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How to Study Abroad for Free

This post was triggered by a recent meeting I had with a school friend. I met him after almost 30 years and he was narrating his story. Like many, he was forced to take up an engineering line (civil engineering) based on his entrance exam marks.

He took up a tough field job in a civil engineering firm in India for a couple of years and hated every single day. He said his real career breakthrough happened when he went abroad for his Masters degree (MS in US) and changed his career completely from civil engineering to technology.

The best part of the story – he graduated with zero debt!

While the temptation to study and work abroad is high, there are roadblocks that stop many international students from getting there. Among the biggest hurdles you’d face as an Indian student while thinking about an overseas education is the cost of getting the international graduate or post-graduate degree.

What if you could get your cake and eat it too? Many international students are doing just that.

You’ve probably read these related stories of other Indian students who studied abroad (MS and MBA degrees) at the top universities for free. Here’s a sampling.

As the focus is on getting a free masters degree, we aren’t listing the partial scholarship stories even though the funding amounts were substantial.

How do they do it? Some folks mentioned in the blog posts above have very strong profiles (IIT, McKinsey etc) that helped in cracking into the elite universities. However, most are regular folks who adopted not-so-regular application strategies to get special treatment from the universities.

There are different avenues to explore in order to bag the ultimate ‘deal’ in higher education.
 

How to study abroad for free as an international student

Study Abroad for Free

1. Choose the right study abroad destination / country

There are countries where the colleges don’t charge a tuition fee at all. Consider Germany as an example, where tuition is banned by many states. Strange, you might think. But government views education as an investment rather than an expense.

There is a catch though. For many of these free degrees in Germany, the medium of instruction is German. Brazil also has very low tuition for foreigners, but again the language challenge comes up.

If the language unfamiliarity is a turnoff for you, there are other countries that offer free education (or very low tuition). Norway and Slovenia fall in that list.

Now the issue is that these names don’t come up when you think about the best study abroad countries for Indian students. If you are among those who aren’t comfortable to manage such a big cultural transition, you could stick to English speaking countries and still manage to study abroad for free.

 

2. Choose the right degree (MS vs MBA vs PhD)

Popular study abroad countries like the U.S. don’t have tuition free colleges. But they have a huge amount of financial assistance options (scholarships) for international students.

But all degrees aren’t created alike. Take the example of Masters degrees – MBA, MS, MPhil, MiM. You are more likely to get scholarships for an M.S. than for an MBA.

An MBA is considered to be a commercial degree, which gives excellent returns to students [read this post on MBA salaries after 3 years]. So why subsidise the education for them?

Which is why even without the tuition waiver or scholarships, the cost of an MBA is several times more than an MS degree. In absolute terms, a 25% MBA scholarship at a top business school is equivalent to a full scholarship in many MS programs.

Doctoral level education (PhD degrees) get some love too in some countries. Finland offers PhD degrees for free. But you’ll bump into the same cultural issues as mentioned in the earlier point. In many countries, you could get your entire PhD funded if your research topic falls in the high-priority category for the professors, universities and funding agencies.
 

3. Apply early in your career

While you are still in your earlier twenties, you are more likely to apply to programs like MS, than for MBA. So in some ways, this is linked to the earlier point about choosing the right degree, but it still deserves a separate mention to highlight the mentality of the course designers and the scholarship decision makers.

The perception of the admissions office changes when they see applicants with significant experience. They think such students have spent enough time working, earning and saving. They are capable enough to pay the tuition fee without needing much support from the university.

When you are applying earlier they know your bank balance isn’t as colourful as your facebook profile, and not getting any support might scare away the good students.
 

4. Crack the study abroad entrance exams

Irrespective of the degree or the country, all universities want to look good to external evaluators – like leading publications that come out with worldwide university rankings where they pitch colleges against each other and try to rank them on the same scale despite the huge subjective differences.

There are two dimensions that are talked about the most – placement statistics (average salaries) and selectivity (where entrance exam scores count a lot).

Your GRE, GMAT, SAT, ACT scores matter a lot in that race. The higher you score, the better your odds of getting extra honey on your bread. English proficiency exam scores (TOEFL and IELTS) are important too for getting an admit, but not as crucial in scholarship decisions.

Here’s one story where high GMAT scorer got a full-tuition scholarship plus stipend despite having a common (IT Male Engineer) profile.
 

5. Explore alternative financing options

Sometimes free money (i.e scholarships with no strings attached) isn’t easily available, especially at the top universities. However, some might want you to sweat a little and earn that money, in return for a waiver or a lower fee structure.

Graduate assistantships (GA) are the biggest sources of financial aid for international universities. Read more about how graduate assistantships work.

If you think about it, it’s a win-win situation for both, universities and students. As a student, the overseas education experience ceases to be just an academic exercise as you get to work abroad and develop practical skills.

The university isn’t under undue pressure to distribute free lunches and strain its resources. Instead of hiring expensive professionals from outside, they can tap into the global resource pool in their backyard and get some basic work done in-house.

 

Apart from these, many of the regular tips that we provide on the site about improving your chances of getting into the top universities (develop a strong profile, select the right universities, present yourself in the best light in your applications) are more relevant that ever if you are expecting more than just an admit.

In your quest for a free education abroad, if you need help with profile building, university selection and application improvement, send us an email [info at mbacrystalball dot com].

We look forward to hosting your ‘How I got into a top university and managed to study abroad for free’ story on our site soon.
 
