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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad

- By Deepak Kaduwal

Deepak Kaduwal (Facebook) deepak.kaduwal@yahoo.com

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Structure of the Manual:


A) Writers Note B) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) C) Manual I) II) III) IV) V) VI) VII) VIII) Search courses/universities from official webpage (from point 1 to 8) Search details about the course (point 9) 10 15 3 6

Search and diverting to homepage of course from official webpage (point 10 & 11) .. 20 Search details in the homepage of the course (point 11 & 12) 21

Admission requirements, deadlines, application procedures & documents (point 13)... 23 Visa processing (point 14) Scholarship/funding after reaching University (point 15) Search courses/universities in various countries (Norway, Finland, Sweden, USA, UK, Australia) (point 16) 33 39 40 42 31 31

IX) X) XI)

Search reliable/official webpage of other countries (point 17) Search specific courses/universities (point 18) Search scholarship and course in home country (point 19)

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

A) Writers Note:
I will begin with what is and what has always been in my mind. I dont know how much these information, which I am providing, will be useful but at least I believe it is worth trying from my side, trying to convince and make students/applicants believe and understand that applying for a course abroad is possible on your own and doesnt necessarily need the assistance/processing of any kind of Consultancies. Also processing from most of the Consultancies is not free of cost and they mostly charge you ranging from several thousands to even more than one hundred thousand (one lakh) rupees. On the other hand, if one searches the course/university on their own, one pays nothing and saves the cost which would have been paid if gone through the consultancies. Even the simplest things for some are amongst the most difficult things for others. Thus, one has to start believing in himself/herself first. There are very few things one cant achieve if he/she consistently tries and puts hard work in it but there are quite many things one can never achieve if he/she hesitantly leaves it without even giving it a try thinking it is too difficult for him/her. Doing something for the first time is always very difficult but one has to start the habit of doing your own things, especially when you are intending to go overseas. If you give up or seek for convenience and desire to happen things easily without much of your effort, this is where Consultancies will act and, in my words, trap you. Or else, there is no logic of taking such high fees just to process application and in most cases not even in good universities? In fact, the consultancies might not even have enough right to process the application and will ask students to prepare the required documents by themselves. So basically consultancies are just telling you what documents you have to make and digest the high fees for almost nothing. I dont have any prejudice against all Consultancies operating in Nepal, may be there are good ones which are helping students to find good courses and universities but in most cases consultancies focus on sending students anyhow, without even focusing on the quality of course or university, so that they could collect their share of fees and earn. I have even heard that, Educational Consultancies do not have to pay taxes as they are meant to be institutions that serve students for educational purposes including sending them overseas. However, this is not the case as most of the consultancies are just profit oriented rather than value oriented. Their motive behind opening Consultancies can easily be seen by the amount they earn and their huge offices located in big buildings of central, busy and expensive areas of the Kathmandu valley. On the other hand, many students who have gone abroad through such Consultancies are not just struggling hard for maintaining their studies but also finding it hard to survive their living. I can't understand why people are so much unto making money even at the risk of damaging the future/career of students. At least when students apply on their own, they can easily know, from the homepage of the university, the real information about studies, living, work opportunities, etc without the manipulations/wrong information from the consultancies. Cases of manipulations from the consultancies are students sent to UK recently, where students suffered a lot after reaching there. The writer has even come to know some Consultancies saying, Manpower companies 3

