Before you 'ship' your kids abroad for study, please read.

         Sending kids abroad for study is one of the toughest decision ever made by parents. The thought of something going horribly wrong miles away from home is always looming in the hearts of some parents.

While some parents find it hard to let go of their love ones, others simply do it with ease and completely oblivious of some difficulties awaiting their love ones abroad.

Some families spend a great deal of time searching for information about the study location. Everything from weather, culture, economy , language , etc. This is a very good move by families who really care about the well being of their love ones.

Some countries have a history of racism and some the likelihood of a civil war or perhaps a very high crime rate. Although you want your kid to come back with a degree, you also don’t want them to get caught up in situations listed above.

Beyond this keep in mind that your kid can come back a very different person. Take things like religious affiliation, sexual orientation, culture, language, and general social interations, etc.

Those are just a few things that may change as they return home with a degree. The environment we live in sometimes help build who we are. Hence, it is important that we are not ignorant of the kind of environment we expose our kids to.

                So you send your kids abroad for studies, now what? It is important that you give a full support whether morally or financially. There is a real need to keep track of what they are doing especially since you the parent is miles away.

A phone call as often as you can helps, skype, social media, visits to the location of study to mention a few. These are some of the ways you can lend your support as a parent especially at the early stages. Don’t forget in the first year some kids don’t handle culture shock too well.

Again the weather, people, environment all play a role especially when under great pressure in the first year of studies.

In my case, apart from the fact that I missed home greatly, questions like;

How do I get around? – to and from campus, the grocery store, etc.

How do I make new friends?

What is acceptable and not acceptable in my new environment?

How do I open a bank account and where do I get health insurance card?

Will I be able to adapt to the lectures, class mates and academics in a new language or different accent?

Will academics be easy?

Will my parents be happy with my first year results? What if I fail?

Bus pass? Grocery stores? Transportation around the city?, malls? Calling cards to call everyone back home?  

The questions go on and on.

For some of these questions, spending the first year on campus residence really helps but the parents still need to be in touch in all aspects to encourage the child especially If they arrived unaccompanied.

Some of my friends never really had any moral support from the parents. It was so bad some parents never knew anything beyond the name of the school.

For some parents all the support came in form of finances and that was it. As long as they sent money they had completed their part as a parent. The short story below shows this is not always the case.

Take the case of Jacob, a fellow international student at the time (1^st year).

 “Hey Jacob, how much is tuition this year?” and Jacob quickly replies, $25,000 CAD Dad.

Because Jacob’s Dad could care less about Jacob’s school, he just ended up squeezing out an extra $19,000 from his Dad. The school fees for the academic year was $6,000.

 So armed with this extra money and a few friends, Jacob is now determined to enjoy his new found wealth at the expense of studies for years to come. Aside, from lavishly spending in clubs, Jacob was now into buying luxury cars and exotic trips.

Four years gone by and Jacob has switched programs twice with two academic warnings and a one year academic suspension. None of these recent developments have been disclosed to his parents.

Long story short, 5.5 years gone by Jacob is not saying much about studies or a degree and when the parents finally begin to do some digging they are heart broken to find out he is no longer in school. He has been kicked out.  There are numerous cases out there. Jacob’s case is just one of them.

Key lessons for parents:

Don’t just 'ship' your kids abroad to bring home a degree. Keep in touch with your kids regularly  --- skype, social media, phone call, visits, etc.

As bizarre as it sounds kindly ask them for the password to check their results online, especially if you are funding the tuition. Take for instance, when students receive scholarships there is always a level of academic expectancy. Any time, the student under-performs they can easily be dropped by their sponsors. 

You can simply ignore this if you really really trust them.

It is not up to the guardian(friends or relatives) abroad to assume full responsibility for your kid’s actions. If you leave you kids under the sole care of a guardian you could be in for a surprise. There is a limit to what a guardian can do.

Your kids might pick up some of the culture abroad and bring it back home.  Please don’t surprised if they experience culture shock again. Be prepared to help the kids adapt again.

Don’t force Law, Engineering and Medicine professions down the guts of your kids without giving them a chance to explore.

