Want to study in Singapore? Then read this before you finalize
If you are an Indian student aspiring for overseas education to broaden your knowledge and exposure, then you might consider studying in Singapore. It is emerging as the new favorite destination for students exploring study abroad options. You might be keen on knowing the reason since there are already established players like UK and USA. These countries have been the hub for international students for a very long time now.
The current generation of candidates wants to explore newer destinations. With the advent of internet and connectivity, more countries have been able to showcase their education system to the world and bring improvisations to ensure that this system responds to the challenges and needs of the present complex world. It is this initiative that has brought countries like Singapore to the forefront of overseas education because of their unique curriculum and advanced teaching pedagogy that helps students solve real life problems, deal with complex challenges and have holistic view of solutions.
There are a lot of universities in Singapore which have been featuring regularly in the top 10 universities of the world year after year. However, it is not just the quality of education but a host of other supporting factors that make Singapore such a lucrative destination for overseas education. Let us find them out:
Benefits
Top quality education
Before we talk about how good the education is in Singapore, it is important to understand the intent of the government for education. Singapore is emerging as the next world leader in education surpassing some of the established name in this field through its sheer focus on holistic education and focus on problem solving skills. Not just the government, the entire ecosystem in Singapore (which consists of parents, educators, private sector companies, and government) make sure that they contribute their bit in order to make this initiative a true success. They understand that good education is one of the vital pillars of a booming economy and hence make sure that the steps taken are not just mentioned on paper but also implemented in spirit throughout the nation. As per OECD ranking for its Program for international Student Survey (PISA), Singapore finds place in top 5 nations in the world. Not only this, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are highly placed in the QS World University ranking 2021.
Multilingual population
Officially, there are four languages in Singapore – English, Mandarin, Tamil and Malay. While knowing English would be sufficient to complete the course in Singapore but this is one of those rare opportunities to learn other languages and be multilingual. One of the advantages that Indian students get when it comes to international work opportunities is if they can showcase having learnt at least 1 foreign language during their student years and here is a country that gives you an opportunity to learn multiple languages. One of the key reasons a lot of Indian students opt for overseas education is an environment to learn a foreign language. As language experts suggest that one of the best ways to learn a language is in its natural settings (i.e., in the company of native speakers). Hence, if you also want to add few foreign language certifications in your resume then you may consider studying in Singapore.
More affordable education
The tuition fees for various courses in Singaporean universities is comparatively more affordable than its counterparts in other developed countries. And this becomes even more affordable if one applies for scholarships, grants and other subsidies. However, this in no way implies that it affects the quality of education provided in any form. Since, a lot of students have affordability as one of the criterion to select a country for overseas education; hence it is important to highlight it here that one of the benefits of selecting Singapore is its more comfortable education expenses.
Safe country
This is one of the major concerns that students these days have about any country that they wish to go for higher studies. With increasing crime all over the world, it becomes a consistent query that students and their parents have, for every Singapore education consultant. Singapore is one of the safest countries to live and study in Asia. The government is quite strict about maintaining law and order and ensuring that crime is at its lowest level possible in the country since it ensures a safety net for its own citizens and international students. Such a secured environment helps Indian students to settle down faster and adapt comfortably to the ways of Singapore. That is one of the reasons why during admission procedure, the officers take special notice of the conduct of the applying students so that they only accept and approve applications of those whom they perceive to be of good nature!
When do I need an overseas education consultant?
When applying for overseas education, it is important to understand that it requires spending a good amount of money and time. If one is opting to apply as an individual, he (she) is taking the chance of sorting it all out alone and this increases the risk of rejection since the individual lacks the experience of such an application process. While some students successfully manage a seat but there are a lot of others who face rejection due to various factors. Consider reaching out to a consultant if you want to increase your chances of success. Here are some of the scenarios in which you might need a consultant:
Finding suitable course and university
Choosing is easy when the options are limited to 5. But how does one choose when there are hundreds of options available? Collecting information about every course, collating data about their relevance and popularity, comparing with peers and finding out which course really stands out – all of this is a time taking process. While you may say that Google knows it all but sifting through the billion search results that Google presents for almost every query is an impossible task. Then you may wonder how one selects the most suitable course and university to apply for if one wants to study in Singapore. This is when you need overseas education consultants. Their business is to collect all of the data, analyze and segregate them as per their relevance and finally create a database of courses and universities based on what each of them specialize in (which also includes application process, fee details, vital details about curriculum design, teaching methodology, recognition in industries across the world, scholarship details, work while you earn program details etc.). At GoCan, we go one step further by automating the entire database. So, everytime we receive a request to find a suitable college and course for an applicant, we list down their criteria and use an automated search to come up with the best match within seconds. Such a comprehensive list saves time of our students, gives them complete info about the courses of their choice and empowers them to make an informed decision.
