Know the Scenarios where a student may wish to apply to multiple countries
There are times when students may want to apply to universities in multiple countries because of the abundance of information available on the net which, at times, can be contradictory, thereby confusing students.
Sometimes students find multiple courses/colleges across countries appealing; hence, they choose to apply to multiple countries. These students then make their final decision depending on the college they are accepted to. For ex., a student of aeronautical engineering may apply to Netherlands, France and the USA. The student secures admits from the best university in France and an average university in the USA. He may then opt for France to go to the best university in that country as it will provide more options due to its reputation.
The choice to apply to multiple countries is fine on paper; however, let us explore the problems you can face when you take this step.
A] Ireland + Other countries
Irish universities have a small intake; hence, most seats get filled by October/November for the next August/September intake. The university then asks you to deposit 500 Euros to secure your seat in 2 weeks. Would you be ok to pay this money? If you get accepted from a university in another country whose decision comes late, you may have to forfeit this money. On the other hand, if you don’t pay, you lose the seat.
B] Germany + Other countries
German universities give very late admits. For October intake, sometimes their decisions come by May-June also. By this time, most other countries’ decisions are out, and you may have to pay money to secure your seat. At times, for countries like Canada/the USA – students even apply for their visas by April/May. Considering these factors, the student would be too late to wait for the German university decision.
C] Similarly, there are universities in the UK/Canada/the USA, etc. that have multiple rounds. If you apply in round 1 (to increase your chances of an admit or a scholarship), you may even have an acceptance by October/November for the next Fall intake. The university may ask you to pay a security deposit to confirm your admission.
Hence prioritizing your countries will help you strategize better.
Let us look into the visa-related problems associated with applying to multiple countries.
Suppose you base your decision to apply to multiple countries to avoid visa rejection. In that case, this will not work out practically as the process varies across countries, and the timelines may overlap.
Say you apply to Canada and the USA and have secured one admit from each for August/September intake. For the Canadian SDS visa, you will need to pay the 1st year’s fees and apply for the visa by April-May. If the USA is your first choice, you would, thus, not be willing to pay the money to apply for the Canadian visa unless you have applied for a USA visa, which only happens in May-June.
Similarly, say you want to apply to Germany and the UK, with Germany being your first preference. Most German visas happen in July-Aug. It may be a bit too late to apply for the UK later on as the UK universities start their session in September and German universities start in October.
Except for the USA, most other countries like Ireland, Canada, Australia, Scandinavian countries, etc. will ask you to pay the 1st year’s fees to be eligible to apply for the visa.
Thus, practically speaking, it would be preferable if, in the case your visa is rejected, you reapply and try again for the visa of the same country for the same/or the subsequent term. If you face another rejection, you may consider changing your country as a backup for the following year.
Having said that, Collegepond has a 99% visa success rate; hence we are confident about the visa application process.
