A quick glance through this website will reveal that there are many different universities and colleges, from numerous countries, trying to persuade you to study with them. They all have benefits to offer you, and a huge range of courses for you to choose from.

And that is the problem. So much choice. So much to gain. Will you lose out if you choose one over the other? How do you decide?

That is the purpose of this small series of articles. Gradually over the next few articles we'll be helping you to make that choice. And it will be your choice. The choice that is right for you. Not the choice that is right for the advertisers.So where do you begin? The answer is not even in these pages. The answer lies with you. You need to carry out an audit of yourself.

Hey, that sounds pretty serious. Well, yes it is. But at the same time you might just find that it can also be a lot of fun. It's not difficult to do. Below is a series of questions you should be asking yourself now, before you even begin to think about which university or college to apply to. Here we go then.

First of all let's ask why?

Do you know why you want to study? It could be for a number of reasons. Here are some:

• I want to improve my career prospects.
• I want an international qualification
• My family expects me to do it
• My friends say it is a good idea

I hope you can see that the first two are good valid reasons for continuing your studies. But if your main reason is one of the second two, or something similar, then think again. Is it really what you want to do?

Let's next ask where?

Ask yourself where you'd prefer to study. You could say, " I definitely want to go abroad". But you might also say, "I'd prefer to stay at home."

But why have you given this answer. It needs to be something like;

• I want to go abroad because I'd like to live in a new culture and understand more about it
• I'd prefer to stay at home as it will be cheaper for me and I can study part-time and keep my job

These are both good valid reasons. So when you answer the where question make sure the word because appears in the answer. In fact, this very helpful word should be in all your answers when carrying out this audit.

Our next question is when?

To answer this question you'll need to think about such things as finance, work requirements, and family commitments. You will need to think carefully about these, and in a future article we'll be helping you prepare a timetable.

So far so good. Now, how are your going to study? If you've already chosen to study abroad then it probably comes down to attending a course of study at a university or college. But if you've chosen to stay at home you need to think whether you are going to study in a local institution or are you going to study by distance learning, and will it be part-time or full-time. (We'll be looking at the ways to find your way through the minefield of distance learning opportunities later.)

So now we've looked at why, where, when and how?

Let me now ask you another question. How long did it take you to decide on your answers? Ten minutes, a few hours, a day, a week? If you've done it in under a day then you are not thinking seriously. Set yourself a week or so, to carry out your audit and decide what you want to do.

I don't mean you should spend every waking hour chewing it over, but if you set yourself a target of having a definite answer by a certain date, you will find yourself weighing up the pros and cons at various moments, and this will help you to assess in your mind exactly what you really want to do.

And hopefully, by the time you reach your deadline you should be able to right down something like this:

I want to improve my career opportunities and would like to study abroad because the best job opportunities in my country are with foreign and joint ventures, and an understanding of foreign cultures will certainly enhance the chance of getting a job on my return. I have enough money to study for one year and the best time to begin would be next year when my current job contract expires and my brother has started at his new middle school.

So now, you have your statement about yourself. It should be individual and not look like anybody else's. If it reads exactly like your friends then one or both of you is cheating.

How do you use your audit statement? Certainly, you shouldn't throw it away. Here's an idea.

Over the next weeks and months you are going to be collecting lots of material about the various universities and colleges that interest you. Keep these safe in a file, and on the front cover stick your audit statement. Every so often read it just to remind yourself of why you want to study. You will find it helps with the multitude of decisions you are soon going to have to make.

In our next article (How to Choose a College or University) we'll be looking closely at how you choose and the questions you will need to ask yourself if you are going to get it right.

More questions I'm afraid.

Author:

Neil Maynard
Director
Centre for International Education
University of Sunderland

Email: neil.maynard@sunderland.ac.uk
Website: http://www.sunderland.ac.uk

The first in a new series of articles by Neil Maynard, Director, Centre for International Education, University of Sunderland, click here for the next article in this series: How to choose a College or University