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Students to the Whole World!
What to know, how to choose, how to prepare for college abroad. All in one book!
A growing trend that has more than doubled in the last 10 years. A transformation that confirms the mental "quantum leap" that the very young Italians of Generation Z have matured in recent years, conceiving themselves more and more as "citizens of the world."
Training abroad is a life-changing choice, an investment in one's future both personally and professionally, a path that opens up new perspectives in an ever-changing world. For these reasons, it is a choice that ignites enthusiasm but nevertheless should be pondered with great realism and pragmatism:
What is the right college for me? How much does it cost? How can I best prepare myself to be admitted?
It is from this realization that the idea was born to write a guide, a vademecum that can chart the path of students and families to this magnificent experience.
A step-by-step guide from decision to "move in"
Training abroad is a life-changing choice. A great investment in one's future, both personal and professional, that opens up new perspectives in an increasingly complex and ever-changing world. Therefore, it is a choice that ignites enthusiasm but nonetheless should be pondered with great realism. What is the right college for me? How much does it cost? How can I best prepare myself for admission?
This volume is an essential vademecum for dealing with the issues, problems, and opportunities of those who want to undertake university studies in another country of the world. A tool that to many practical questions and doubts offers concrete answers and solutions.
The guide accompanies the reader step by step from the stage of the first analysis of the university offer until the departure for the chosen destination by placing itself from the point of view of the student and the family, entering into the merits of real cases, defining the timing and methods of activation and reporting, at the end of each chapter, the testimony of boys and girls who have already lived this experience.
Some questions answered in the book:
- enrollment timelines;
- The requirements and documents needed to be eligible;
- How to build a college-proof Curriculum Vitae;
- How to strengthen one's language skills;
- How to choose the right college;
- The advantages and disadvantages of different countries;
- items to be provided for in order to set a contingency-proof budget.
The world has stopped, the kids haven't. This could be the summary of a phenomenon that as a whole escapes statistical monitors, but it is a sign of an important indicator of the social and economic transformation that our country is experiencing. A transformation in which the protagonists are the very young people of Generation Z, the so-called post - millennials: girls and boys, today little more than teenagers, who already during their high school years have their antennae straight on the future, and even before they have reached high school graduation they have chosen to take the university route on a campus abroad.
How many are there and where do they go?
According to UNESCO data (Global Flow of Tertiary Students), a total of about 50 thousand Italian students are currently pursuing tertiary education in another country. From the findings of theEurodesk Monitor, the share of Italian tertiary education students enrolled abroad is 4%, compared to 2% in total in OECD countries and more than doubled from 1.5% a decade ago.
In general, English-speaking countries are the most attractive destinations for students across the OECD area, with Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States hosting more than 40% of internationally mobile students in the OECD area and partner countries. For students leaving Italy to study abroad, according to Miur (Ministry of Education, University and Research) data, the most popular destination-despite the uncertainties recently introduced by Brexit-still remains the United Kingdom, followed by Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the United States.
Rising on the wish list are Canada (thanks to a smart facilitation policy aimed at attracting students) and the Netherlands (with a wealth of English-language course offerings and a very attractive quality-of-education-cost ratio) are two fast-growing destinations.
A growing trend
If these are, even with the difficulty of establishing up-to-date and consistent statistical frameworks, today's numbers, it is even more interesting to point out how the international perspective is no longer an elite assumption, but represents A conscious investment of value that Italian girls and boys are well aware of from a very young age.
As revealed in a very recent research conducted by Skuola.netin collaboration with ESCP Business School on a sample of 3 thousand Italian high school seniors, 1 in 3 seriously consider starting and finishing college at a foreign university.
And, reflecting even longer range, In 2 out of 3 cases, they imagine their future employment in a nation other than Italy. Among the reasons for this choice, the awareness of having to build a valuable resume right away stands out: almost half of the respondents (44%) put the prospect of earning as internationally recognizable a degree as possible first. But it is not only career strategy that drives them across borders: 22% express a desire to train in a more mentally open environment, 17% to start building a "life abroad" already budgeted for.
How to choose?
This is clearly an explosive trend, which confirms the mental "quantum leap" that the very young Italians have matured in recent years, conceiving themselves as increasingly protagonists of a global scenario. Real citizens of the world, who especially when it comes to reasoning about their future know how to look at horizons and opportunities that only still for the previous generation were rarely considered.
Compared to this push coming from the bottom, from the girls and boys themselves, the difficulty of the entire socio-educational system is evident (families, high schools, tutoring systems...) to address this trend, to provide very young students with the essential tools and educational support to face this choice with awareness.
It is precisely to begin to bridge this gap, with an approach that combines scientific rigor of data with field experience in counseling, that Edizioni Guerini is sending to bookstores the volume Students Worldwide. What to know, how to choose, how to prepare for university abroad., written by Katja Iuorio, psychologist and Educational Consultant.
A vademecum that guides step by step from decision to "move in"
The volume is a reflection on the value of a choice that truly "changes lives," but also an extremely practical and current tool, which accompanies the student (and his or her family) throughout the long and multifaceted journey from the decision to choose to train abroad to the "move in," the day of departure.
Bringing to bear its decades of experience in accompanying students along this road, Iuorio delves into, with simple language and practical case examples, what are the tools and criteria for defining the shortlist of universities that best match the student's expectations and inclinations (according to the so-called "best fit" criterion), how to apply and what the steps and tests are that, depending on the country chosen or the type of university, lead up to admission, what requirements the student must have (language skills, personal skills), but also how one defines the budget needed to sustain this multi-year experience, what are the explicit cost items to be considered, and what items are not always so immediate, but which can perhaps generate some unpleasant snags along the way.
Great technical and specialized expertise that takes the form of storytelling that is accessible to all, always placing itself from the perspective of the student, his or her family and needs.
Eight chapters, each chapter a step in this journey, with tips and suggestions from those who work "in the field" on a daily basis, in universities around the world. A volume that can be used as a vademecum, or can be read as a survey of a trend that explains the desires and aspirations of the younger generation.
"Going to college abroad is an opportunity for experiential enrichment, personal autonomy, and unique relationships. A big step, which needs to be prepared well." emphasizes Katja Iuorio. "This volume stems from knowledge of the many questions and doubts, including practical ones, that this choice implies, and proposes concrete answers and solutions, always placing the "how" within a "why." It is a guide-book for girls and boys who look far ahead, but with their feet firmly planted on the ground. That puts itself from the perspective of the student and the family, goes into the merits of real cases and choices, defines the times and ways of activation and offers, at the end of each chapter, the testimony of boys and families who have already lived this experience."
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