Crossing Over: Master’s Education Abroad!

 There is an increasing trend to travel abroad for post graduate studies among Indian architecture students over the last 15-20 years. Education loans and a general rise in affluence have brought international post-graduate studies within the reach of many in the last few years. On what factors should this decision of international education be taken by an aspiring candidate? Is it dependent on affordability of education and living costs, or peer pressure, or taking the benefit of additional time to figure out one’s professional life ahead? The most sought after destinations for overseas education seem to be USA, UK and Australia; followed by Canada, Singapore or even New Zealand; and a small number have also ventured into European countries like Germany, Netherlands, Ireland and France. After concluding post graduate program, some students stay back while others return to India; some attribute their thriving careers and lives to their overseas education while others reconsider this decision entirely.

Having observed a number of cases of our contemporaries, having travelled this road ourselves and having advised many of our students in the past few years, we wish to offer some suggestions to prospective candidates, who choose to embark on this journey.

So how does one choose the course, the university and the country? The fundamental choice is based on understanding one’s own strengths, character and expectations from international post graduate education. Clarity regarding self assessment is required and considering one’s past experiences during undergraduate studies, internship and professional experience (if one has worked for some time in office) may help. The key issue is also the environment and opportunity of self growth that the program claims to offer the candidate. We recommend that the students should give as much time as possible for self evaluation and its relation to the program content. This is important as more and more international universities across the world offer a variety of programs that appear enticing and/ or glamorous but may not offer much value to the candidate in terms of his/her anticipated expectations. A case in point is regarding a recently offered four semester full time post graduate program conducted jointly by four European Universities which offers course work taking place in four different cities/countries in four semesters. If the intention was also to secure a job abroad after graduating, we doubt if such a program can assist the candidate to develop network ties with professional and faculty members, which are required to secure a job.

Thus, ideally, we are suggesting that the candidate is clear with his/her intention – followed by the program content that supports the intentions – followed by the university which offers this program – followed by logistical requirements of application procedures, visa rules, an idea of expenses and funding, etc.

 With the field of study decided based on one’s defined intentions, one is then faced with the next (and sometimes simultaneous) level of choices or parameters that define these choices. The prominent ones among them are mentioned below:

a.        Knowing the difference between professional degree and research degree - The primary choice one needs to make is between a professional degree course (such as M.Arch or equivalent) or a research degree program. The M.Arch course means that eventually one is in a position to practice as an architect abroad. However, in places such as North America, UK and Germany, the candidate is required to work in an architect’s office for a certain period of time after graduation, give a series of exams and only then he/she is eligible to use the title of a registered architect. This can take a minimum of 3 years after graduation. Similarly, time and the process required to be a registered architect after graduation should be checked for other places too. If involved in a research program, the degree is usually meant to develop your career in academics or one can apply as a research consultant in the professional industry. If interested in academics, the research graduate degree further extends to doing a PhD and consequently securing a permanent position in teaching + researching thereafter. Again, the methodology of research conducted under different programs in different universities situated in various countries differs significantly. The variation has a bearing on the progress of research, student to teacher interaction and the time required to complete the research program. Thus, this is also a long road to be considered. This would be elaborated in a separate article some other day but for now, it should suffice to say that professional opportunities in research are far less as compared to industry.

b.        Recognition of international post graduate programs in India – There are certain criteria under which, an M.Arch post graduate degree obtained overseas is recognized as being “equivalent” to its Indian M.Arch degree counterpart. The recognition of such international post graduate degrees in architecture are published in websites of Association of Indian Universities and/or Council of Architecture. This implies that not all international post graduate degrees that “sound” like M.Arch or are related to design skills will be recognized and accepted in India and that should not lead to a feeling of “time lost” and “money lost” in the long run, if the candidate hopes to return to India and intends to utilize internationally obtained degrees for his/her academic or professional advantage.

c.         Choosing by university ranking – All reputed universities are accredited and have established rankings which give an idea regarding the quality of education they offer. The ranking covers a host of parameters regarding education content, applicability in industry, faculty strengths, funding opportunities, international student strength, infrastructural support, placements and so on. In short, the ranking system gives an overview of the educational environment to be encountered. As is expected, higher the ranking, more the competition to get an access in the University and more education expenses to be incurred for the chosen program. Some countries, especially in Europe, may not have an official and elaborate ranking system like the USA. Then, there are private organisations like QS World University Rankings that give a comparative idea, but relate to an overall picture of the university based on all fields of study and not specifically architecture. At times, certain universities may have a low score based on certain parameters which may not be as important for you personally or for the field of architecture in particular. Therefore, a word of advice: rankings indicate a part of the picture of the University. More accurate information regarding program content, course structure, teacher support and other general things can be found by establishing contacts with current international Indian students enrolled in the University by facebook or twitter or such social media sites. Initiating contacts with teachers is also fruitful to clarify any concerns of the subjects or program content.

d.        Getting scholarships and tuition waivers– Different universities in different countries have different norms for sponsoring education. In Germany, education is free and you only pay for living costs. In case of USA, scholarships and tuition waivers is quite common. But this depends on federal and private/ industry funding. This funding subsequently percolates into various department programs. This will determine scholarships, tuition waivers, Teaching and/or Research Assistantships available for international students. It goes without saying that Statement of Purpose, entrance test scores, portfolio of works, recommendations, previous academic grading have to be excellent in order to be considered for any of the above options for subsidized educational expenses, as far as USA is concerned. In the UK, scholarships are offered by independent trusts or religious or political organisations directly to the student for a particular field of study irrespective of the university. The criteria for applying for universities in other countries would be very different. One needs to contact students from the proposed department program by facebook or other social media platforms to get to know the latest tendency of the department in giving tuition waivers or other options for offsetting expenses. This is more critical for USA, where the cost of education can range anywhere between $25000 to $50000 per year, besides living expenses. For Germany, one can contact the DAAD for similar information.