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

take more than one hundred thousand (lakh) just to send you to Gulf Countries, we are sending you to Europe/USA/Australia. The Consultancies even give easy and irresponsible explanations like you get jobs easily which pays you around 8 euro/pound/dollar per hour and can even work illegally full time (160 hours/month) and estimate your monthly income in the range of 1000 to 1500 euro/pound/dollar per month. The reality is not like this or how they tell you. First as a student it is not easy to find full time job, it is illegal for students to work more than 80hr/month and even if you get and work illegally you are paid very less. As studies abroad will ask for good attention, working for 80 hours per month or more will directly affect your studies. I would also like to share here one very bad experience from the consultancies to one of my relatives. He recently finished his Intermediate in Engineering (I. E) and wanted to go abroad for his studies. He was told, by one of the consultancies, that he could get admission in one of the colleges in Copenhagen, Denmark and he had to pay a tuition fee of 6,000 Euros/semester and a living cost of 800 Euros/month. This made his monthly expenditure to be 1,800 Euros/month, which is a HUGE amount of money. However the strange thing was, the consultancy made him convince that he could easily earn the amount needed for his fees and living by working there (illegally) though it is clearly known that students cant work for more than 80 hours/month. I tried very hard to convince him that saving 1800 Euros/month for living and studies is almost next to impossible and to make it possible he would have to work for more than 12 hours a day, provided he finds illegal works, and will definitely not leave him with anytime to focus on his studies. On the other hand, to save 1800 Euros/month one has to earn more than 2500 Euros/month due to tax deduction on your income. Even after sharing all my experiences and suggestions, he wasnt still convinced with me and still believed that what the consultancy had told him was correct and he could make his studies/living easily once he reached Copenhagen. This is just one of the few examples of the kind of brainwashing consultancies can do to the students. But its not the entire fault of the consultancies, the students, too, are equally responsible. God knows why, even the students are so KEEN to leave the country anyhow and at any cost thinking HEAVEN awaits them abroad. Consultancies know this mentality of such students and easily trap them saying everything students want to hear, forget if its even true or not. Going to Europe and USA doesnt mean one gets the European and American facilities, lifestyles etc automatically. One has to struggle and work hard just to survive. I can tell you from my experience, this is just the beginning and once you are overseas you have to do quite many things for the very first times and that too on your own. I can recall my hard times when I was trying to find a suitable course and apply on my own. The first guidance was provided by a senior friend (brother) who gave me information of no tuition fees in German and some of the European universities and also gave me web links of some courses that might have been interesting to me. However, I started searching for more suitable courses on my own. Searching for the first times werent the easiest things and I even had to miss many of my classes in my last semester as I had to find suitable course and the application requirements and 4

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

procedures to meet the deadline. Then, I also had the pleasure to help four of my classmates, who were also my flat mates, for the application. Most of them werent fully convinced if I could manage the application on my own and at times argued not to take chances and visit the consultancies but, by then, I was totally aware and confident that such application was a simple procedure and can be done on our own. Finally all of us, 5 friends, made a successful application and were accepted from the universities of our choice. It was then clear to us that application procedure wasnt that difficult or magical thing and is easily manageable on our own if we just provide ourselves with some time, patience, will and dedication. Being accepted by the desired university was just the initial step; the real challenge began in Germany. In the initial days, to earn my living, I worked in restaurants, bars and resorts where work responsibilities varied from cleaning the floor, tables, bathrooms and living rooms. These were not some of the easiest and most convenient of the work that existed but will definitely be one of the most cherished experiences of my life time. Despite all such works, the focus on the studies remained the same or in fact more. With dedication on studies, the academic results were good which resulted on achieving part-time research assistant jobs and also scholarships which at the end made life much easier, financially secure and with adequate time for studies and private life. Gladly, I have by now successfully completed M.Sc. from University of Freiburg (Albert Ludwigs Universitaet Freiburg) and presently hold a position of a PhD researcher in Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in collaboration with Institute for Microsystems Technique (IMTEK), Technical Faculty of University of Freiburg. I might have bored, irritated, angered, worried, overloaded, encouraged or motivated you with my note. However, despite how you took it, my only objective still remains to guide you through the course/university selection and application on your own and saving you from the adhesive hands of consultancies. Let us try to do these kinds of application things independently and once we are successful we will know how satisfactory and precious the fruit of independence is. Work hard and live up by not giving up. I believe voice unheard is better than voice unspoken and this is why I gave my VOICE here.

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

B) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)


Many FAQs may only be relevant after going through the manual first. Also, many more detailed answers of the FAQs are also provided in the manual itself. 1) Who is this manual for? This manual is focused to help students/applicants on how to search courses/universities. (mainly M. Sc. in Germany). 2) Is this manual focused only in finding M.Sc. course that too in Germany? As I, the writer is a student in Germany, the manual takes M.Sc. course in Germany as an example to search courses/universities. The searching procedures for other levels (Bachelors or PhD) are also similar. In addition, searching procedure in Germany and other countries are almost similar and a brief idea for searching in other Countries will be given at the end of this manual. 3) Can I search courses/universities and apply on my own after reading this manual? I believe that any person who has basic knowledge on using the internet can easily search courses/universities and apply even without reading this manual. But still, to make things simpler, if you have adequate knowledge and skills to browse internet, check emails, use Facebook and search in Google, you can easily find courses/universities of your choice after going through this manual. 4) What is the need of this manual? This manual intends to make students/applicants believe in themselves and figure out that applying for courses/universities overseas is possible on owns effort. If you give up and think that finding a course/university on your own is too difficult/tedious, and seek for convenience, this is where others (consultancies) will act/play and will, in my words, trap you and make you pay high fees ranging from thousands to lakhs. On the other hand if you apply on your own it will cost you almost nothing. 5) What are the basic requirements for application? The basic requirements includes: a) Proficiency in English Language (IELTS, TOEFL, etc) if you are applying for international courses taught in English. b) Academic degree: All previous academic degrees, transcripts and certificates. 6) Can I apply before completing my studies or during my last semester/year? Yes you can apply but you must complete your studies by the time the course begins. Normally the application deadline is 3 to 9 months prior to the beginning of the course (example: application deadline of May 15 if the course begins at October 15). 6

