Deciding where you want to go for your education can be one of the biggest decisions that you make in your life. There are a lot of things to consider, such as the prestige of the university that you can go to, the experience you are likely to have living in the city that you have chosen, and how likely the university you choose is to give you a good education in your chosen field.
For a lot of people, one option is to study in another country. This has been something that has been quite easy to do for people from the UK given that there are opportunities for you to apply for university places in countries such as Portugal, Italy, and Spain.
If you are currently trying to decide whether you would like to study at home in the UK, or have a new experience studying in another European country, then here are three reasons why the option to study abroad can actually be very beneficial.
Learn Useful Life Skills as You Study
Everybody learns a lot about life when they go away to university for the first time. You will have to get used to living with people your own age rather than your family, dealing with money and budgets, and managing your time so that you can have a good social life as well as getting all the important work done for your degree.
University teaches people more than just the stuff that is on their courses. However, people do tend to learn even more about life as they study in an unfamiliar place where they may not even speak the language. You will become more resourceful when you have had to look for student accommodation in somewhere like Lisbon rather than just having everything arranged for you as it might be at a UK university.
Thankfully, there are companies like Collegiate that can direct you to available student accommodation in your area of interest and guide you on the city, and it is not an insurmountable task, but you will learn a lot more about taking care of yourself when you study abroad.
Language Skills as a Bonus
Another reason why it can be a really good idea to study abroad is that as well as the course you are studying, you will also likely come away with some language skills. Many European universities offer courses in English for students from other countries, so you will not need to be fluent in the language when you go there. However, being immersed in that country for the period of your degree will help you to develop a good level of being able to speak in that language. This can make you more employable and is also a good skill to have in everyday life.
Impressive on Your CV
A third reason why it can be a good idea to study abroad is that it can look very impressive to potential employers when you have finished your degree and begin looking for work. This is because employers appreciate the global nature of business these days and believe that it is important for people to have some experience of other cultures, languages, and customs, which means that students who have studied abroad have a slight edge.
These are just three of the reasons why if studying abroad is an option for you, it may be the one to go for.