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Sameer Kamat
About Sameer Kamat
Founder of MBA Crystal Ball. Author of Beyond The MBA Hype & Business Doctors. Here's more about me. Follow me on: Instagram | Linkedin | Youtube

21 thoughts on “How to Study Abroad for Free”

  1. paisa chahiye sir 🙁 ms karna hai. uska bhi paisa nahi hai.
    ALl i want is a good scholarship. 80% would be great. But the problem is i dont have research papers. am already 25 and thinking if i should go for ms in 2017 becuz this year it isnt possible. Please guide me. It gives me tension.

    Reply
  2. Hi Sameer!
    I am just about to complete my bachelors and i am struggling with the idea of applying to Masters abroad or wait and gain experience and then go for an MBA.

    Please help!

    Reply
  3. @Sandeep: Why rush into it when you aren’t ready, Sandeep bhai? Thoda dheeraj rakho.

    Financing is just one of the challenges in the path of higher education. There are others as well – (lack of) clarity of where you want to go in the longer term being among the bigger concerns.

    We’ve got folks approaching us (in fact, just responded to an email from someone in that situation) where they are in the middle of an MS program in US and realising that this isn’t what they want to continue doing. Now they are even more confused about what to do.

    Be patient. Work in India, Save some money. Get more clarity on the career path. Then think about going abroad.

    @Niharika: Read my earlier response to Sandeep.

    Reply
  4. hi sameer, i am somi from india, my b.tech % is low so,how can i study in abroad ,for MBA.
    and the GMAT exam in compulsary for admission in abroad,

    Reply
    • Hi Sameer,
      I am currently working and have 9 years of IT experience. Now I am planning to write GMAT and purse MBA in UK/Canada. Pls let me know if this is good with my yrs of IT experience? Also what would be a good score to get 100% scholarship from universities?

      Thanks
      Lucky

      Reply
  5. @Somi: Yes, the GMAT is compulsory for all good MBA programs. Several drop that requirement, but be cautious about those options.

    Here’s an article on how to tackle low academic grades: https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2015/04/13/managing-low-academic-grades-gpa-mba-applications/

    @Lucky: 1 year programs in the UK and Europe have a higher average experience in the class. So you can surely try. Scholarships are tough to predict. It’s not just the GMAT that matters.

    Read some of the stories we’ve shared in the article above as well as others we’ve published on this website to get an idea of the typical profiles and the schools they targetted to get a free ride.

    Reply
  6. Hey, i am in 3rd year pursuing Btech in C.S. and i am thinking to apply for MBA in abroad. The problem are that i am a fresher and financially we are not that strong. Hence i was hoping to get scholarship but i dont know what to do. Could you just enlighten my path. So i can know exactly how to plan for all of this.

    Reply
  7. Hi My self Kranti from Bangalore India As i want to pursue Tuition Free MBA anywhere in Europe . But Problem is My Academic record is little poor and I have 5 years of working experience in the field of Operations/Management. So suggest Me in this regards.

    Reply
  8. I have a dream to study abroad at least once in my life,but I don’t have clear idras about that to how to complete MS with minimal costs,
    I am in 3rd year Civil engineering from punr university, Maharashtra.
    Actually I am confused that which exam should I cracked and prepare for it whether MS in US or GATE to study further in civil line’s.
    I am from middle class family, is it ok to go for GRE as it is my dream,
    I am afraid to GATE cause many talented students than me work hard from 2-3 years to get admission in top colleges so how I can stand in front of them?
    Some people saying that GRE will be cancelled from 2018 or onwards and only GATE will be conducted for all tests.
    2) Is it mandatory of work experience?
    3) or can I give GRE exam after completing or during my M.E. Study.
    I will be passout at 2018 by completing my B.E. in Civil engineering from Average college RMD SINHGAD institute, pune. Maharashtra.
    Can u please guide me, I am really going to high stress and confusion,?
    Parents are saying that complete M.E. And prepare For UPSC but I am having lack of confidence to crack UPSC and GATE.
    Please reply me

    Reply
  9. I have completed my b. Tech mechanical engg. And having 2 years experience. I want to do M. B. A from abroad but dont have more money to afford.. Kindly tell me the best way to do M. B. A with minimum fees or with scholarship or stipend. How much money should indian neee to complete it.

    Reply
  10. sir i want to do MBA ….but sir i hv nt much more fund for foreign plss sir help to me……. I’m post graducated m. com has been completed last year..now I want to be doing mBa but sir I have finacial problem I hv no source of income plss help to me…

    Reply
  11. Hi I’m a second year student pursuing banking and finance option at KAAF university college in Ghana and I would like to study abroad but the problemproblem is that a middle class family and so we are not financially strong.but would like to get scholarship but I don’t know how.can you help me know the steps

    Reply
  12. Hi Sameer,
    I am interested in pursuing MS in marketing from US. Can you please help me with the job prospects, what value does the degree hold in the market ? I have 2 years of work ex in IT industry.

    Reply
  13. Sir I am sameer im giving my cbse boards im non med student I want to go abroad to earn money and take a good white collar job there
    pls guide me what to do
    What should I take to settle there

    Reply
    • I’m somalian girl I love education I’m in high school class 11 . If I finish my high school I want to go for abroad university but I can’t because my family are poor and they live in Bush. But I live in Mogadishu with my aunt.i have a big family many sisters and brother’s mother and father but they live in bad life sometimes my father says to my mother (all of us we will drink poison becouse we can’t live in this had life)but my mother says our daughter saara will puts us out of this bad life let us wait. And i hope that i will do that . Thank you

      Reply
  14. I would want to pursue a masters degree abroad. Especially masters in food science and nutrition then later a PhD in the same field.

    Reply
  15. Hi Sameer,
    I am a bachelor student , I really want to study my masters from abroad but I am very confused on how to go about it. I want to first crack RBI Grade B exam, and since they send the candidates after serving 2 years will it be a good move? Please guide me about this. I will be greatful.

    Reply

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