If you take this route, chances are your kids have already failed you at home before they depart for studies abroad. In addition, they could face a certain amount of frustration and depression doing something completely different because they want to please you, the parent.

If you can, find out what drives them and not what they want to drive. Find out where their hearts meets their heads – Instinct. The parent can help grow the child’s dreams especially if you know what drives them instinctively.  Without this thought process, it will be money and time down the drain.

Spend some time on the school website, read about the programs, current news and events. Assess how any new development might affect your kid’s well being in school.

       In summary, please do not just 'ship' your kids abroad as an international student to bring home a degree. Please be involved in the planning phase as well as the execution phase of things. Keep in touch however you can as a parent and give your kids the moral support that they need to succeed abroad.

Inquiry about renting, texts books etc from a prospective student

I got an email from a Nigerian student who wants to know about renting and buying texts books while studying in Canada. I have posted the conversation below.

Nigerian student:

"I feel so comfortable talking to you am motivated by your use of words
and advice thank you.
God will bless you.
Sir ...
books can one get them from the library or you have to buy or can I
just bring from here, and is it possible to get a job in ur first
year, and I was reading another article it was talking about the
expensive cost of groceries and spices is that true Sir, the rented
accomodation does it comes with internet, telephone, cable tv,computer
and a washing machine and is electricity bill and other miscleanous
bills included in the rent, what the cheapest range of suchaccomodation Sir."

My reply:

"You can lend books from the library but you will have a certain duration to return it and during peak periods like exams and midterm exams you might run out of luck because other students will have it booked.

There is also the Used-Book store option. You can look up the text book you need for your class and then go to that store to get your books for cheaper than regular price. Its essentially books other students have used or simply older edition of the same text book. Use this option first before the university's main book store.

The school's main book store is where you can find all the text books you need. Make sure you check with your prof first if you need the book for the class. They are often expensive so get ready but that also depends on what you plan to take as a program.

The other cheap option will be looking up the text books online if you have a credit card. Sites like amazon.com or abebooks.com etc.

Don't bother bringing books from Nigeria because you might not know what text books you need until you register for your courses.

When it comes to jobs it is really up to you look for sth whether off campus or on campus.  No one is guaranteed a job. The only thing is I don't really recommend working in the first year especially when you are very new to the country.

I would suggest you see how you do academically first in the first year 1st before proceeding. 

Combining work and academics in your first year while trying to adjust to the weather, culture and people in your 1st year in a new environment can be frustrating. 

When it comes to groceries and spices its a personal budget issue. It depends on what you want to eat and how much you are willingly to  spend. Keep im mind that it is important to always think like a student whenever it comes to money.

Always plan and organize your self ahead.

While some rented accommodation may provide almost all you have listed some may not provide cable, telephone and a computer. If they do, you could potentially be over charged. 

In my opinion you don't need cable to succeed as a student. Your assignment and projects will keep you so busy you might not have time for tv.

Its advisable you get your own computer and cell phone. No one is going to provide that for you.

Washing machine is provided and bills will be covered in the rent.

Make sure you look up rooms on kijiji.ca website to see what a typical range is for rent. I believe I said this before. 

Rent for rooms in a house vary from city to city so choose a city on the top right corner of that website and go from there. See that nairaland thread for the discussion about kijiji.ca. I believe it was back in January.  

Just for an example for a place like Winnipeg, Manitoba,the  range of rent can start at 250 to 600 and up. It really boils down to your budget."

List of affordable Universities and colleges in Canada for international students

I always considered University of Manitoba and University of Brandon to be one of the cheapest in the country especially the later partly because I went to school in Manitoba.

Just recently, after a short research I found out that my list can easily be expanded. Below is the list I came up with. Please note that they could be more affordable schools out there than what I have below so please approach with caution.

**See updated list here
   Ask a question here

Bow Valley College

University of Brandon

University of Winnipeg

University of Manitoba

Memorial University of Newfoundland

University of Saskatchewan

University of Regina

Douglas College

Dalhousie University

Georgian College

Red River College

Grant MacEwan College

Seneca College

Simon Fraser

University of Victoria

University of Lethbridge

There are definitely  more schools out there that are affordable but I have not had the time to look up every single one.

