practice, Karen achieved a GMAT score of 660. Although this is a high score attained by only 20% of examinees worldwide, it wouldn't have sufficed to ensure her a place on one of best MBA programs in the world. The average GMAT score of successful applicants to these programs is between 700 and 730.

"Standard deviation diagram" by Mwtoews - Own work, based (in concept) on figure by Jeremy Kemp, on 2005-02-09. 

For many years it had been Karen's dream to do an MBA in an Ivy League b-school. She saw it as a launching pad to a successful and ambitious career which could take her anywhere in the world, and she certainly wasn't planning on giving up that dream just because of an entrance exam.

Karen isn’t alone: all over the world dissatisfied examinees who hoped to attain higher scores than they did are trying to understand if they can improve their score, and if so - how?

The good news for Karen and GMAT candidates like her is – yes, of course you can improve your score.

Let's begin with some statistics: According to official GMAC data (GMAC is the organization that administers the GMAT), 75% of those who sit the exam for a second time do improve their score. On average, they improve their total score by 33 points (the average improvement in the quantitative section is 2.5 points, and 2.1 in the verbal section).

Having said that, the higher the score achieved the first time around, the more difficult it is to improve the second time around. The graph below shows the improvement of re-takers. As you can see, those who got a low score the first the time around (less than 500) improve by 40 points, on average, in the re-take. But those who got very high scores in the first exam (700 and over) improve by just 8 points! For examinees like Karen who got 600-690 the first time round, re-taking the test leads to an average improvement of 20 points.

You can also see that the more the test is taken, the smaller the margin of improvement becomes and could even decline.

And now for the really good news: with the help of a personalized study plan which focuses on identifying and improving the examinee's weaknesses, scores can be improved by 60-70 points and sometimes by more, even for those who achieved a very high score the first the time around.

How does it work?

First, we assess the student's current situation. Does the score he or she attained in the first test accurately reflect that person's true abilities? That is to say, throughout the prep period, did the candidate get similar scores to the score achieved in the real test? Or was the test score anomalous?

If it was indeed uncharacteristic, we look for a reason. For most, it comes down to a combination of stress leading to a decrease in function and concentration and improper application of time management strategies. In an adaptive test like the GMAT, improper time management is likely to have a great influence on your score. This problem is relatively easy to resolve by applying correct strategies and practicing.  In this way, a score can be improved by 20-30 points almost immediately and with virtually no effort. 

But for Karen, it was different: throughout the study period, she had been scoring 650-680, so her test score certainly couldn't be considered a surprise. In cases like these, we make a thorough assessment in order to identify problems in technique and difficulties in understanding. With Karen, we discovered that she was approaching the questions in an improper manner, using mediocre study materials and was lacking complete control in all of the topics required in order to achieve a really high score. We built her an intensive 3 week study program so that she could retake the test exactly a month after her first attempt. The program included focused work on specific topics that had been problematic for her and broader work on her general technique, as well as many practice tests.

The results were dramatic: Karen achieved 730, an improvement of 70 points compared to her first test!

Karen's story is typical of many GMAT candidates. A score is definitely something that can be improved, but it's necessary to carry out an in-depth assessment of the relevant problems which led to the low score and build a comprehensive study plan that properly addresses these problems.

And what about Karen? She called me this week: "I've got an interview for Harvard Business School!"

So good luck Karen, wishing you the best of luck! J

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Doron Aaronsohn, MBA, is the CEO of Ofek GMAT, prepping students worldwide for the GMAT exam. 

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