01.04.2007
Questions on Further Studies Abroad
_ Answered by Aung Kyaw Soe
Q. I’m K--- K--- M-- from Yangon. Now, I’m working in Bangkok. I studied B.Econ (Economics) in Yangon Institute of Economics. I want to continue my education. My family is not rich enough to support me to study abroad. I want to study M.A (Political Science).
Ans: A graduate with a degree like BA or BA honours in Political Science may find difficulties in securing an employment. So there will be rare or no bank that will give you loans. Social science departments are full of graduate students and post doctorates willing to work with meagre salaries.
Unless you have proved yourself to be a potential future leader of Burma, no scholarship for college studies from a good university may come to you for pursuing political science. Why should they waste their department fund unless some other organization (like Burma prospect) pays for it?
If you study in cheaper colleges (in India or Thailand or Philippines) you may get some scholarship from Burma Prospect Funds or Open society. But you may need to prove that you have English language proficiency by taking TOEFL or IELTS and your scholastic potential by taking SAT1 (for undergraduate studies) or GRE (for graduate studies). Please note that Scholarships are for scholars and scholars have to prove their academic potential and calibre, and standardized tests like SAT1, SAT2, GRE, GMAT, IELTS, MCAT, LCAT are there to help you. Go to a local book store and check those exam books out and register with Prometric test centers.
If you want to pursue college level Political Science degree, then take TOEFL and SAT1. If one can get SAT1 scores higher than 2000 and respectable TOEFL scores of 550 and above, then with your some college experience you could ask for a scholarship from top tier colleges with good Political Science departments such as George Town. That is if you want a BA there. Earn good grades there and pursue PhD.
The other way for an aspiring Political Science scholar is to go and study at some good name colleges in the region and earn a bachelor. Then try to get admission and scholarship for a graduate degree (above MA/MSc) by getting good GRE (Graduate Record Exam) scores, good TOEFL scores, and good grades in college, stood first or second in class and win a graduate scholarship for MA or PhD.
Q. I am a student who is trying to go abroad. I have financial difficulty. I heard some private foundations can help me. What should I do for my financial need? Should I apply to "Prospect Burma"? I am afraid that it may be concerned with some sort of political affairs.
Ans. There are private foundations and bursaries that help needy students but those are concentrated in some good universities and they are for students currently studying. So you need to get the admission to the college or university first.
Admission to a good program is competitive and you have to prove you are worthy of it by credentials, i.e. combination of GPA, CGPA, percentile in graduating class, scores in standardized tests, published papers, project works, working experience, etc..
As I said earlier, there are a lot of research scholarships which are open for all able scholar wanna-be's from all over the globe and they aren’t interested in your political belief or nationality but your academic potential and you can always aim those.
For example if one could get into a college or graduate/professional school in the Cambridge University, UK, the Gates (Bill Gates) foundation Cambridge trust fund is there to provide scholarships. But of course getting into Cambridge is competitive and you have to earn it.
And full time MBA studies in good Business schools around the world are eligible for 100% loans. You don't need a guarantor to sign or co-sign for that loan and they are gentle man loans. For example if you could get into an MBA school, you can get loans from ABN Amro bank, and there are several Business schools, and full time students of those Business schools (regardless of nationalities) are eligible for HSBC loans.
So those students or inspiring scholars should work hard for their studies and prepare for professional, scholastic aptitude tests and exploit for own purposes.
If you want to get into an overseas college, then work hard for your high school grades, and grades of college studies, then go for O/A levels exams and IELTS (for UK) and SAT1, 2 and TOEFL or TWE (US of A colleges) and similar ones. Those who are weak in academic studies should either compensate with above standardized tests and coupled with other desirable assets like work experience, professional certifications like CFA level 1, 2 , CPA, MCSD, MCSE, CCNP, etc… One need to distinguish with other potential rivals (global competition) by those certificates and experiences. After all, a qualification has to be earned and it is not given free for just being a Burmese.
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