opportunities for engineering students

Most of the engineering students tend to select European or North American universities for undergraduate degrees. Here i would like to tell students that there are other opportunities around the world except for European or North American univesitites.

These univesitites tend be extremely expensive as compared to that in Asia which are comparable to these. I would like to name few of them like NUS(National University of Singapore) and NTU(Nanyang technological university) both of these are Singaporean. In terms of enginering degrees they are amongst the top 50 and according to some rankings they are even amongst top 10. And Malaysia is also a good cost effective choice of one wants to pursue an engineering degree.

Though there are many good universities in Asia but i will be concentrating my discussion on Singaporean universities. Firstly, I would like to start with NUS. Its engineering programme is amongst one of the best in the world. You can find more about its engineering programmes on its website www.nus.edu.sg

The best thing about NUS and other Singaporean universities is that they are much cheaper that their American and European counterparts with equally recognized and well established degree. One can take out a loan even as an international student. But it is based on ceratin conditions. Like one has to work in any Singaporean company for three years after graduating. Burt in my opinion its not a big deal. After getting loan its expenses are about Rs. 200,000 a year which I think is equivalent to expenses incurred in any Pakistani private university. So, I think with a minimal cost benefits are immense.

NUS comprise of excellent facilities for the students on campus.

Lecture Theater at NUS

It has an internationally recognized faculty. Its proximity to Pakistan is also one of the favorable factors. So , its like a win win situation. But here i would like to point out the fact that admission requirements are extremely competitive at NUS and there is some quota system as well. So, only the best from Pakistan can get into it.

for financial assistance info at NUS this link can be checked out www.admissions.nus.edu.sg/financialaid.html










NTU is also a good engineering university of Singapore. Its fee structure and financial aid requirements are similar to NUS. For more details its website can be checked out www.nus.edu.sg

For details on NTU financial assistance check out: www.admissions.ntu.edu.sg/FA/Pages/ForUndergraduate.aspx

I just made an effort to highlight few of the avenues that Pakistani engineering students can explore.

Scholarships

Its a basic right for every human being to study even if one cant afford to. So, in Pakistan if one is talented then it is not that he wont be admitted to any good university on the basis of his/her financial constraints.

There are many universities which offer scholarships to meritorious students. For instance, IBA, LUMS, CBM, SZABIST are few of them. There are several other scholarships offered by government as well as HEC. Sindh Endowment Fund is one of the government sponsored scholarships. SBP loan scheme is also being launched by the government to financially aid students in their education.

So once one gets admission in a good university then fee is not an issue because there are several funding sources available.

These websites can be checked out for further scholarships information:

1. http://www.hec.gov.pk/scholarships
2. iba.edu.pk/aid.htm
3. www.nbp.com.pk/StudentLoan/
4. http://www.lums.edu.pk/financial_assistance/overview.php

As far as higher education commission is concerned there are following categories mentioned at their site:

1- Undergraduate Scholarships

2- Graduate Scholarships

3- MS leading to Phd SSs

Now, all of us are aware that current politics (Mr. Zardari :p etc, IMF loans ) have made the attainment quite tough than before,(HEC has been cut short by 97% on funds this fiscal year, alas;-)) so there are a limited number of seats but I can suggest following steps to make your chances far more better

1- Your marks and percentage over the career do matter, but express them cleverly, mention gpa if it appears better, otherwise percentage, mention distinctions also.

2- Dont forget to mention your project works and other things that you are proud about they contribute a lot.

3- Hire a professional to help with ur forms for application.(maybe me:p)

4- Arrange a university admission(a good ranked one worldwide), get admission and then apply for scholarship at all sources available(this is a whole new topic I'll write it separately later, if u wish:p)

5- Nust also awards you scholarship.... but only after you get admission in a reputed university:, now dont you think Ill help you on this also, do some research yourself too. I tell you I charge a great amount for individual consultancies. Be careful.

6- Do work hard in your current program if you are dreaming of a significant abroad-higher study scholarship for future, straight Cs are as useless as Fs.

7- Prepare for professional tests TOFEL, GRE, GMAT, ILETS etc....and dont forget to take them too, just preparation means nothing to them, they want proofs...lol:p

8- And finally... don't loose hope..pray for good times to come and just wait... make sure you do some thing else also while waiting.

And here I bring to you some links for scholarships in backdays...

HEC- Japanese need based Scholarship. HEC-US need based Scholarship.

www.interface.edu.pk/students/Jan-08/HEC-scholarships.asp

Local and International Scholarships for Pakistani Students
www.ilmkidunya.com/Scholarship/scholarships_pakistan.asp

(HEC) Japanese Need Based/Merit Scholarships
HEC- Japanese Need Based Scholarships program for the Pakistani University students aimed at providing equal opportunities to talented students

www.fui.edu.pk/web/page.asp?id=440 -

HEC scholarships – Pakistan - The University of Auckland
The Pakistan HEC Scholarship programme is a partnership between the Pakistan Higher Education Commission (HEC) and The University of Auckland.

www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/is-hec-scholarships

HEC MBA - Admissions - Financing - Scholarships
HEC scholarships fall into various categories: merit-based, need-based, ... In addition, HEC scholarships cover tuition fees only for courses taken on the ...

www.mba.hec.edu/Admissions/Financing/Scholarships -

Now thats much for today. See you!