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‘How To Identify The Right Course For Your Child While Studying Abroad?‘

6 Tips to Help Your Child Choose the Right Course While Studying Abroad
Is your child planning to study abroad? Help your child choose the right course. Here are 6 important tips to keep in mind while making your selection.

When your child opts for international studies, an endless vista of opportunities stretches out. If your child has already decided the subject in which he/she wants to study further, good for you. Having refined your choices, you can now look out for colleges that offer the best courses in the stream that your child wants to pursue. However, if you want to keep options open, and explore beyond the purview of your current academic pursuits, that’s not a problem. Many programs offer interesting combination of courses that juxtapose your child’s dreams and aptitudes. Here are 6 ways how to identify the right course for your child, and make a winning choice of career.

1.What Does Your Child Want?
Before you plan a career path, take your child’s interests in account. There is no point chasing a career if your child is not enthusiastic about it. By now, you have a fair idea about your child’s interests and competencies. Make sure to accommodate these in the planning. If you are unsure, talk to your child’s teachers. They often bring up insights that you as a parent would not know.

2.Instead of Making Goal-Centric Plans, Begin by Identifying Your Child’s Strengths.
There are many naysayers and self-style career gurus out there who may “advise” you to follow a career path that is trending. While it is important to stay updated and be in cutting-edge knowledge paths, it would be foolish to jump into the bandwagon without employing thought. So, just because AI is a fast-track career path, don’t get in, if your child does not enjoy learning programming languages or hardcore software engineering. It is better to select a course that matches your child’s preferences and strengths. In international studies, there is no dearth of opportunity. Begin by identifying what your child wants to learn, and then chalk out a career path.

3.Consider the Course Curriculum, Research Facility, and Faculty Credentials.
Having identified a course, selection of the right college is the next step. It’s important to note that the same subject matter can be taught differently across colleges. Delve into the curriculum and all facets of the course including choice ofelectives, teaching methodology, faculty reputation, lab and library resources. Compare them on all these important parameters. Read the teaching faculty profile and their credentials. You’d know that you have landed a reputed course, if there are strong faculty and facilities in place.

4.Deep Dive Into the Class Profile.
Once you have a broad overview of the choice of program, dig deep into factual information. Ask questions like a) is it a cohort where your child will thrive, b) is the course a right fit with respect to your child’s academic levels compared to the average academic benchmarks, c) is the international student community a diverse mix, and d) what are the popular majors selected by prior students, and the like. This kind of information provides you a benchmark – a reality check to know whether the school is right for your child.Some colleges offer the opportunity to officially visit the college and sit in on classes before the semester begins. Your child can consider signing up. If your child plans to return to India post education, consider the viability of the course in Indian employment markets.

5.Consider the Return on Investment
Of course, money is an important factor in the selection process. Compare costs across courses offered in different colleges. If a particular course is expensive, don’t reject it until you have found out why. Consider the long term return on your investment, instead of focusing on the short term pay-out. Ask yourself, ‘Is this course providing your child with the base to jumpstart my child’s career?’Having found the price points, create a cost-benefit analysis. This can help your child objectively narrow down a choice.

6.Look Into the Placement History.
Though I did mention earlier that you should not merely follow ahot career path, you need to review how your coveted college has done in placements, especially in your area of interest. Are there enough industry takers for the course being offered? Employers like to visit those colleges which have generated star performers. If you find an impressive list of employers visiting the campus to hire students, your childis in good hands.

When selecting the right course for your child, make sure to engage your child. It is important that your child feels as excited and eager as you are. When your child is invested in the selection process, he/she will have a higher degree of commitment to the course.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

ReachIvy is a premium education and career advisory that helps aspiring students get accepted into top tier educational institutions globally. We have successful admits at MIT, Columbia, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, London School of Economics, University of Michigan, Oxford, University of Chicago amongst others.

Vibha Kagzi, Founder and CEO, ReachIvy, holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a Bachelor of Science from Carnegie Mellon University. She has also pursued courses at the University of California, Berkeley, the London School of Economics and the Indian School of Business.

Our global team of counsellors have also acquired their degrees from premier institutes and are passionate about sharing their experiences with students worldwide.