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

7) Can I afford the courses and/or how much should I pay? Most of the courses/universities in European countries (Germany, Finland, Norway, etc) do not charge students with tuition fees. Therefore applying for a course is almost free of cost (some little cost might occur while posting your application by mail). On the other hand countries like USA, UK and Australia might charge students with tuition fees in the range of 3000 to 6000 Euro/Dollar/Pounds per month. However some additional cost might include on taking English Language (IELTS, TOELF, etc) test (approx. NRS 12,000 24,000) and later on as a visa application charge (approx. NRS 7,000 12,000) if you are selected/admitted by the university and apply for a visa. 8) How much is the total cost? As from FAQs 7, we know that application process doesnt incur extra costs. If you have been awarded any kind of scholarships, assistantships, no extra cost will occur as almost all the expenditures will be covered be the scholarship/university. However, if you do not have scholarship and apply on your own, once you are selected for a course and admitted by the university, you might need some amount prior to receiving a visa. Once you apply for a visa in the embassy, the embassy might ask for your (your parents/sponsors) financial statements including other documents. Also right before granting you a visa the embassy might ask you to make a bank draft (like a bank cheque which can be deposited in the bank account of the country you are visiting once you reach there) or create a bank account in the country you are visiting and deposit the sum there. The amount varies, as I have come to know amounts ranging from 2,000 to 12,000 Euros/Dollars/Pounds and in some exceptional cases nothing at all. However, the amount will solely be yours and is not any kind of expenditures if you are visiting the countries which charges no tuition fees (like Germany, Finland, Norway) but if you are visiting the countries which charges tuition fees (like UK/USA/Australia) you have to pay the fees from that sum. The amount is asked by the embassy to support your cost of living abroad and tuition fees, if applicable, and is generally a prerequisite to get the visa. 9) When do I visit the Embassy or Consulate office (in case the embassy for the country is not present in your country)? Normally you visit the Embassy/Consulate Office, to apply for a visa, only after being selected or admitted by the university. In some cases, the embassy/consulate might also guide students to find courses of their choice. 10) When are the application deadlines and how long before hand should I start preparing? The application deadlines are normally 3-9 months prior to the commencement of the course. Normally the international courses (courses that are taught in English and are open for international applicants) are available for winter semester only (August-October). It should be taken into 7

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

consideration that arranging the required documents for application might take a month and posting your application will normally take a week or two by normal post. Also some additional days might take for you to search courses/universities in University. Hence, minimum of 2 months before the deadline might be necessary for preparing the application. 11) How can I make my application process simpler? What do I do if I have problems (while applying)? The application process can be made simpler if you share your experience or get ideas from others. Sharing ideas, views and exchanging them is always very useful. However, if you have problem right in the beginning of the application processes please feel free to write me an email at deepak.kaduwal@yahoo.com or in Facebook (Deepak Kaduwal). If some problems or questions arise relating the course/university you searched/selected, contact the responsible contact persons like Program Secretary/Coordinator of the related course/subject by email. They will easily answer all specific, general or direct questions related to studies, living, financing, etc. 12) Can anyone else apply on my behalf? No, it has to be the applicant who has to apply himself/herself individually. The maximum thing others can do is to help you in searching courses/universities and arranging documents. 13) Will I get or how easy is it to get a scholarship, jobs during my studies? Depending on the university/city you go, various jobs inside and outside the university is possible. The bigger the university/city is, more the chances to get jobs. Also students from technical subjects tend to get part time jobs/assistantships inside the university more easily than from the general subjects. There is also a possibility to apply for scholarships in University and/or various foundations once you reach the university and get enrolled/admitted. The more detailed information about the possible scholarships will also be given in the webpage of respective course/university. 14) I want to earn and also study, is this possible? Normally the courses/universities demand almost full time attention from its students. Still earning for your living is in general possible parallel to your studies (provided you get the job). However, high earnings/savings together with studies might not be possible and affect your studies. In the long run it is worth focusing on your studies more than earning plenty while studying. As once you graduate with good grades, there are high opportunities to get scholarships, internships, jobs, PhD, etc which will earn you much more than you tend to earn by working during your studies. 15) How do I come in contact with the people/student of the city/university I am intending to apply? There are generally (student) organizations in almost all cities/universities. You can search them in the internet (Example: Going to www.google.com and searching for Nepalese students in Berlin). 8

