College Research: The Importance Of Being Realistic

If you have come so far in the series, by now you would have conducted your research based on what you are looking for. Now let's add another dimension to your research by being realistic about the research process.

When you google 'top universities in XYZ country' most probably will show the top results of universities based on selectivity. Selectivity is defined as the number and percentage of students a university accepts compared to a total number of applications received. The lower the number, the more selective the university. It is the hardest to get accepted at the more selective universities.

It is this concept of selectivity which confuses international students the most. If a college is harder to get into that does not mean that college is better, it only means that the competition to get admission is high and it is harder to get into. That is all.
If you are aiming at applying to the highly selective universities, ask yourself two questions -

1. Are you realistically prepared to handle the demands that come with attending a highly selective university?

2. Do your academic and overall qualifications ensure a realistic chance for your acceptance?

To answer the first question, the type of students highly selective colleges look for are academically the best of the best. Are you ready to be in classes with the best students from across the world? The optimistic answer would be yes, of course. But realistically, a lot of students who have been top performers all their lives experience doubts about their capabilities and their self-esteem takes a plunge under such a high-stress environment and competition.

The quantity of work that you will be given will be enormous. Will you be able to complete all of that work and maintain the expected high quality which is expected? Is that the type of environment you expect from your international college experience? Answer these questions honestly.

About the second question, the fact is that hundreds of thousand students wish to attend highly selective universities. However, most of the applications are rejected. So consider how strong your academic scores are. How strong your extracurricular qualifications are? Do these two together make your profile the best?

So, be cautious about researching only the highly selective universities. There are chances that you are attracted to the brand name of these highly selective universities. But don't miss out on a college that is equally good academically and offers a less stressful environment. Maybe those equally good colleges are not as selective.

So when you are doing research, search by selectivity if you want. But consider other options and criteria as well.

College search sites let you search by test scores. For example, if you search on Studyabroad.shiksha.com, you can find universities that accept your range of IELTS score.
however, be cautious as searching by test scores can no doubt be helpful, but it can limit your options. There are universities which accept a wide range of test scores. If you searching only by test scores, you may eliminate some of those options. At the early stages of research, it is recommended to search both with and without test scores in order to see all of your options first.

Along with all these criteria, the reality includes paying for the international education. You can search for universities according to fee too. In many cases, the price tag can be misleading as there are high priced colleges that offer generous financial aid to deserving and eligible candidates.

You can search universities by the financial aid or scholarships offered to international students but remember that searching only by this criteria will narrow your search results considerably. For example, public and state universities usually don't offer financial aid to international students. So your search result will not show those universities but those universities usually have a lower fee, to begin with. And they might be within your budget even without offering financial aid.

Now that you have refined your search based on what criteria you want and on what is realistic, you will have a smaller list of universities. now you need to look deeper into those universities and dig out all the information you can.

 Complete Series: How to Apply to Universities Abroad