Sunday, July 04, 2010
Too many options...
I don't even know where to begin. Seminar after seminar, talk after talk, and I still don't know where I really wanna go.
Just yesterday, I went for the PSC and Careers fair, and as usual, I just stuffed myself with brochures of overseas universities and opportunities. Then I went for 4hrs worth of talks telling me about how great and awesome their country is to study in. I already know how awesome they are. What makes it so challenging for me to make a decision, are the number of options I have... (please don't curse me when I say this but) I have too many options. It doesn't just end at University Admissions; I still have to worry about Scholarships (hell, I don't wanna make my parents pay like !@#$ or take on a study loan), and the most important issue of all - Which country do I want to reside in in the future?
To choose a path which has the university that I want, the scholarship coverage, and the country of choice is harder than anything I have had to decide on so far. Let's break it down sequentially, shall we?
Universities
This one's more straightforward - Just hit the rankings and find the uni that's at least the Top 50, and has a generic course for IT. (apparently, IT Security isn't that big yet) The tricky part is to analyze the curriculum for each and every course, as it is important to know whether the course is more theory-based or practical-based.
Scholarships
This one's really tricky, and pretty troublesome, but it's a lot of cash we're talking about, so the benefit of getting a fully-paid scholarship outweighs all the trouble of filling up the form and writing an extremely lengthy and tact personal statement. ('outweighs' is a severe understatement haha :P) On top of that, each and every country and university has their own scholarships to offer, so there's loads of research to be done in this aspect.
Country (of future residence)
To many, they just go overseas to study and then come back to SG to work. My case couldn't be more different. Not only am I not going to come back to SG to work, I intend to get a job at the country and stay there, for good. Now that complicates things, big time.
To find the ideal university, with the ideal scholarship, and with the ideal country is like trying to align Mars, Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Nepture, Pluto and Sedna in a straight line. It's next to impossible. (well, if I do get it next time, you have my permission to diss me over this haha!)
Well, my main problem is the final point - the country of residence. I really have no, and I mean NO monkey idea on which is the best country to live in! Canada? Australia? Europe? New Zealand? Not all is bad though; all these countries have something called the Skilled Migrant Programme, which makes it easier for foreigners to gain a foothold in these countries, with Europe being the most stringent and Canada being the most generous.
However generous they might be, they still have a minimum set of requirements that foreigners have to meet, which is good news. Surely you don't want that low-skilled construction worker to be treated as an equal with you, the educated, refined, language-proficient, highly-skilled worker that clearly can better contribute to their economy.
While that is good news, we still have more pressing issues to deal with, such as which university to go to and which scholarship to apply to, and even before that, find out what are the available scholarships for us to apply to!
Several Paths
Here are the several paths I can take in order to migrate...
1) Study a Local Degree, Get a Job and wait for overseas posting
This is by far the worst case, as there is not even a guarantee as to whether you'll be posted overseas. Not gonna take this chance. Not ever.
2) Study a Local Degree, Get a Job, Actively seek for overseas jobs while accumulating job experience.
In my opinion quite a bad scenario to be in. For this situation, I can only hope that I would be able to get a job from overseas while I'm in SG. The uncertainty is quite big already.
3) Study a Local Degree w/ Scholarship, Get a Job, Actively seek for overseas jobs while accumulating job experience.
Better than 2), but whether I'll be able to get a job there from here is pretty uncertain too, but the scholarship adds to my portfolio. I would have saved my parents on my Uni fees too.
4) Study a Local Degree w/ Scholarship, Bonded to a Job, migrate after bond.
Better than 3), but whether I'll be able to get a job there from here is also uncertain too, but much better chances as the job experience and the scholarship greatly adds to my portfolio. Also, not to mention, I would have saved my parents LOADS of money on my Uni fees.
5) Study an Overseas Degree, Get a Job there, Done.
Much safer than any of the options previously mentioned, but the university fees would cost an arm and leg.
6) Study an Overseas Degree w/ Scholarship, Get a Job there, Done.
Best option. I don't have to pay Uni fees and I get to stay there. Also, if I'm not happy with the country, I could always move to another country after that, as the Uni that I would be attending needs to be well-recognized. Sweet.
7) Study an Overseas Degree, Bonded to a Job there, Done.
This option would only be better if I have firmly decided that the country that i'm bonded to is the country that I want to live in. And it's not just better - It guarantees my job security! :)
One of my biggest concern is whether I would be flexible enough in the future to move to another country if the county I intended to live in previously was not what I wanted. I must be able to anticipate and act quickly to move out, and not be dumbfounded and stuck.
You might argue that I still haven't even completed my NS yet, but my 5th semester is almost complete. With this, I can actually start applying for scholarships already. So how the heck do I apply for a scholarship when I'm not even prepared?
I really need to get this going. Fast.
Just a personal update: I gotta complete my FYP and Projects that are steadily piling up as I speak! And I hate myself for not being able to complete the music that I created. Yes it sounds so good in my head, but somehow, I can't seem to materialize it on the software... damn I wish I could be known for my music, but so long as I don't have even a track to showcase my skills (or the lack of it), my friends will never come to see me in a different light.
gibs. 
