Studies

It's that time of year again. Assignments are starting to pile and due very soon and after that is the final exam then summer break. At least for the people studying in Australia anyway. That's is normal depending on the course that you are doing. For example, if you are doing a business course you would have more assignments and if you are doing a course like medicine or pharmacy would would have a test every other week.

But even where studies is concerned, there are problems of its own. Some like the idea of completing their course locally, others overseas and some have no choice as twinning comes in as part of the package. Naturally, by doing it locally you can save on a lot of cost especially if the country you are going to has a high exchange rate but since when has studying overseas ever come cheap.

So which is better? Completing your course locally or a full overseas program or a twinning? Some might argue on the basis of cost effectiveness and choose to complete their course locally while others believe that a by going overseas is better as there is exposure and experience involve. So this are the situations, which one are you in? and given a choice which would you choose?

By completing the course locally it may seem easier as you are used to the teaching style and comfortable with it. Plus, you don't need to cook, clean or do laundry.

By studying overseas on the other hand, you will need to adapt and settle into new culture, new teaching styles and new weather. Seems like a good deal studying overseas eh? Getting to see and explore new places, meeting new friends, experiencing new experiences and so many other new things. But there is a trade off, you will need to learn to be independent, do your own cooking, cleaning and laundry. Also, since you are in a new place, the teaching styles will be different and therefore the marking system would also be slightly different. It seems that from what I have gathered, students going overseas to study find that their grades fall. Imagine a High Distinction(HD) student going overseas and getting Pass Level 1 (P1). Now that's a huge drop. For those that don't know the order is from highest to lowest is HD, D, C, P1, P2, F1 and F2. A drop 3 grades. This will be very discouraging. They are paying good money to go overseas to study and these are the sort of results that they are getting? Something is not right here, perhaps they are not doing it correctly, or haven't settled down yet. True, but what happens after they have settled down? what will they say next?

So there's the thing to think about. Is it actually worth it to go overseas and study? forking out that amount of cash for the experience and maybe suffer a potential a drop in grades? or do you think that by doing it locally you are able to retain high grades and save cost at the same time.

The choice is yours.