e.        Economic situation of the host country – This consideration is important, in terms of how the graduate degree can generate value in the industry. Persistent efforts are required for securing a good job in the industry after the completion of the program. These efforts start right from networking after completing one year of graduation and may continue well beyond 6-9 months after graduation. A program with a compulsory internship is thus always a better option. The transition from being a student to being absorbed in an industry should also take place within the given time frames allocated for changing visa status (from study permit/student visa or equivalent, to work permit/ employment visa or equivalent). In places such as United Kingdom, the students are currently not allowed to reside in London and work after completion of graduate degree This was not the case earlier. In Germany, the changes in the rules have been exactly the opposite, but the number of employment opportunities remain limited.

f.          Climate – The challenge of harsh climate can’t be underestimated. Extreme cold environments with longer nights and shorter days can be gloomy and a general awareness of the climatic conditions can be fruitful in preparing the candidate on what lies ahead.

g.        Familiarity or liking for a particular culture and/ or language – If a candidate chooses to undertake a post graduate program in Europe, one must be conversant in communicating in local language or at least be flexible towards learning it well. Despite the fact that the course is taught in English and most people would be speaking in English within the university, one needs to have some knowledge of the local language to carry out daily activities. Knowing the native language would open up a further source of knowledge and information through books and research papers especially pertaining to the issues in that country.  If one intends to continue working there after completing one’s studies, one would be competing for jobs with local candidates having local language skills.

h.        Friends and extended family/ network – Knowing as many Indians living in the proposed destination area has its benefits. Society and cultures outside India operate very different, think differently and it takes time to communicate effectively with local people abroad – even in English speaking countries. Besides academic life, assistance to orient oneself as a citizen of a different country is required many times. For such numerable instances, Indians do come to our rescue. Therefore, it is beneficial to look for locations where you already have some contacts as also actively pursue making new connections once you are there.

i.          Richness of student life – as an architecture student, one does not learn only at the university. Exchange programs, projects with partner universities outside the host country, internships, travelling and seeing other buildings especially by master architects is also a profound learning experience. This proves to be especially applicable in the European context. Equally impacting is the influence of co-students if they are from many different national and cultural backgrounds. Overseas education is also about exposure and values like open-mindedness besides improving ones technical skills. This deserves a mention because there have been cases where an Indian student studying at a foreign university has had only Indian and Chinese classmates and tutors. One needs to take care that post graduate studies abroad deliver a full international experience  and not just a degree certificate from an institute based outside India.

So far, we have been looking at the short term perspective in post graduate education that related to the choice of program or university. But it needs to be viewed in the long term as well and there are a number of scenarios that one may encounter as such.

 a.         As mentioned before, completion of a post graduate degree and applying for a job in that country necessitates a change in visa status (student to employment). Getting the first job requires dedicated efforts that may extend to a few months after conclusion of post graduation period. The route to sustained working in the industry leads one to apply for Permanent Residentship and again constitutes a change in visa status. Each of these steps (from graduation to employment to residentship) vary in terms of procedures, complexities and time frames across continents. Changing economy and visa rules due to current geo-political situations have an effect on how the job market responds to International Students and it is usual to find some kind of ‘preferential’ bias of some kind in the system. In short, from a long term perspective, the road of “settling” oneself in terms of subsequent job prospects and leading to Permanent Residence is dynamic and requires frequent self evaluations. Thus, the decision of undertaking a post-graduate program abroad has to be deliberated with utmost care, since it involves financial planning/ or education loan and commitment of time (ranging from minimum of 2 years and above).

b.         Factors such as the kind of climate one encounters, frequency of interaction with people, access to healthcare, changing economic conditions, opportunities of raising a family and health of parents residing in India alter/ revise our long term goals of settlement.

c.         The dynamic nature of points mentioned above may result in change of plans from settling in the foreign country to moving to another country to coming back to India with added repercussions on time, money, family etc. – all this a subject matter of some other article some day.

 Summing up, some hard thinking about one’s purpose is needed to make an informed decision of going abroad for a post-graduate program in architecture. One can look at it from an idealistic point of view, putting learning as the prime objective or one can look at it as a migration opportunity. A clear purpose and a clear goal would help in “creating the roadmap” but many of these parameters are bound to unfold as one encounters a changing situation. The experience, is nevertheless, worth it!

 Bon Voyage!!

Niranjan Garde completed his post graduation from University of British Columbia, Vancouver in Advanced Studies in Architecture in 2014. Currently he is an associate professor in PVP College of Architecture, Pune. His interests include history of architecture, research opportunities in architectural field. He can be contacted on niranjangarde@gmail.com

 Shubhashish Subandh is an architect with a masters degree in European Urban Studies from the Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany. His interests include Urban Sociology and Real Estate Development. Currently he teaches Design at Dr. BN College of Architecture, Pune. He can be contacted on ashish.subandh@gmail.com

We wish to thank our colleagues who have offered their suggestions for this article. We are indebted to Mandar Puranik, Prajakta Sane and Reshu Gupta.

PS: Also published in A+D magazine July 2018