I don't even know where to begin. Seminar after seminar, talk after talk, and I still don't know where I really wanna go.
Just yesterday, I went for the PSC and Careers fair, and as usual, I just stuffed myself with brochures of overseas universities and opportunities. Then I went for 4hrs worth of talks telling me about how great and awesome
To choose a path which has the university that I want, the scholarship coverage, and the country of choice is harder than anything I have had to decide on so far. Let's break it down sequentially, shall we?
Universities
This one's more straightforward - Just hit the rankings and find the uni that's at least the Top 50, and has a generic course for IT. (apparently, IT Security isn't that big yet) The tricky part is to analyze the curriculum for each and every course, as it is important to know whether the course is more theory-based or practical-based.
Scholarships
This one's really tricky, and pretty troublesome, but it's a lot of cash we're talking about, so the benefit of getting a fully-paid scholarship outweighs all the trouble of filling up the form and writing an extremely lengthy and tact personal statement. ('outweighs' is a severe understatement haha :P) On top of that, each and every country and university has their own scholarships to offer, so there's loads of research to be done in this aspect.
Country (of future residence)
To many, they just go overseas to study and then come back to SG to work. My case couldn't be more different. Not only am I not going to come back to SG to work, I intend to get a job at the country and stay there, for good. Now that complicates things, big time.
To find the ideal university, with the ideal scholarship, and with the ideal country is like trying to align Mars, Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Nepture, Pluto and Sedna in a straight line. It's next to impossible. (well, if I do get it next time, you have my permission to diss me over this haha!)
Well, my main problem is the final point - the country of residence. I really have no, and I mean NO monkey idea on which is the best country to live in! Canada? Australia? Europe? New Zealand? Not all is bad though; all these countries have something called the Skilled Migrant Programme, which makes it easier for foreigners to gain a foothold in these countries, with Europe being the most stringent and Canada being the most generous.
However generous they might be, they still have a minimum set of requirements that foreigners have to meet, which is good news. Surely you don't want that low-skilled construction worker to be treated as an equal with you, the educated, refined, language-proficient, highly-skilled worker that clearly can better contribute to their economy.
While that is good news, we still have more pressing issues to deal with, such as which university to go to and which scholarship to apply to, and even before that, find out what are the available scholarships for us to apply to!
Several Paths
Here are the several paths I can take in order to migrate...
1) Study a Local Degree, Get a Job and wait for overseas posting
This is by far the worst case, as there is not even a guarantee as to whether you'll be posted overseas. Not gonna take this chance. Not ever.
2) Study a Local Degree, Get a Job, Actively seek for overseas jobs while accumulating job experience.
In my opinion quite a bad scenario to be in. For this situation, I can only hope that I would be able to get a job from overseas while I'm in SG. The uncertainty is quite big already.
3) Study a Local Degree w/ Scholarship, Get a Job, Actively seek for overseas jobs while accumulating job experience.
Better than 2), but whether I'll be able to get a job there from here is pretty uncertain too, but the scholarship adds to my portfolio. I would have saved my parents on my Uni fees too.
4) Study a Local Degree w/ Scholarship, Bonded to a Job, migrate after bond.
Better than 3), but whether I'll be able to get a job there from here is also uncertain too, but much better chances as the job experience and the scholarship greatly adds to my portfolio. Also, not to mention, I would have saved my parents LOADS of money on my Uni fees.
5) Study an Overseas Degree, Get a Job there, Done.
Much safer than any of the options previously mentioned, but the university fees would cost an arm and leg.
6) Study an Overseas Degree w/ Scholarship, Get a Job there, Done.
Best option. I don't have to pay Uni fees and I get to stay there. Also, if I'm not happy with the country, I could always move to another country after that, as the Uni that I would be attending needs to be well-recognized. Sweet.
7) Study an Overseas Degree, Bonded to a Job there, Done.
This option would only be better if I have firmly decided that the country that i'm bonded to is the country that I want to live in. And it's not just better - It guarantees my job security! :)
One of my biggest concern is whether I would be flexible enough in the future to move to another country if the county I intended to live in previously was not what I wanted. I must be able to anticipate and act quickly to move out, and not be dumbfounded and stuck.
You might argue that I still haven't even completed my NS yet, but my 5th semester is almost complete. With this, I can actually start applying for scholarships already. So how the heck do I apply for a scholarship when I'm not even prepared?
I really need to get this going. Fast.
Just a personal update: I gotta complete my FYP and Projects that are steadily piling up as I speak! And I hate myself for not being able to complete the music that I created. Yes it sounds so good in my head, but somehow, I can't seem to materialize it on the software... damn I wish I could be known for my music, but so long as I don't have even a track to showcase my skills (or the lack of it), my friends will never come to see me in a different light.
gibs.
Labels: Education
¶ 3:19 PM