Please keep in my mind that while some schools are affordable, the city which they reside might have a high cost of living. Hence, take cost of living into consideration before making your final decision.

See www.kijiji.ca for rooms and apartments in the city you choose to attend Univerisity or College.

However, cost of living in Manitoba and Newfoundland are known to be reasonable.

Original thread back on Nairaland

So I rolled into the month of July with a bang.

My thread on nairaland that was banned in March for reasons unknown to me, seems to be up and running again all of a sudden.

The number of  emails I get normally get when down drastically ever since the ban. I woke up this morning to 4 emails in my inbox. All from nairaland. They all indicated they saw my thread again on nairaland so I quickly rushed to confirm and yes it is true. Below is the link.

http://www.nairaland.com/598911/studing-canada-what-need-know/2#24394850

I already got a prospective student from Germany posts already. The post and my reply can be found below.

dee1J: Hello guys i am new here. I am presently in Germany doing my masters in computer science but am planning to move to Canada immediately after my masters programme. I have started the process with an Agent call Canadian Visa Expert whose office is base in Canada. I paid 184 euro for the first phase and they told me that i qualify to apply for Manitoba Immigrant Visa based on my qualification and for me to move to the second phase i need to pay a fee of 750 euro and before picking my visa in Germany I will pay 1,400 euro. So far I am convince they are genuine people but my friend insist that I come to this forum and find out more because there are some people here that must have used them.

Please i will need your advise on whether they are genuine people or not before i proceed with the other phases.

David I.
Germany.

+++++++++> my reply++++++++
Hello David,

Sorry to tell you that this sounds like a scam to me. All information regarding moving to Canada whether working, studying or just visiting can be found on www.cic.gc.ca.

Not saying they are no legitimate agencies out there or you cannot use a representative but the fact that they break it down into phases each with a higher price tag sounds like something that is designed to keep you hooked depending on how desperate you are.

Its too expensive and does n't sound practical when they say you will pick up your visa in Germany. Do they mean the Canadian Consulate in Germany?

Unless I am not hearing the full story or simply don't understand it otherwise my advice is forget these guys and work with www.cic.gc.ca.

If you feel your reply will include some personal details and you don't feel like sharing it here you can always email me: Emakgaga@gmail.com

*** Manitoba Immigrant Visa sounds new to me. Maybe Manitoba Immigrant Nominee program?

Please be careful with some agencies.

Statement of Purpose/Letter of Intent

Statement of Purpose or Letter of Intent seems to be a hot topic these days among students either for immigration purposes or when applying for post graduate programs in colleges and universities.

Emails about about writing the letter keeps coming up every now and then. While some are afraid to take the first step in trying others have assembled courage to give it a try. Those who give it a shot will sometimes ask for my help in proof reading the letters while others will bluntly ask you to kindly write one and email it to them. Keep in mind I am no expert.

While trying to do something for the first time can be challenging I believe It can be easily accomplished with the proper guideline in place.

In an effort to encourage prospective students who wish to write this letter I took the time to read several guidelines online for writing a statement of purpose letter, so I can recommend which guideline can be of most help to students.

The Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) writing centre provides an in-depth guideline for writing statements of purpose.

Below is the link to the pdf provided by the Ohio Wesleyan University writing centre.

http://blog.owu.edu/writingcenter/files/2012/07/Statements-of-Purpose-Guidelines-and-Sample-Essays.pdf

The guideline provided by OWU assumes the student is addressing the faculty or department so keep in mind that you might have to condense the technical aspect a bit when using the letter for immigration purposes i.e your consulate officer might not know too much about the technical aspect of your program so why go in-depth in the letter.

My advice to new international students in Canada

I recently posted my last reply on the nairaland thread; http://www.nairaland.com/1681115/travelling-canada-part/262#23425118
for new international students who just got their visa to study in Canada.

I have copied and posted it below.

Hello everyone, Its been a while. I hope admission seekers have been getting all the help they need with the good people on this forum. 

Its actually tough keeping up with this growing thread so I will not be following closely anymore due to my busy schedule.

But before I leave I will give a piece of advice to the new comers. 