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

16) Is it worth going overseas for studies? There are always mixed reactions over studies overseas but in general I could tell you going overseas for your studies is definitely a good idea. It gives you a good experience of life in developed countries, international exposure, lifetime experience of different cultures and traditions, good practical education, enlarge your horizon and at times, if everything goes well, earn you some money and status. 17) What do I, the writer, expect at the end? I have high expectations that students/applicants could apply for their selective courses/universities on their own without the help of external bodies, mainly consultancies which charge them high fees, at the end. 18) What does the write get or benefit from this manual? I, the writer, will gain something very precious if the objective of the manual fulfills and students can apply on their own. The precious thing is what I call, Self Satisfaction of being able to help my fellow countrymen.

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

C) Manual :
1) 2) Sit on a computer/laptop which has internet connection. Open one of the web browsers amongst Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

3) Go to the homepage of German Academic Exchange Service, called Deutsche Akademischer Austausch Dienst in German, (DAAD) by typing www.daad.de on the web browser. 4) Then a following webpage/homepage of DAAD will open.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Change the webpage to English if it is in any other language (shown by the green mark on the upper right position). The section Information for Foreigners, which is on the bottom left corner, will contain all the required information for the foreigner or international students/applicants.

5) Click in the section Information for Foreigners and the following page will open.

Then go on Course Search. And click on International Programmes (marked in red in the upper left position). International programmes include all the courses that international students can apply. 11

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

6) After clicking the section International Programmes, the following page will open.

Choose the type of programmes you are searching for, here Masters Programmes is chosen (marked in the middle portion). Then it shows the number of programmes/masters courses that are available (here 586 programmes as marked in the bottom portion). Similarly Bachelors and Doctoral (PhD) programmes can also be chosen. However it has to be taken into consideration that not many Bachelors Programmes are available (in Europe), that are held in English, for international students. Doctoral (PhD) Programmes may be in good numbers, and the numbers are not always fixed, depending on the research projects and grants available in the Universities. Mostly or there are many PhD Programmes funded by projects/universities and the students do not have to pay fees and can cover their cost of living from the funding they receive. 12

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

7) Make the search more specific by: Selecting a field of study and a subject (as marked). Here Engineering is selected but depending on the interest other various field of study and subject could also be selected. After selecting, number of programmes (104 programmes as marked) that are related to the selection (Engineering) is shown. Click on show programmes (marked in the bottom portion) to see the list of programmes related to selection (Engineering).

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

8) After clicking show programmes, the list of programmes will appear as shown below:

From the list of courses shown choose the courses of your choice, here Environmental Engineering (as marked in the bottom portion), is selected. 14

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

9) After clicking/opening the course, Environmental Engineering, the following page providing the information about the course will open as shown below:

Information like name of the Course (here Environmental Engineering), University (here Technical University of Munich), type of Degree (here Masters of Science), Course Languages (which languages are required and which is/are the language/s of instruction, 15

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

almost all in English as we searched for international programmes held in English), Beginning of Programme (when or which time/month of the year the course begins), Programme Duration (length of the program or the duration of program in months/semesters/years), Application Deadline (which time/month of the year the receiving of application for the course is stopped) and Description of Content (describing shortly the history of the course, their aims, their expectations, the beneficial impact/areas of the course at present and in future, etc). [As marked in the upper left portion]

Additional information are also provided on a) Course Description: provides more detailed information about the course/subject. After clicking on the course description it opens up and the details can be read as shown below:

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

b) Costs, Fees and Funding: provides the detailed information on the costs that can incur while studying and living and also if any funding/scholarship opportunities are available. After clicking on the cost, fees and funding it opens up and the details can be read as shown below:

The Tuition Fees varies in different states/regions and universities. In some cases there are no tuition fees at all, in some there are tuition fees of 500 Euros per semester (which can be exempted/waived if the student has two or more siblings) and in some cases tuition fees of 500 Euros (or higher) per semester. In all states/regions and universities, there are Enrollment Fees (admission fees) varying from 40 to 200 Euros/semester. The Costs of Living depends on the universities/cities but mostly ranges from 600 to 800 Euros per month (as per European standard of living). However for international students like us, we can afford to live tightly in the range of 300 to 500 Euros. This cost of living includes all the possible expenditures that might occur in a month including room rent, food, insurance and some other miscellaneous cost. The detailed information about the Funding Opportunities (scholarship possibilities) and Scholarship Link will also be given if there are any possibilities within the universities.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

c) Required Entry Qualification Profile: provides information about the basic required qualification that is necessary/prerequisite for a successful application as shown below:

The Language Requirements describes the kind of language proficiency that is necessary while applying, mostly English language proficiency tests (TOEFL, IELTS etc). Depending on the universities the level of required proficiency (score) varies (like IELTS score with overall band of 6.0 to 7.0). The Academic requirements describes the kind of graduate/passed degree that is necessary while applying for the course. Or in other words the kind of degree holders that are eligible to apply for the course.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

d) Relevant Additional Information: provides other relevant information like Arrival support (support provided by the university on the first arrival day for the international students), Accommodation (support provided for finding room and apartment), About the University and Town, etc.

