Without further ado, dry goods are served!
This article prepares the time plan for studying abroad and the specific preparation methods for each project.
1. Time planning
- Freshman to senior year: Maintain a good GPA, even if you don't go to study abroad, you can get a scholarship!
- Freshman year: Just think about whether you want to study abroad, think about the future, and enjoy the hard-won university life!
- Sophomore: Decide which region you want to study in (Britain, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, etc.) and whether you should consider changing your major.
- Sophomore: To prepare for the IELTS/TOEFL exam, you can pass the fourth or sixth level first, even if you don't study abroad in the future, you can use it to find a job for the graduate school entrance examination;
- Junior year: IELTS score, determine the specific school and major you want to apply for according to the background information of the seniors who have received the offer in the previous session, and consider whether to find an intermediary.
- Junior year: IELTS/TOEFL, GMAT/GRE scores, the first draft of the essay is completed, the recommender is confirmed, and the teacher will do scientific research or continue to do internship in the summer.
- 大四:网申面试拿offer。
Second, specific projects
Step 1: Decide where you want to study
1. Look at the cost
Take a look at how much it costs to study in each region:
- Hong Kong: 20-400,000 RMB;
- Singapore: about 25-400,000 RMB;
- UK: about 40-500,000 RMB;
- Australia: about 30-500,000 RMB;
- United States: more than 500,000 RMB.
......
2. Look at your undergraduate background
Look at your undergraduate background and how hard you think you can go:
- The United States and Canada: Studying abroad is highly valuable, but the competition is very fierce and difficult.
- UK and Australia: The vast majority of schools have partnerships with intermediaries, with the largest number of students enrolled and the largest number of Chinese students.
- If you want to go to the top 50, you need to come up with something real, and the schools in the back are generally not difficult unless they are the ace majors of the school.
- Hong Kong and Singapore: There are very few schools, but they are all highly ranked, and the difficulty is not small, but not as high as in the United States.
- Small language countries: Due to language restrictions, there are fewer people who go, but the cost is very low, if you can apply to a good school (University of Tokyo, etc.), it is very cost-effective, and of course, the difficulty is not low (to learn a new language).
Step 2: Decide on the major you want to apply for
In fact, for most students, it is not easy to decide on a major in their freshman year.
Not to mention anything else, how many people choose majors because of "good employment", "recommended by family members" and "filled in by parents"?
It's rare to have just come out of a high-intensity test-taking education and let you have a clear plan for your future, and that's not to blame you!
Therefore, you can use your freshman year as a time to adapt and grow, and plan your future well.
Consider whether you want to continue studying in this major, or change majors (many schools allow it), whether you will go to graduate school, study abroad or work directly in the future, have a clear plan for your life, and grasp your life!
Step 3: Make an application plan
Directly to the application planning form I did when I was DIY:
1. Academic background
(1) Undergraduate
The general ladder is C9>985>211> one> two> three > college promotion/self-examination undergraduate, to see which level you are at and how much effort you have to pay. Generally speaking, the worse the undergraduate background, the higher the requirements for other backgrounds, which belongs to making up for the efforts that have not been put in the college entrance examination until now.
(2) GPA
Speaking of experience, if you want to go to the top100, 3.0 (80 points) is the minimum threshold, and Shuangfei must be 3-5 points higher than 985/211 to slightly offset the disadvantages of undergraduates.
The higher the GPA, the greater the chance, and the more it can make up for the shortcomings of the college background.
(3) IELTS/TOEFL
TOEFL and IELTS are accepted in most regions (English-speaking countries), but my recommendation is to take the TOEFL in the United States and IELTS in other places. 6.5 is a regular score (6 is already very low, there are very few choices), if you want to go to the TOP50, IELTS to 7 TOEFL 95 is a more conventional score;
If you are applying for a popular major such as business media, there are many gods with a score of 7.5 or even 8......
Also, preparing for the IELTS (TOEFL) exam is a very lengthy process.
My advice is:
It's best to be able to take the test before the end of your junior year, especially if you have to take the GMAT, you will only have nothing left in the end!!
