Many students are seeking to continue their studies abroad. I was one of them, and when I started my master’s program at Simon Fraser University I realized that especially Asian (I mean the whole continent) students are very eager to get admission from a university in the north America. I would receive emails once in a while from people asking me for information and help. And I would try to give them as much information as I could. Well, now I think instead of repeating the same thing for each one of them, it is better to leave a post here so that everyone can use it.

North American universities are especially more attractive because the cost of living in north America is relatively less than Europe, finding job is easier and overall it has a more achievable bright future. Canada is even easier than United States, because usually one can get a Canadian visa easier, can sooner become an immigrant and later a Canadian citizen which is a very valuable status to have. If one can get into north America, they are very close to open doors to the world. That’s something, isn’t it?! Well of course I’m talking about Asian or African countries mostly, people who due to difficulties of living pursue a better life outside their countries. For example I’ve seen very few people from European countries that really want to get out of their countries, if they move that’s usually because it’s pretty easy for them and if there is a better opportunity, why not take it?

You can refer to this link for an available list of universities in some countries, such as Canada and USA.

Applying for Admission

I believe the requirements for a successful application are standard for all countries, you should be:

• a good standing student with a high GPA in your current or latest study,
• a good related work experience in the industry,
• very good communication skills in all aspects of the language spoken in the targeted country,
• sometimes proven financial support for the period of study,
• a good attitude towards you colleagues and professor.

If you have a high level of all the above mentioned, you are very likely to receive admission from a very good university. But it won’t guaranty if you will receive a visa for that country. The story of visa is slightly different, which I will talk a little about it at the end.

Universities ask for documents to support the above criteria to process the admission application. Below are all the standard paper work one must do, but make sure to check the website of the university not to miss any other document that may be required.

• Process fee: can be different from department to department in any university.
• Application forms: can be sometimes filled online or can be printed out, filled and mailed.
• Results of the language test: for north American universities it is usually TOEFL or IELTS and sometime applicants must take GRE exam as well, usually for technical majors. Language tests are very important and sometimes a very high score in these tests helps the admission very much. So don’t just barely make it pass, try to get a very good score. Results should be mailed from examining institutes to the universities.
• Minimum three official and confidential letters of recommendation: try to obtain letters from high ranking members of you university or your previous work experience. Have them write very professional letters saying very good things about you. Of course make sure that the letter shows how you know each other and for how long, the longer the better. All letters must be on official university or work papers to make it look acceptable and professional.
• Letters from the companies you worked in: showing your status in those companies, your position and your very good performance there. Top management that know you also can give good recommendation letters.
• A very good resume: make sure to write it to a high standard that includes all the relative experiences you have in the field you are applying to and also list of all your previous educations and degrees. You must showcase yourself very well in your resume.
• Official transcript of all the previous educations, degrees an diplomas. usually it has to be mailed directly from the institute to the targeted university for confidentiality purposes.
• A SoP (Statement of Purpose) letter, stating why you want to study where you are applying. You must make it very convincing. Show how much you love to study there in your specific field. Make sure you are applying for a major very close to your studies and experiences, that way you will increase the probability of getting an admission. 

Make Your Application Effective

Now let’s see what are the steps you need to take for a better outcome. Like I said before, try to provide all the required documents with very good quality and high scores and ranks and send them as required to your targeted university. It is very important to create a complete application file for yourself in universities you want to apply for. Also make sure you apply for more than one university to increase your chance of acceptance. Remember that there are deadlines for any semester you want to apply for, if you don’t meet those deadlines you are very unlikely to receive admission for the relative semester or term.

Now it is time to browse through the faculty members of your department of interest. Make sure you carefully read all their background, projects and activities. You want to find a professor as your supervisor that has active projects which you really like to work on, professor’s field of work fits your knowledge and experience, professor is very likely to provide you with funding for your researches due to his latest grants and projects and finally also it is very important that the professor is active and working in latest technologies or fields of science so that the education you receive will be a great asset to you and your future job finding.

After you find your professors (try to find more to increase your chance), it is time to contact them, usually via email. Send them emails about how interested you are in their projects and show them that you are a very good fit for their projects, you have all the proper knowledge and background and you are very hard-working and enthusiastic. Always attach your resume and SoP to your email for their convenience. If they are interested to accept new students, they will refer to your documents that you have provided to the department. This is why it is very important that you complete your application documents in the department files first, but if you are in a hurry, sometimes you can approach with incomplete application.

Follow up with your request. Try to contact the professors once a week to remind them of you application and show that you are interested. Just try not to be annoying. Remember that professors are usually busy people and if you contact them many times without getting an answer first, that may have negative effects on your application. Try to always maintain a very good attitude towards them and don’t act selfish or greedy, but it is actually good to be confident about your background. Also it is always good to show that you are a flexible and respectful person.

When contacting professors, try to contact one or a maximum of two in one department. You don’t want them to find out you are interested in all of them!! It is better if they feel you are specifically interested in them. But contact as many professors in different universities or departments as you can. Usually you will have to apply separately to different departments of one university.

When contacting professors, you could ask for their advise on knowledge in their field of work too, showing that you are also contacting them to gain more than just an admission, but science and information. If you are knowledgeable enough to maintain a professional conversation and they are interested in the subject, not only they can help you a lot, but what you gain is their attention and they will easier remember you and become interested in you.