This DAAD webpage is just facilitating in providing some basic information regarding the courses and thus is not the official course-homepage of the university. The homepage of the course provides more updated information and detailed procedures and requirements for making an application. But all the official contact information and details about the course/university is also given in this webpage.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

10) To get the official homepage of the course/university, click on the link (marked with blue on the bottom right portion) of the course homepage, which is on the section Contact (marked with red on the bottom right portion) of the DAAD webpage as shown below:

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

11) After clicking on the course homepage on the DAAD webpage, which is www.umwelt.bv.tum.de in this case, the new homepage of the course/university will open as shown below:

Click and select English (as marked in the upper right portion in case the homepage is in other language). Click on the Master (as marked in the centre left portion) to go to the webpage. Master is clicked as Master of Science in Environmental Engineering is the course being searched.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

12) After clicking/selecting the Master, a new webpage, specifically about the Masters course, will open as shown below:

Here the Study section (as marked) will tell more in detail about the course/program, objectives, curriculum, course plan, examination regulations, etc. In other courses/universities the Study section could also be written in other forms like About the course, Program, etc. The FAQ (as marked) is one of the MOST IMPORTANT section for international students as it answers most of the possible frequently asked questions regarding the course, university, living, funding/scholarship opportunities, job opportunities, etc. The Application (as marked) is the MOST IMPORTANT section where all the details of the application procedures, requirements, documents required, deadlines, selection procedure, etc are available. In other courses/universities the Application section could also be written in other forms like Admission, Apply, etc. 22

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

13) After clicking the Application section, the webpage showing details about application process opens as shown below:

This page gives detailed information about Admission Requirements, Application Deadline, Application Procedure and Documents, Admission Procedure and Program start and curriculum. (marked in the middle and lower portion).

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Admission Requirements:

Detailed academic requirements/qualifications that are necessary for admission, here A Bachelors Degree (as marked in upper position) and English Language Sufficiency/Proficiency (as marked in the lower portion), are provided. In A Bachelors Degree section all kind of faculties/degrees/qualification that are eligible or that can apply is given. Normally, most of the courses have interdisciplinary approaches (approach of combining different specific subjects and forming one 24

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

interdisciplinary subject) therefore, a wide range of academic background/faculty/ degree/qualification (here wide range of bachelors degree) can apply for the course (here Master of Environmental Engineering). For example, here for the Master of Environmental Engineering students with a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Geoinformation, Energy and Process technology, or related field will be considered. In addition, students holding other kinds of degree (which are not listed in the webpage) may also apply for the course if they provide enough motivation, their idea/logic/dedication behind choosing the subject. However the examination board or the faculty receiving the application will decide if they will accept the applications from students holding different degree/subject other than listed in the webpage. Additionally different courses/universities, depending on their reputations, ask for above average grades, good grades very good grades or excellent grades. Here for this, Masters of Environmental Engineering, the applicants/students are expected to graduate/pass with the rank in the upper 30% of their class. In English Language Sufficiency/Proficiency section the detailed description about the level of proficiency and the kinds of certificates required as a proof of proficiency/sufficiency is given. Depending on the courses/universities certificates like TOEFL (with score ranging from 75 to 100, internet based), IELTS (with overall band score ranging from 6.0 to 7.0), etc has to be submitted as a proof of English language proficiency/sufficiency. Here, for the Masters of Environmental Engineering at Technical University of Munich, the certificate of TOEFL (with score 75 internet based) or IELTS (overall band score of 6.0) is required. In addition if the applicant provides English language proficiency certificate from their respective campus/faculty/ university stating that the applicant has undertaken his/her degree/education in English, some courses/universities may exempt/waive the proof of English language proficiency/sufficiency (that means no IELTS or TOEFL certificate is required).

