João Moreno .com

I’ve always had this idea of continuing my studies abroad, going to a foreign country and expand my perspectives. And now that I’m finishing my Computer Engineering degree on FCT UNL, I’m focusing all the attention I can spare – and considering the current workload coming directly from campus, I have to admit that it isn’t much – on improving myself and my résumé to facilitate a possible admission on a nice technology Master’s degree. I’ll try to give some tips also for you to do so, and considering that this is an ongoing activity for me, any feedback would be super-duper.

First Things First

In what direction do you want to go? Are you comfortable with your current field of study? Do you like what you do? Are you happy? Do you think that you’ll be happy, if you follow a certain career? These oddly subjective questions are of upmost importance, and even though you can’t answer some of them, you must be able to answer them negatively. By eliminating different possibilities, you may not realize it but you come closer to identify your true aptitude.

For example, I’m most certain I don’t want to follow a database related career and the same applies to low level computing, such as computer architecture.

This is pretty much valid throughout your whole life, but considering the situation I’d say the consequences of having a life-perspective-changing epiphany while studying outside your home country could bring you an extremely rough time.

Choose Carefully

Take a good look at your options. Find the institutes that you relate with the most. Talk to the university’s current students, former students, teachers, even your current teachers and current school guidance. Reviews and rankings are also a great source of information.

I particularly found Google and Wikipedia excellent sources of miscellaneous info about the universities I researched. For example, with a little bit of research, I first came across this excellent Top 10 IT Universities ranking. Based on that, you can choose some institutions and define your goals. Remember that you can apply to several universities, and choose the one you really want to get in to, in case you get accepted in several. And don’t limit yourself to these choices, always have some sort of (properly researched) backup, or else you will risk facing a whole year doing something that you dislike.

Make sure you include several factors on your choices, mainly:

• Financial obligations and support. Surely, you don’t want to run out of money while studying abroad, so have a nice financial plan – be that getting a study loan, working part-time, applying to scholarships or asking your parents very politely. If you chose to pursue a scholarship, consult the receiving university as well as your own university for information. Don’t forget that several independent institutes also provide these opportunities.
• The native language. I can’t stress this enough, if you don’t have the openness of being able to learn a new language (if needed), don’t bother – skip that choice. There are some exceptions like some IT Master’s degrees on non English speaking countries being taught in English, and even there you must learn how to speak, and listen to the English language.

Gee, Lots of ToDos

Most universities require you to present and/or acquire certain certificates or essays. A most common requirement for universities all around the globe are internationally recognized English tests such as the TOEFL and the IELTS. I happen to have an IELTS exam (Academic module) scheduled in two weeks time.

You may also be asked to write essays and résumés, depending on the institute’s requirements. Make sure you apply yourself enough when making these documents, because they represent a whole amount of your application and reflect your ambitions and professional goals objectively.

It’s always nice to have some sort of letter of recommendation, from a former teacher or employer of yours, even if the application doesn’t require it.

Important Deadlines

Try to send your application in time, preferably ahead of time, in order to correct any possible misinformation and to give the people that choose who gets in more time to do it properly. Keep a schedule with important deadlines and stick to it, or else you may have to hurry your application risking its quality.

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I’m currently considering three options: TU Delft, ETH Zurich and DTU (Denmark), but focusing more on the first, mainly because the application’s deadline is way before the other two, but also due to the feedback I’ve got from former and current students being extremely positive. The degree I’ve chosen is Computer Science.

So, are you considering studying abroad in the future? What are your thoughts?