Overseas Uni funds preparation
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Adding on my rant on overseas education - an overseas education, even to the top universities, is NOT a guarantee of career success - its not even a guarantee of a good first job placement.
Three or four years in university is quite some time - things can go awry, much as things can go well. It’s not a dissimilar story to getting into a top JC or top Sec School - it’s no guarantee of success. Generally, the conditions are there for you to excel and position yourself - how far each person goes and makes use of the various opportunities, is still down to the individual.
The segment of students/parents I am more empathetic towards is those who have tried hard but could not get into the local university for the course of their choice and have to look overseas. I can see why some parents who sell house / dig into retirement savings to see their child through say, Medicine overseas. - because they ahve all witnessed how hard the child has already tried, and the interest displayed, but for whatever reasons, did not manage to get a place in the local uni for a course or profession they are passionate about.
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@doodbug said in Overseas Uni funds preparation:
Adding on my rant on overseas education - an overseas education, even to the top universities, is NOT a guarantee of career success - its not even a guarantee of a good first job placement.
Three or four years in university is quite some time - things can go awry, much as things can go well. It’s not a dissimilar story to getting into a top JC or top Sec School - it’s no guarantee of success. Generally, the conditions are there for you to excel and position yourself - how far each person goes and makes use of the various opportunities, is still down to the individual.
The segment of students/parents I am more empathetic towards is those who have tried hard but could not get into the local university for the course of their choice and have to look overseas. I can see why some parents who sell house / dig into retirement savings to see their child through say, Medicine overseas. - because they ahve all witnessed how hard the child has already tried, and the interest displayed, but for whatever reasons, did not manage to get a place in the local uni for a course or profession they are passionate about.
Agreed with you.
As a parent with a kid who completed both under-graduate and post-graduate studies both overseas and (still) trying to convince other kid to do under-graduate studies overseas, the considerations are more than cost/affordibility.
Am certain of my objectives and takeaways of the kids spending time overseas and have no regrets on the decision, i.e. kids studying overseas though they have a local offer.
The psychology of being away for an exchange program is different from being a full-time student. The opportunities that are available, eg summer school program, participation in research program / CCA / scholarship, internship, employment, etc, are also different.
Being a full-time student also means that they will have better possibility of developing deeper and more meaningful friendships with other international students.
From an ROI perspective, every candidate to a tip of triangle firm is equally (academically) sound, but for those are recruited, the costs can be recovered fairly quickly - this may mean child will have to live and work overseas though. Do note that this is not necessarily the intended outcome or what every child wants, hence may be a factor of consideration.
Personally feel that while the overseas education experience may open some doors, it is not a guarantee to anything. Rather, the personality and characteristics may play a bigger role.
For some kids whose personality may be more suited to be nearer home, given their proximity, Hong Kong, Japan may be an option.
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did seriously consider sending my children to study overseas , for the sole reason of exposing them, and not because of the particular course , career prospect or reputation of the university. But they don’t seem to be keen. I have three children. And we could not afford for three anyway. And maybe they know we couldn’t afford too.
On the exposures, I was hoping they can become more resilient, comfortable communicating with people from other cultures and maybe becoming more street smart.
Would like to hear feedback from parents with children studying overseas, what are the changes in personalities you see in them from studying overseas, if any? Or it is down to individuals characteristics, as one parent has shared.
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I sent knowing that the person who returns is not the same as the person who left, and the brighter lights will help her thrive.
Personality of other child is different, am hoping to send to help him develop confidence and widen comfort zone. If agreeable to go, will likely be HK, Japan, Korea or China for easier visits.
Would think the social experience is also dependent on the profiles / ratio of the student intake at the uni and social circle. Mine was in a Russell group uni outside of London for undergrad and in London for postgrad. Would have thought that there will be lots of fellow SG at the uni but somehow not really. May be due to the course, unable to confirm.
山高皇帝远 comfort zone for advanture is often wider than mine so is often 先斩后奏
Most kids will be sensible enough to know not to worry family, so will need to be street smart to solve any issue encountered so that no escalation is required.
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@bbbay said in Overseas Uni funds preparation:
did seriously consider sending my children to study overseas , for the sole reason of exposing them, and not because of the particular course , career prospect or reputation of the university. But they don’t seem to be keen. I have three children. And we could not afford for three anyway. And maybe they know we couldn’t afford too.
On the exposures, I was hoping they can become more resilient, comfortable communicating with people from other cultures and maybe becoming more street smart.
Would like to hear feedback from parents with children studying overseas, what are the changes in personalities you see in them from studying overseas, if any? Or it is down to individuals characteristics, as one parent has shared.