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Application Deadline, Application Procedure and Documents:

In Application Deadline section the detailed information about the application deadlines date/month is mentioned. The application for international program/course (held in English) is open mostly on winter semester (August-October session). Depending upon the courses/universities, the application deadline is 3 to 9 months prior to the beginning of the course. Here, for Master of Environmental Engineering, the application is open for both summer semester (session starting in April) and winter semester (session starting in October) with application deadlines 31st May for the same year for winter semester and 15th November of the previous year (Nov 15, 2011) for the summer semester in the following year (session starting in April 2012). These application deadlines are the dates by when the application should reach the admission office at latest. The application reaches, to Germany, in 7 to 10 days by 26

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

normal post (also almost same days by couriers like DHL, TNT, FEDEX, etc). Therefore normal post can be done which is lot cheaper (in the range of NRS 30 t0 200) than the special international courier services (which costs in thousands of rupees). The admission office (or the course/university) will inform, by email, once they receive the application. Also, the courses/universities might extend the application deadlines upon request (enquire by email) in certain circumstances or if necessary. In Application Procedure and Documents the detailed information about the application procedure and the required documents are mentioned. The application procedures may be of different kinds: 1) Paper Application: where the applicant has to download the Application form, fill it and send it together with the required documents (mentioned in the application form) to the admission/enrollment office of the course/university. There will be a section named Download or Application form in the homepage of the course from where the application form can be downloaded. 2) Online Application: where the applicant has to fill the online application form and submit all the required documents online by uploading it. In this case the student does not have to print out the application and send it to the admission office by mail/post. 3) Combined or both Online + Paper Application: where the applicant has to fill up the online application form (the online application may also access and determine if the applicant is eligible to apply for the course/university or not), print the online application form after filling it online and send it to the admission office together with the required documents stated in the online application. Here for Masters of Environmental Engineering a combined or both online + paper application, as described above, is needed. For most of the courses/universities and widely in many cases the following Documents are required. The documents must either be in English and if in any other language should be officially translated in English. a) Curriculum Vitae (CV): A detailed CV which provides information on 1) Contact information: postal address (very important as the admission letter is sent in this address in case the application is successful), email address, telephone number, name, age, gender, status, etc. 2) Academic information: education and awards achieved so far, year of accomplishment, final grades, major subjects are interests, etc. 3) Other information: extra curricular activities, awards, social involvements, etc. b) Motivation Letter/Statement of Purpose/Letter of Intent: A letter of 1 to 2 pages, as required (asked by the course/university), showing your motivation, dedication, interest, purpose, aims, objectives, ideas, comments, etc and reasons behind choosing this course/university. This letter also plays a very IMPORTANT role in the successful application, as the course/university gives high emphasis on the applicants motivation or reasons behind choosing this course/university. So 27

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

not only good academic achievements but also a good Motivation Letter (may also be called as Statement of Purpose or Letter of Intent) is required while making an application. In general it could be said that Motivation Letter weighs almost equal in compared to the applicants previous academic achievements/ grades/percentages (in School, College and University). Sometimes the courses/ universities might have their own format/guidelines on writing the motivation letter. c) Letter of Recommendation/Reference Letter: Letter of recommendation (also called reference letter) from various personals (like Professors, Assistant Professors, Lecturers, Campus Chief, Department Head, Dean, etc) commenting/writing on the applicants academics, behavior, potential, character, intellectuality, team work, abilities, individuality, work/project/thesis experience, etc. The letter of recommendation is also one of the documents which plays important role in the selection of your application as the referees (personals writing the letter of recommendation) accesses you on your academics, intelligence and abilities and writes it down in the letter. Depending on the course/university, they may ask the letter of recommendation sent directly by the referees to the admission office of the course/university. In other cases the letter of recommendation could be sent, in a sealed envelope (signed and/or stamped by the referee on the opening of the envelope), together with other application documents. Depending on the course/university, some guidelines/ formats may also be provided on how to write the letter of recommendation or in some cases even a separate letter of recommendation in a structured form may be provided by the course/university which should be filled up by the referees and submitted. The number of letter varies from 1 to 3 depending on the courses/universities and in some cases not even 1 or no letter of recommendation required. (Here 2 letter of recommendations are required for this course) d) Officially Certified Academic Documents: The copies of all academic documents achieved so far must be officially certified (authenticated/attested). This can be done by the campus/faculty/university in which you are studying or you studied. As copies, not original, of all documents/certificates is needed, the basic idea behind certification from an authorized person is to prove that the copy of the certificates are correct in compared to the original ones. Academic documents include the transcripts (showing grades/scores/ percentages) and certificates (showing that you are awarded a degree) of all levels, Schools, Colleges/Campuses and Universities, achieved so far. However if you havent graduated or received a degree (here Bachelors degree to apply for Master of Environmental Engineering) by the application deadline, the course/university will still provide you a provision to apply and inform you by when you should submit the remaining/missing 28

