If studying abroad is one of your dreams, you need to be very decisive with everything you do. You have to be very careful about everything from choosing the right institutions, following the admission procedures, knowing different terms and conditions of the concerned institutes, preparing a complete CV to encircle the most suitable course and so on. It is tough to pinpoint how things can go once you land in a foreign country. But you can surely avoid a few mistakes to make your university life easy. Here are a few major mistakes to avoid while applying to universities abroad. Checking on these common mistakes can increase your chances of getting admission to one of the German universities. Let’s have a look.
Applying to One University
If you are planning to apply to a single university, you are already reducing your chances of getting admission. Most of the students think that taking a chance with one university is enough. But that’s not the case, especially in German universities.
The last thing you would want is to spend 6 to 8 months and knowing that you are not selected. It doesn’t matter how good your grades are, applying to only one university can land you in huge trouble.
Apply to at least a dozen universities so, that you can have maximum chances of getting selected to at least one of them.
Having an average Statement of Purpose (SOP)
The Statement of Purpose (SOP) also known as Letter of Motivation (LOM) is the only document that tells your personal story to the admission committee. It is the single non-official document in the application that can carry up to 30% weight-age in deciding your success for admission.
Regardless of the course that you are applying for, you will be asked to send a Letter of Motivation (SOP) along with your application to the university. This is an opportunity for you to convince the universities that you are an eligible candidate for their program by telling them your story. Most students who write SOP themselves look for SOP Samples online and draft an essay. The issue with this approach is that the structure of the essay is not going to be unique as it was referenced elsewhere. From our experience, self-written essays always have huge structural flaws. The reason for this is that these essays don’t get reviewed by the experts.
It is suggested to take a balance here since this document is the most important of all in the application process. Hire an SOP Writing Service if you have to or get your self-written SOP reviewed by the experts. Onlinemacha.com offers both services for an affordable cost, contact us to know more about it.
Relying Heavily on Education Consultants
Most of the students, even their guardians, think education consultants are there to help them. If you are one of them, you are not completely right. They are doing their business; they are making huge money from both sides (students and universities).
Remember, you can do your work way better than others. Instead of investing a lot of money in education consultation and letting them do your work, invest time in yourself to understand and prepare the documents.
Do you know WHY?
First of all, nobody will put efforts into someone else’s work. Education consultants process dozens of applications every day. They can only update an already prepared application for you.
You can do that perfectly by yourself because you know yourself way better than anyone.
As we have already discussed, education consultants mean business. They look for huge money. They got nothing to do with your chances of getting admission.
Yes, you can seek guidance for your documents. But relying heavily on education consultants is surely not a great thing. So, put some efforts into preparing all your documents by yourself. You definitely can do it!
Looking for Private Universities Only
If you are planning to apply only in private universities, you are going to make a huge mistake.
Why would you spend a lot of money and study at a private university? If you can study in a public university at very affordable costs?
Don’t make a mistake of applying to private universities only. There are multiple reasons for preferring public universities over the private ones:
Most of the German students do their bachelors and start working. And that’s not the case with students from sub-continent, especially from India. Indian students usually prefer to get at least a master’s degree. Many times, the number of vacant seats in the public universities are much more than the number of applications for admissions. Which means getting admission to the public universities becomes easier than you would think.
- You can get admission in public universities even if you have low grades (That Doesn’t mean the quality of education is below par at public universities).
- Public universities officials don’t get any financial incentives from the students! And that is a huge benefit, especially if you have a weak financial background.
- Students’ councils in Germany can powerfully influence the public universities in comparison to the private ones.
Not Learning the German Language
Planning to study at a German university? You HAVE to give importance to the German language. Most of the students going to Germany think the English language should be enough to survive in Germany. But that’s not the case!
If you want to have a comfortable life in Germany, you will have to learn German anyhow! Like most of the Indians, German people don’t give much importance to the English language. They instead prefer interacting in their language.
If you are planning to get a job in Germany, you will have to learn the German language anyways. There is no other option! Once you complete your master’s program, you will accept the German language as a huge necessity. Then why can’t you learn it during your master’s program, if not during the bachelors?
Many times, the companies don’t even look at the job letters only because they are written in the English language, not in German!
If you are planning to study at a German university, you must have to learn the German language. And that’s easier than you can think. You don’t have to join special language classes to learn German. You can do it on your own with different language books and online resources.
Ignoring the German Dot Programs
Students from India usually apply only for English dot programs. If you are planning to do the same, you are about to make a huge mistake. You are already reducing your chances of getting admission to a reputed German university.
Yes, English dot programs are easy for non-Germans, but most of the German universities prefer German dot programs over the English dot programs.
If you are serious about studying at a German university, you will have to give preference to the German dot programs. Apply to at least 10-12 public universities for German dot programs to have better chances of getting selected.
Not Planning well in advance
It is one of the most common as well as underestimated mistakes. Students do not plan in advance and encounter a lot of avoidable problems at the last moments.
If you think studying abroad is only about determination, skills, and academic records, you are wrong. Planning or you can say, planning well in advance makes a lot of difference.
You have to be clear about everything. Why do you want to fly to Germany for your higher education? Why are you going to study a specific program? Why are you aiming to study in a particular institution? How your social life will be affected abroad? Are you ready to adjust to a completely different culture?
All these questions are very serious, and you have to consider them. Planning of at least a year requires to make everything comfortable and smooth.
You can’t take a bag and fly to a foreign country. You are not going for a vacation. You are going to spend a quality time of your life in a place you are not familiar with. So, think properly about your decision of studying in Germany or any other country for that matter.
Sit in front of a drawing board, take as much time you need, and plan every single thing properly in advance. Otherwise, get ready to face a lot of unexpected problems.
These are some common mistakes you can avoid to ensure a smooth and comfortable life before and after your admission to a foreign university. Hopefully, you like the guide, and it will be very helpful for you in future. Share your thoughts and queries with us. We will try to get back to you.
Thanks so much for an interesting article!