I have one of each - my younger one studied overseas (UK) and the older one in Singapore. Both already grew up overseas in multicultural settings, so were already quite comfortable communicating cross-culturally. We approved the younger one going overseas because she is independent, smart, and we knew that the experiences would stretch her academically and in other ways. We would have been happy for her to study locally too if she had chosen to. Covid made the experience less than ideal in some ways, but certainly helped her develop resilience when studies and plans were disrupted so severely. I don’t think she is reaping the maximum benefits from her overseas education as she chose a less-popular path than she could have. We are fine with that.
My older one is a strong introvert and not at all independent. In her case, I would not consider sending her overseas as the risk of things not working out was just too great. She didn’t want to go either, so it wasn’t an issue. She didn’t even want to stay in hostel in Singapore!
About independence - kids can learn to be independent while in Singapore too. But parents have to plan for it, and enforce it. It’s all too easy to continue to “service” our kids into adulthood as long as they live in our households. We intentionally increased the types of chores and responsibilities from them over time, and stopped picking up after them and trying to watch over them. Once they started work, we also required some financial contribution to the home. I don’t necessarily provide meals or housekeeping either if it isn’t convenient to me. It’s still not the same as them living away from home, but it’s a half-way solution to helping kids become more independent.
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I feel that in our kids’ generation, even among the top JCs, the ‘desire’ to go overseas to study is not exactly strong. In part because our local universities are a very strong proposition. I don’t see many kids yearning to go overseas to experience life in the West or the East - there is no deep fascination or intrinsic interest - perhaps because there is so much we can watch and learn and know about foreign countries through media nowadays. Also, in the past, there was always a notion of learning from more developed countries - this doesn’t quite apply nowadays!
I feel its okay to be frank with our kids about what one is willing and able to provide in terms of university education. It’s not uncommon for parents to pay for local uni, and making it clear upfront that if they would like to study overseas, the family is not able to afford this path and that they would have to find their way (through scholarship, financial aid or whatever).
There are many parents who also fear that kids will pick up undesirable traits (haha, like some Western practices or values which parents may not embrace) if they study overseas, or perhaps grow distant from the family due to vastly different experiences. I can understand that point of view. A more independent and questioning person could come across as assertive or disrespectful or ungrateful to an Asian parent. Again, how a child evolves with experience is very individual.
On reflection, the travails of navigating landlords and tenancies, backpacking across countries in Europe, studying with people from vastly different backgrounds etc - I’m glad I experienced all of it. I’m not sure how far it made me a better person, or how it built me up, but no regrets, and it made for a more interesting life and memories.
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Since most students in local universities will be going on a one semester exchange program (students get to choose where they want to study for the semester; I heard those with good result get to choose first), it is also applicable to students going for overseas study full-time. could parents share what you know about the pros and corn studying in each country. Personally I prefer UK than US or Australia. UK to me has got a good balance of deep traditions and open mindedness. True? Some start heading to Scandinavian countries. The pristine landscapes are attractive, if the semester is during the summer season. Japan, Korea, or China?
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Some interesting stuff I’ve heard from a relative who has studied in US for his local university exchange program. According to him, his result was not that great so he didn’t get to choose first. He said those popular choices are Korea and Japan. Next are the universities in UK. Universities in US were not popular. So with his relatively poor result, went to “left over” uni in US, a “small” one. I don’t know the right term, county level uni? It is so sparsely populated. while waiting for a local bus outside the train station, in his words, there wasn’t a single person within one kilometre radius. Ha ha… he may be dramatising, but I understand what he’s trying to say.
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@bbbay said in Overseas Uni funds preparation:
Some interesting stuff I’ve heard from a relative who has studied in US for his local university exchange program. According to him, his result was not that great so he didn’t get to choose first. He said those popular choices are Korea and Japan. Next are the universities in UK. Universities in US were not popular. So with his relatively poor result, went to “left over” uni in US, a “small” one. I don’t know the right term, county level uni? It is so sparsely populated. while waiting for a local bus outside the train station, in his words, there wasn’t a single person within one kilometre radius. Ha ha… he may be dramatising, but I understand what he’s trying to say.
Good culture learning! I know someone who went to Montreal, and another who went to Norway or Finland (can’t recall now). 1 semester gives a good taste of living abroad, but is necessarily a more limited experience than living overseas for 3-4 years. Of course, where they live, who they mix with, how much effort/time they have to venture beyond the university… all this affects the experience. As an undergraduate overseas, I lived in college all 3 years, and my experience of “real life” was more limited than the 4 years we lived in the same country later on when married, and then with kids. But it’s not the actual place that really matters; the crucial learning is from undergoing transitions - different language and social norms, different climate, etc. It’s learning to cope with uncertainties, being new and unfamiliar, adjusting to new food etc. that is the real learning experience. Building up the ability to cope with transitions is what helps them cope better in later life.
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