Remember that many people apply for admission and unless you stand out, you won’t have much chance to get admission unless you have a super background. So try to showcase yourself very well without being annoying. You can communicate with the department secretary as well for application related questions, don’t ask those things from your professor unless you have to.   

One very helpful point you may have is a friend or relative in the department, university or city you are applying for. They can sometimes do magic! They can follow up for you and help you with your communications with the university. They are especially good because they already live there and know how to be more effective. You can also try and make friends there through the university student listings. I found students very helpful to people who like to apply. You may find a new friend that helps you out very well, especially if they are students of the same professor you are applying to.

Cost of Living

One important thing that you should know when moving abroad is the cost of living, not for the admission but for yourself. Try to find out this researching in the web so that you are prepared for what you might face in the country you are moving to. I can give you some information about the cost of living in Canada, although it is very dependant on where you live and what school you go to:

• For under-graduate studies, the tuition fees are usually pretty high, somewhere between $6000 to $8000 or more Canadian dollars per semester (4 months) and it is even worse for non-immigrant students. But for post-graduate programs it is much cheaper somewhere around $1500 or more and usually doesn’t change if you are not an immigrant. I know that PhD program is free at University of British Columbia.
• For a place to live, you can apply for a dorm room. That’s usually the cheapest option you can get. In Vancouver it can be about $500 per month or higher. But then you will have to live in the university which some people may not like. The off-campus rental starts from $600 to over $1000 depending on where you live in the city and what you rent. You can always significantly reduce the rental cost by sharing the residence.
• The cost of food usually starts from a minimum of $200 per month, unless you really eat very little and always cook at home, which is no fun!
• For transportation, you can use public transit services and if you get monthly passes, it could start from $65 per month and over. The cost of owning a car beside its purchase price are its insurance which is over $120 per month and fuel which nowadays is over $100 per month, plus the maintenance. Having a car is very desirable in a vast country like Canada.
• You should normally get services such as electricity and phone for where you live, which would be about $60 per month.

Considering all these, I can say that the cost of living in Vancouver starts from somewhere around $1500 Canadian dollars for one person. If you are a family the cost will be less per person.

Sources of Money for Students

There can be many sources of money for students which I list some of them below:

• Normally with a student visa you are only able to work on campus. You can apply for jobs in library, campus restaurants and other university facilities that hire students.  
• Recently students in Canada are allowed to apply for work visas along with their student visas so that they are able to work off campus. In this case students can find more jobs and are able to easier support themselves.
• You can work as a Research Assistant (RA) for your professor or supervisor and receive money. The money can be somewhere around $1000 per months and more. This job usually lasts as long as the project needs researching.
• You can work as Teacher Assistant (TA) and help teachers in their duties such as solving problems for students, correct their exams and etc. The payment for this position is dependant on how many units you receive as a TA, which normally depends on the number of units for that course. You may be paid about $200 per month per unit or some where around 25$ per hour which in that case they will assign you a fixed hours for your duty. You can apply for TA-ship of more than one course and get units as many as five.
• There are fellowships and scholarships that you can apply for. Eligible students can receive these scholarships who are always students with high educational standing. There might be some other conditions for different scholarships. Like for some scholarships you have to be working on a project or in industry to receive it. Or some other require you to be a Canadian citizen. Scholarships are paid per semester and  start from  $500 to over $10000 Canadian. There is always a competition to receive these scholarships and they are limited. So one may not receive them so easily. Also another important thing is that universities always pay students a limited money per year, let’s say for students at SFU this limit is about $24000/year. If you get scholarships that increase your yearly salary over this limit, then they will cut your income from somewhere else, like your RA.
• There are bursaries that students can apply for. Bursaries are usually paid to under paid students, those who don’t already have enough income. People must fill a form claiming their situation and lack of money and they may receive a money per semester of about $500 and more. It’s not much, but better than nothing. Don’t lie in your forms just to get more money than you need, there are students that really need it and the resources are limited.

Applying for Visa

To receive a visa at least from a north American country, you must show:

• A valid admission for a graduate or post graduate program from an above average university. Undergraduate programs are not likely to receive a visa.
• The admission must not have tough conditions, such as GPA or language test conditions. Such conditions, if not met, can result in the loss of admission while the person is already in the target country and this can put the authorities in different kind of troubles and that’s why they usually don’t give visa to admissions with such conditions.
• Proof of more than enough financial support for the period of study for all the people that will apply for the visa, like a family. It is very helpful if the admission also includes the possible financial support from a professor or supervisor in the target university.
• The most important point is that applicant must show strong proof of ties in the country of origin showing that after the study is finished, they will return for sure. Again, this is because visa offices want to reduce the probability of people staying there illegally and cause trouble. Your ultimate target might be staying in that country forever, but you mustn’t show it, instead you must convince them that you are only going for education and will come back. It is not a solid promise though, when you get there you can apply for immigration. Especially in Canada you can get your immigration sooner than you finish your studies. When you get it, you can stay forever!
• At the end, of course to receive a visa you shouldn’t have a criminal record or a bad disease.