Studying overseas

PINOY KASI

Studying overseas

By Michael Tan

Inquirer

Last updated 01:22am (Mla time) 11/10/2006

Published on Page A13 of the November 10, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

WITH the economy the way it is now, you might be wondering why I'm bothering to write about the possibilities of studying overseas.
First, I'm still getting inquiries about the Times Higher Education Supplement's World University Rankings, which I featured last week, from friends who want to know where to send their children. OK, so those are the rich ones and therefore does all this have relevance to the average Filipino family? It does.
The other reason I'm doing this column is that I've learned, over the past few months, that there are few takers for several scholarships being offered by Japanese, Australian, Singaporean and European universities.
Filipinos tend to get intimidated by these scholarship offers, thinking they have to be at the top of their class, excelling in all fields. You'd be surprised at who gets scholarships: quite often, all it takes are average grades accompanied by a strong dose of self-confidence as you write your resumé and your reasons for applying. But don't overdo your self-confidence; many of these agencies also practice affirmative action, meaning they will give preference to those from poorer families, those living outside Metro Manila and those belonging to minority groups, particularly Muslims and indigenous communities.
Now, please, please do not write me for more information about whom to contact. You need to exert some initiative here and prove you know how to look for the scholarships. Your best bets are to write the embassies, but you can also check the Internet for other scholarships, for example, by looking for the Erasmus scholarships offered by European countries.
For upper-income families, you might be surprised to find out that the cost of studying in some of these countries isn't actually quite as high as you think. The way private schooling costs have soared in the Philippines, it may actually be cheaper to study overseas, even with the cost of living factored in.
Why overseas
We do have good universities here, but there may be cases where an overseas education might still be useful. First, and this applies more for graduate studies, foreign universities might have courses that we still don't have here. That was what happened with me: I took medical anthropology at the University of Amsterdam since we didn't have that in the Philippines.
Second, living overseas allows an exposure to other cultures, and that itself can be a learning experience. That might even include the university teaching styles. I still remember the excitement I had as a college undergraduate in the United States, thrilled by the much freer discussions that teachers allowed, and the range of subjects one couldtake.
Third, overseas universities (even those in neighboring countries) often have better facilities and learning environments. My parents always told me, when I was in college, that it didn't really matter which university you studied in as long as you had the right environment and the right teachers. Most of our universities have that, to some extent, but it's becoming more and more difficult to survive with underpaid, overworked professors who vent their frustrations on students. Paradoxically, it's the brighter kids who end up most alienated without the proper environment. An overseas stint, even for a year, might be an option.
Which universities?
OK, so which universities? I will go back to the Times Higher Education Supplement's World University Rankings that I mentioned in previous columns to give you the 10 best universities for each of several countries you could consider. Note that these rankings are based more on peer review among educators, and among employers.
Also remember that there will be language proficiency requirements for Japanese and Chinese universities. It also tends to be very competitive getting into the undergraduate programs of some of these countries, where education is subsidized by the state.
Finally, don't limit yourself to the universities listed here. Do more research to figure out where you can go. For American universities, check the US News and World Report's annual ranking. I paid only P189 for a 2006 edition in Books for Less! That yearbook has very detailed information. For example, with business programs, they break down the best universities for a range of specializations, from accounting and entrepreneurship, tointernational business and real estate.
Here now are the best universities for certain countries, with their ranking among world universities:
United States: Harvard (1), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (4), Stanford University (6), California Institute of Technology (7), University of California Berkeley (8), Princeton (10), University of Chicago (11), Columbia (12), Duke (13), Cornell (15).
Canada: McGill (21), University of Toronto (27), University of British Colombia (50), University of Alberta (133), McMaster (155), Queen's (176), University of Waterloo (204), University of Western Ontario (215), University of Calgary (266), Dalhousie (270).
United Kingdom: Cambridge (2), Oxford (3), Imperial College London (9), London School of Economics (17), University College London (25), University of Edinburgh (33), University of Manchester (40), King's College London (46), University of Bristol (64), School of Oriental and African Studies (70).
Australia: Australian National University (16), University of Melbourne (22), University of Sydney (35), Monash (38), University of New South Wales (41), University of Queensland (45), Macquarie (82), University of Adelaide (105), University of Western Australia (111), RMIT (146).
Japan: University of Tokyo (19), Kyoto University (29), Osaka University (70), Tokyo Institute of Technology (118), Kyushu University (128), Nagoya University (128), Hokkaido University (13), Waseda University (158), Tohuku University (168), Osaka City University (232).
For the bold ones willing to study a European language before applying, here are the best besides the British ones: Ecole Normale Superieure (18), ETH Zurich (24), Ecole Polytechnique (37), Sciences Po Paris (52), University of Copenhagen (54), Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat Heidelberg (58), Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (64), University of Amsterdam (ahem, ahem, 69), University of Basel (75), Catholic University of Louvain (76).
To cap off this listing, here are the other higher-ranked Asian universities. Note how they rub shoulders with the best of American and European institutions: Beijing University (14), National University of Singapore (19), Tsinghua (28), University of Hongkong (33), University of Auckland (46), Chinese University of Hongkong (50), Indian Institute of Technology (57), Hongkong University of Science and Technology (58), Nanyang Technological University (61), Seoul National University (63).