The 5 Hardest Parts of Studying Abroad: Test Stress, Mental and Money Pressure, and 5 Things People Don't Dare Tell Friends and Family!

A while ago on Instagram I asked everyone about "things you didn't dare tell friends and family while studying abroad," and today I want to share the numbers and stories!

Not daring to tell friends about the decision to study abroad

Out of 200+ votes, nearly half (43%) said they did "not" tell friends about their decision to study abroad! One person said they didn't dare say it out loud too early, so pointless opinions wouldn't sway their decision; another said they didn't dare let people know they were applying, because if they didn't get in nobody would be disappointed, and if they did, it would be a surprise!

Actually, I applied for a Deferred MBA in secret too, and at the time I only told my family! Before applying, all kinds of study-abroad agencies in Taiwan "knocked my confidence." They said no one had succeeded before and I shouldn't waste my time. But once I make up my mind, I go all in, so I put other people's opinions behind me and started digging into Deferred MBA information. After several rejection letters, I finally started getting interview invitations from Virginia Darden & Columbia. During that period I put in over 100 hours, spending at least four hours a day on MBA research and essay prep, which gave me a thorough understanding of the schools and of myself. So before the interviews I had a kind of "blind confidence." My attitude was: believe in yourself and don't take the results too seriously. In the end I got the good news I was hoping for!

Never getting the language test score...

Out of 200+ votes, 39% passed on the first try! 29% finally made it after two or three attempts, 16% took it four or five times, and the last 16% took it six times or more. IELTS, TOEFL, GMAT and GRE are the biggest hurdles in a study-abroad application. If you don't have enough prep time or your foundation isn't especially solid, it's very hard to get a score you're happy with in one go in a short time! On top of that, many schools and programs now have section score requirements, and a lot of people have to retake the test because one section fell short.

Actually, I'm a master IELTS retaker myself! One section never met most schools' section score requirements, and my score got worse with each of my three attempts. Only when applying for the Deferred MBA did I find out the schools had no section score requirement, and I was lucky to escape the endless loop.

Anxiety and mental strain

Many people said that while they were going through applications, no one around them could understand that anxious feeling! Others said they broke down completely because a lot of things blew up at the same time. The anxiety and mental pressure of applying abroad are real. Besides the pressure of early prep and tests, after you submit you face endless waiting for offers and decisions. With rolling admission (Rolling basis), if you're lucky you hear back within a month; if it takes longer, you may even wait more than six months!

The financial burden

Tuition and all the test fees have always been a major worry for most people. 👉🏻 This article breaks down study-abroad costs and how Joseph funded his own studies and made it to Warwick's MSBA! In this poll, 23% paid for studying abroad themselves, 33% split the costs with their family, and 44% had their family fund it.

Not daring to tell family about the decision to study abroad

This one is a bit unusual, but quite a few people didn't tell their family about studying abroad for various reasons! Here are some of the odd stories I collected:

• Her dad didn't want her to go abroad, so she never told him she was applying, and plans to tell him once she's admitted!

• Afraid of being crushed by his parents' expectations before he'd even made up his mind, he asks everyone's parents: just quietly support them!

• His dad wanted him to go to Japan, his mom wanted him to go to HKUST, and he wanted to go to London. So on the day of his interview at a Japanese university, he went to Taipei for a day of fun instead, then lied that he'd been rejected

• Doesn't want to go to dad's alma mater, so plans to photoshop a rejection letter when decisions come out

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Final thoughts

I hope everyone finds friends or family they trust to walk with them through the application process and ease the mental load. You're also welcome to find like-minded people through the Jason 學長 & OfferLand community! For younger students planning to apply, I recommend leaving extra time so the language score requirement doesn't weigh on you, and so you have time to retake and push for a higher score. To be safe, you can start preparing for the language test six months before applications open! If you're taking a language test and a standardized test like the GMAT or GRE at the same time, leave even more time!

Feel free to share your own study-abroad struggles in the comments 🥹🥹