If you really can't pass the test, you must get your score before the senior online application (September) at the latest.
(4) GMAT/GRE
GRE和GMAT该考哪个?
First, look at the major.
Finance, accounting, management, marketing, etc., these general business majors choose GMAT, statistics is more science, economics is more social science, choose GRE;
Second, look at the region.
The GRE/GMAT is available in both Hong Kong and North America, but the Commonwealth prefers the GMAT.
Not all majors need to be examined, some business majors will be mandatory to submit (United States/Singapore), pay attention to the official website requirements;
If you don't have a mandatory submission but have a poor background, a 700+ GMAT or 320+ GRE is a good plus for you.
In terms of timing, my advice is:
After the IELTS score is out, prepare for the GRE/GMAT, because this is more difficult, prepare for this first, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear it
2. Practical background
(1) Internship
The principle of finding an internship, job matching> total length of internship> company reputation.
The relevance of the position to the applied major is more important than the company's popularity.
Of course, it is best to go to a famous company, but it is better to go to a small company to do some core positions after going to do odd jobs, and the total duration is more than 6 months.
It is recommended to start making resumes in the second year of the sophomore year, go out to find an internship in the summer, and be exactly six months by the end of the third year.
(2) Scientific research
Applying for MPhil and PhD is indispensable, and there are no mandatory requirements for taught master's degrees, but if you do, you can be one level above competitors from the same background.
Be sure to reach out to the teacher!
A college teacher is different from a high school teacher, the more you get to know him, the easier it is to get involved in his project! The more willing he is to use you!
If you don't have a good scientific research project before the summer vacation of your junior year, you should take the initiative to contact the teacher (you will catch up with the results in the summer vacation, and there is a shortage of manpower, and the teacher will be happy to accept you), and strive to go into the laboratory with the teacher to do some small projects in the summer, and the lucky teacher will directly bring your name to post articles.
(3) Exchange abroad
A big plus (especially to get a letter of recommendation from a foreign professor), but going to the exchange will inevitably delay other processes, so it is recommended to exchange before the third year;
If you don't have time, don't force it, this is not a necessary item.
3. Instruments
(1) PS
An 800-1000 word personal statement, the main content of which is why you chose this major, what are your application advantages, your future career plan, etc., which requires a high level of English writing.
In an application, it's the first impression you make on admissions officers, and it's not something you can just write about.
The first draft should be finalized before the summer vacation of the junior year, and the final draft should be finalized before the start of the senior year.
(2) CV
Resume, not much to say
(3) Referrers
The principle of finding a recommender, the degree of contact between the teacher and you> the degree of connection between the teacher and the major> the willingness of the teacher> the teacher's title, position, academic achievements, etc.
The two better choices are a teacher or thesis supervisor who has taken their own professional courses, which is not only familiar with them, but also has a high degree of professional matching.
Step 4: Determine whether to find an agent
Whether you need to find an agent, you need to consider three questions:
1. Do you have time to make a summary of the majors that each school has that you can apply to?
Summary table of all majors in the eight universities in Hong Kong (students who don't have it can ask for sisters)
2. Can you accurately position yourself and choose your own sprint/safe/guaranteed colleges and majors as shown in the figure below?
3. Are you sure you can write yourself a PS of the level below?
If you are not sure about completing the above two items, I suggest you find an agent, as lack of time for DIY may lead to a failure to improve the background that is more important to the application, and inaccurate positioning may lead to missing the dream school offer or not getting an offer.
If the first two items are OK and the third item is not, you can choose semi-DIY and just ask a clerk to help you write the essay.
Of course, if you have enough time, you can try to DIY the whole process, and if you can't do it in the follow-up, you should find a good intermediary in the junior year, and with an intermediary, the few hours can be used more effectively.
Step 5: Apply online
After the start of the senior year, you can prepare the application materials and then submit the application online, and the specific process is similar in each region, but there are some differences in the details.
I wish you all an offer to get an offer from your dream school!