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

documents at latest. In principle, you should graduate or get a degree (Bachelors degree) and submit it to the admission office before the course (here Master of Environmental Engineering) you have applied for begins. Or to be more precise before the admission office decides on the application. For example, the course/university admission accepts applications with a deadline of May 15 and decides on the application (acceptance or rejection) on July 15 for a course starting on October. Normally decision is taken 3-4 months before the course/university begins so that the successful (accepted) international applicant could have enough time to apply and get their visa. Normally it takes around 1 to 3 months to apply for and get a visa. e) English Language Certificate: The certified copy of English language certificate (IELTS, TOEFL, etc) with a valid date (not more than 2 years older on the time of application) must be provided as a proof of English proficiency/sufficiency. However if you havent taken a language (IELTS, TOEFL) test or not received the score by the time you apply, the course/university may still provide you with a provision to make an application and ask you to send the language test result/score later after you receive it. However, this result/score should also be submitted before the course begins (more precisely before the decisions on the applications are made). f) Copy of your passport or identity card: A copy of your passport (front page of passport with personal details) or any other national identity card.

g) Copy of Additional Academic Achievements: In addition if you have achieved some additional academic certificates, copies of such certificates, like trainings, projects, seminars, conferences, workshops, etc should also be sent together with the application. The above lists of documents are almost all that might be necessary. Also in some courses/universities, there might be cases where only some and not all the documents listed above are asked for. On the other hand, depending on the courses/universities, additional documents may also be asked for. But in case additional documents are needed, the courses/universities will clearly explain what kind of documents they need. When the application and documents are ready, the application should be made (if paper application) by regular post/mail in the address of the admission office given in the Contact section of the course homepage. If there are any questions regarding the course/university which is not clear or unanswered by FAQs section, contact the program secretary/coordinator by calling or by email in the address provided in the Contact section of the home page. 29

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Contact Section:

In some cases due to some reasons, which I am unknown of, the email address is not written correctly. Like, here, the email address is written incorrectly umwelt [at] bv.tum.de which should be umwelt@bv.tum.de in correct form. Sometimes @ is written as [at] in the homepage and should be corrected while emailing.

Admission Procedure: After the admission office receives all the applications sent to them, the admission procedure begins. The selection procedure begins and, depending on the courses/universities, a team of Professors, Researchers, Experts, etc will sort out, select and rank the applicants based on previous academic background and performances/achievements, letter of motivation, letter of recommendation, work experience (if required), etc. The acceptance or rejection will be informed by email to all the applicants and also the official letter of acceptance/admittance is sent to the successful students by post mail. In some cases, applicants could also be placed on a waiting list so that they are offered an 30

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

acceptance/admission if any of the successful applicants rejects the acceptance/admission. Normally the admission procedure lasts for about 2-3 months and acceptance/admission is granted 3-4 months prior to the commencement of the course so that the international applicants have enough time for visa processing.

14) Visa Processing: Once you have a successful application and receive the acceptance/admission letter, you have to visit the Embassy (here it would be German Embassy) with your admission letter and ask them for the visa application process. The Embassy will then guide the students on how to process their visa application and ask to bring various documents which are necessary to get a visa. They will even describe and tell the applicants where to get those documents from. Some of the very common documents that are required for visa processing/application are: Passport All Academic Documents Admission Letter Citizenship Relationship Verification (is made from the respective VDC or Municipality Office you come from) Letter of Sponsorship (normally from your parents or relatives if you dont have adequate money on your own for studies or if you dont have a scholarship) Property Evaluation (of your sponsor and is done by VDC or Municipality Office you come from) Bank Details (of your sponsor and the Embassy might also want to see a balance of amount that is necessary to cover the cost of living and studies. You could also ask the Embassy about the total amount they expect) All these documents should be submitted in original form and if required copies too. Apart from the above listed documents, the Embassy might also ask for other documents which theyll explain if asked.

15) Scholarship Opportunities after reaching the University/Abroad: Once you reach abroad, register/admit in university and start your studies, there might be funding and scholarship opportunities depending on the course/university/country you are in. The scholarship/funding opportunities will be explained and given in the homepage of the course/university, if any. Apart from the universities, funding and scholarship may also be provided by various Foundations. The chances of getting funding/scholarship will greatly be determined by your academic progresses in 31

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

your course/university and the recommendation from the professor/course director. In addition to these if the application for scholarship is made outside the University, the Foundations might ask for your Socio-Political Involvements (in the past), Language Proficiency, Individual Commitments, etc depending on the foundation you apply for the scholarship. The list of foundations that provide scholarship for international students in Germany, www.stipendiumplus.de, is given below. Similarly such kind of foundations can also be found in other countries which support the international students studying there.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

The homepage of www.stipendiumplus.de provides the list of 12 different foundations (marked in the lower portion) that provides scholarships to international students (studying in Germany).