Preparation for tests
This is one of the most important areas. Different universities in Singapore have different set of cut off scores for technical exams like GRE and GMAT. Hence, to be sure of selection, it is important to score as high as possible on these tests and for that a student needs to not just prepare well but also know the pattern of questions A lot of overseas consultants do not provide much help with preparation of these tests. But GoCan is one of those few Singapore Education consultants in India that helps you with preparation for these technical tests as well as for language proficiency tests like TOEFL and IELTS. We do this because we understand how important it is for a student to get a great score in these exams and hence we make sure that the students get everything they need to apply and get successfully selected at a particular university. It is never a great experience to have multiple service providers help you with different stages of selection. In such an arrangement, lack of co-ordination and different styles of execution leads to a lot of chaos and stress for the student. Hence, at GoCan, we make sure that students also get ample training on these tests by our expert trainers who have decade long experience in helping students successfully clear these tests. We have both online and offline coaching facilities, depending upon the student’s preference.
Documentation and admission essays
Documentation for admission into any of the universities in Singapore is no different than any other country. There is a standard set of documents required by almost every university. In addition to this, there are some more documents required by certain universities which help them to verify and process the admission application further. Also there are admission essays, SOPs and/or LORs that are long form and require quite a lot of information to be weaved into an engaging story. All of this comes as a daunting experience for students applying to study in Singapore. Here, the experience of study abroad consultants comes in handy. Their expertise in handling documentation for several students and different countries helps them to understand the minute details that go into providing correct and relevant set of documents. They also understand the intent of every type of admission essay and guide students to create one that suits the purpose. While for a student it may be easy to talk about their own strengths and weaknesses, their goals, aspirations and career highlights, it is not always easy to write them down in a story format and link it with the course objectives. That is why, it is often advised by students who have successfully completed overseas education that admission essays should be written with some help from experts who this area and have enough experience in crafting such essays.
Financial planning and assistance
If financial planning is an area that you are struggling with while applying for any university in Singapore, then it is a good idea to consult a Singapore Education consultant in India who can help you with the various options to manage your finances. Almost every country has the option of scholarships, grants, aids, work while you learn, education loans etc. to help students manage the overall expenditure comfortably. A lot of students aspire to study abroad but quite a lot of them stall their plans after facing difficulty in creating a good financial plan to sponsor the education. This happens because there is simply too much information available and less clarity on options that ease the financial burden on students. Overseas consultants help reduce this confusion and bring more transparency in the options available to students.
Locating the best overseas education consultant requires checking the following:
Now that you know the scenarios when you may need the services of an overseas education consultant, it is important to know how to locate one who has immense experience in this field. Following tips may be helpful:
Experience
One of the first things to notice is the amount of experience an overseas education consultant has in getting students successfully admitted to universities in Singapore. For this, it is important to check the success rate mentioned on the website and gauge an idea about the depth of their experience through their services offered.
Testimonials
What clients say is a great and often, more authentic way to find out how good a consultant is. Say, you are from Punjab and you have a list of Singapore Education Consultants in Punjab and they all provide similar services. SO, how do you know which is the best out of them all. An easier way is to go through their testimonials and see what happy clients say about them. Often, you would also get to know about the services that are most popular since it would be spoken about by most of the satisfied clients.
Knowledge center
Any service provider in today’s age, has a knowledge center on its website, as a way to share industry specific knowledge with its audience. This is also the case with overseas education service providers. Their knowledge center often in the form of blog posts are a place wherein they talk about the latest trends, insights on future and any other relevant topic for their audience. It is not a place to market them but a place to inform the audience and help it make better choices. The quality of blogs would decide how well they know their field, how invested they are in understanding the emerging trends and underlying changes. All of this helps a student understand how serious they are about their craft and that would give enough confidence in a student. So, check out the blog section to know more about the education consultant that you want to seek help from.
Availability
A consultant should be available to answer your queries, sort out your confusion, remind you of every deadline, prepare you for your tests, give you a patient hearing when needed, provide you with much needed motivation and empower you with all the information you may need to make the important decisions for your education. All of this can only happen if a consultant is genuinely interested in your case and wants you to succeed in making your dream of studying overseas, a reality. At GoCan, we make sure we do this by connecting every student with an admission specialist who is available at all times to sort out any admission related query calmly. But how do you know that a consultant in your area has this kind of availability for you. A simple way is to search for consultants in your area. Say, you are from Ludhiana, then search for overseas education consultant in Ludhiana and from the list that you get, call each of them and understand their process, ask them questions when in doubt. This inquiry would help you understand about their willingness to go out of their way to answer your queries and also help you understand how interested they are in your case.
FAQs