A Freshers Varsity Guide

Updated on: Monday, February 15, 2010

Going abroad? What should you look for in a top university? Broadly speaking, there are six issues you should bear in mind. These are:

* Choosing a university and an academic programme
* Understanding the university application and admissions process
* Student life and university housing
* Student opportunities
* Student finance, university fees, loans and grants
* Careers and work

As higher education continues to become more international, choosing a university or college can be a complicated business. Not only are there geographic differences, there are also cultural differences as well as a variety in qualifications, specialisations and programmes.University rankings, such as the QS World University Rankings, are a good place to start in order to define a shortlist to research further. Remember, the world’s top 200 universities will all be extremely competitive and encourage a high standard of admission. Top universities provide a great deal of information about employment rates, the number of applicants per place, their position in world university rankings and the range of international links they possess. These criteria contribute to an impression of a university and its relative status in a country. So familiarise yourself with these attributes.

Academic programmes
Individual academic programmes have different reputations and not all top departments live in top universities. Make sure you are familiar with the structure of a programme, whether there are any particularly famous members of staff that teach undergraduates and, for the vocationally orientated programmes, whether there are links with industry or other relevant professions.

Professional accreditation
Universities and their programmes also need to be recognised by the appropriate authority so that your qualification upon graduation is valid.

The admissions process
The university admissions process and the university application itself differs from country to country, and often from university to university within a single nation. It is essential that you are familiar with every aspect of the relevant process and university application from an early stage. Dead-lines tend to be very rigid, particularly at top universities, where competition can be fierce and the most popular programmes receive many more applications than there are places available. By knowing which university does what and being familiar with when material should be submitted, you can support yourself through the university admissions process and maximise your chances of admission.

The author is an education journalist and web content manager of topuniversities.com

A Freshers Varsity Guide

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