16) Searching other courses/universities in various countries (other than Germany): As given above were the detailed descriptions of searching courses/universities in Germany. However searching and making an application is almost similar in all countries and once you find or reach the homepage of the course/university of your interest, you can easily find all relevant information. Here are some more web links through which courses/universities can be searched in other countries. Searching courses/universities in Norway: In most of the courses/universities in Norway, no tuition fees are required. For the ones who are interested to study in Norway, the web link www.studyinnorway.no can give some general ideas and information.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Searching courses/universities in Finland: In most of the courses/universities in Finland, no tuition fees are required. For the ones who are interested to study in Finland, the web link www.universityadmissions.fi can give some general ideas and information.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Searching courses/universities in Sweden: In most of the courses/universities in Sweden starting from 2011, tuition fees ranging in thousands of euro per semester are required. Before 2011 most of the courses/universities had no tuition fees. However, the Doctoral (PhD) studies still does not have any tuition fees. For the ones who are interested to study in Sweden, the web link www.studera.nu can give some general ideas and information.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Searching courses/universities in United States of America (USA): In most of the courses/universities in USA, tuition fees ranging in thousands of dollars per year are required. For the ones who are interested to study in USA, the web link www.educationusa.state.gov can give some general ideas and information.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Searching courses/universities in United Kingdom (UK): In most of the courses/universities in UK, tuition fees ranging in thousands of pounds per year are required. For the ones who are interested to study in UK, the web link www.prospects.ac.uk can give some general ideas and information.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Searching courses/universities in Australia: In most of the courses/universities in Australia, tuition fees ranging in thousands of dollars per month are required. For the ones who are interested to study in Australia, the web link www.cricos.deewr.gov.au can give some general ideas and information.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

17) Searching official and/or reliable webpage of various countries: If you want to search and find some reliable or official webpage, related to courses/universities, in your choice of countries then just go to one of the search engines like www.google.com and search by typing Official webpage to search courses for students in New Zealand (here New Zealand is take as an example) and a list of different webpage appears which are reliable (in compared to the information provided by Consultancies) and provides almost all kinds of information you are seeking for.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

18) Searching specific courses/universities: Some of the examples on how to search specifically are given below. Searching Bachelors course in Social Work inside UK: Go to one of the search engines like www.google.com and search by typing Study + Bachelors + Social Work + UK. Then a list of webpage that is directly or indirectly linked with Bachelors in Social Work inside UK universities/colleges appears.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Searching Masters course in Agriculture inside Australia: Go to one of the search engines like www.google.com and search by typing Study + Masters + Agriculture + Australia. Then a list of webpage that is directly or indirectly linked with Masters in Agriculture inside Australian universities/colleges appears.

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A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

Searching International Relations course in Harvard University: Go to one of the search engines like www.google.com and search by typing Study + International Relations + Harvard University. Then a list of webpage that is directly or indirectly linked with International Relations studies in Harvard University appears.

19) Searching for scholarship (including course/university) in home country: If the students/applicants are interested to go abroad only with a confirmation of scholarship along with the acceptance/admission letter from the course/university, they can visit the Embassies (of the country you want to apply) and/or Consulates (if there are no Embassies of that country) and inquire them about the courses they could apply together with scholarships. In the case, if the 42

A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad by Deepak Kaduwal

applicant is successful, he/she will be granted both the admission and the scholarship in. Having scholarship or confirmation of scholarship makes the visa application procedure and living/studying abroad lot easier. However, to apply for a scholarship from home country (Nepal), the applicants should have work experiences, depending on the countries, from 2 to 5 years. The scholarship generally encourages applicant who are, involved in public services (working under the Nepal Government), female, from minority and disadvantaged groups. Normally this kind of scholarship opens at least one year prior to the commencement of the course (like the application deadline is on October 2011 if the course is to begin on October 2012). Most of the developed and European nations provide these kinds of scholarships to students from developing/least developed countries. Detailed information can be taken from the respective Embassies/Consulates. Some of the examples of such scholarships are, DAAD scholarship for Germany, Fulbright scholarship for USA, Nuffic for Netherlands/Holland, Erasmus Mundus scholarship for European Countries, Chevening scholarship for UK, AusAID scholarship for Australia, etc.

I hope the manual and information provided here were helpful to you and assisted you in searching and applying for courses/universities abroad on your own. I wish you good luck with your studies, work and for your future ahead. In case you have further queries or doubts, please feel free to write to me at deepak.kaduwal@yahoo.com, or my Facebook Deepak Kaduwal or search and follow the updated version of A handbook/manual on how to search courses/universities abroad in Facebook.

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