I see alot of people in the past very happy about getting a study visa. I am happy for you as well but don't let your guard down. It doesn't end there.

Please get ready to work hard to be successful in Canada. 

Take your academics seriously and don't forget all the hassles you or your family had to go through for you to be where you are i.e Canada. Study is the main reason why you are in Canada. 
Once you start having issues with academics and wasting precious time on your study permit you can easily run into immigration issues. Take your books seriously.

One of the issues most of us had after graduation was a lack of Canadian work experience in the field of study. I had to go through a great deal of networking and eventually moved to a different province for work.

You have to be creative when looking for work. Don't forget you won't only be competing with other international students for a job but Canadians as well. Brace yourself.

Please strive as much as you can to gain Canadian work experience in your field before you graduate especially as you approach 3rd year of study. 

Apply to jobs in other provinces in the summer months if you have to. Sometimes you are most likely to find work in remote areas where people don't want to go, but these areas sometimes provide the experience you need. 

Make great Canadian friends and they will show you the ropes. 

Lastly, learn the culture quickly and also get ready to share your particular culture from Nigeria. They will ask you alot about Nigeria, your great country. Try as much as you can to be balanced in your explanation. 

All the best to everyone seeking to study in Canada and those who are already here. 

It was nice replying a few people here. Thanks for having me JUSTWISE.

Always be truthful to the consulate officer in your visa applications.

I know its been a while but thats just because I have been busy.

So I got an email from a prospective Canadian admission seeker about being a 100% honest with the Canadian Consulate in Nigeria.

The individual's concern was simply whether being honest with the consulate officer could boost or kill your chances of a visa.

Below is the individual's email to me and my reply right after.

Individual's email to me

Yes. First i hav an MSc from *****, and am going for a diploma course in canada. So i think it might be a red flag...

Ok.  But i dont intend telling them i have a masters from *****. My passport was renewed in ***** in 2012, so it does not show a *****student visa on it. So i am thinking of not declaring that i hv an msc from *****

My reply to the Individual

As long as theres no gaps in time in terms of what you were doing over the years.

Also keep in mind that if they findout you went to school in the *****they will assume you have a hidden motive. You might have a hard time trying to regain their trust.

There is nothing wrong with going for a diploma after masters just say why and you will be fine.

Perhaps a new found interest in a new area?

Will give you a short story.

I attended uniport and completed my first year.

I wasn't feeling the school especially with inconsistencies in the system. Bribing lecturers was rampant, strike, cultism etc.

I knew it was time to leave but my grades were nth but crap. I had found Canada.

I can try to apply and transfer to a university in Canada but I won't be accepted due to my grades.

This was 3yrs after secondary school.

Do I tell the consulate officer that uniport never existed? 

I kept pondering for months. Back then it was a face to face interview. 

I scrapped the idea of transferring to a uni in Canada with my uniport grades and decided to go for an A levels program in Canada.

What I was doing was basically completing 1st year uni in Nigeria and going back to secondary school in Canada with my waec.

I still have to face the consulate officer.

The previous question still stands ; uniport or no uniport? 

At the end I got a letter from my HOD that stated that I am a student of uniport and was studying a certain program. I proceeded with my waec result.

I got to the consulate officer and the only thing she kept talking about was why why why are you leaving university for an equivalent of ss3 in Canada.

I was shooked but gave her the reasons listed above; inconsistencies with the system and finished by saying I am choosing a different part of study and like to do it in a country where the educational standard is one of the best in the world.

The rest was history and she thanked me for being honest.

I had nothing to hide that was indeed my intent.

That was quite the opposite of a short story.

Keeping it plain and simple will bring out honesty in your application.  Like I said before if they find out you went to school in the ***** it will be tough to take you serious in the future. 

*************************************************************************************************

The blurred lines above is to protect the individual especially since theres an application in progress.  And yes the individual acknowledged my advice and plans to be honest with the consulate officer. 

Uniport stands for University of Port Harcourt just incase you were wondering. 

The truth truely sets you free when you choose to walk in it. It will make you fearless. Please be honest in your applications. Thats the bottom line of this write up.

I have a few more email responses I will be sharing in the future. Stay tuned and keep your emails coming.