IS IELTS EASIER THAN TOEFL

There are many factors which will help you determine whether to take IELTS or TOEFL. These are language proficiency tests and have a similar format that involves listening, reading, writing and speaking. It is difficult to say which one is easier than the other. Hence, the following criteria will help you figure out the pros and cons of each test.

• Nature of the test– IELTS is a paper-based test while TOEFL is completely online based. If you are more inclined towards the traditional paper-pen pattern of learning, IELTS will be good to go with. If you are techno-savvy and find no difficulties reading passages and typing online, then TOEFL should be good for you.

• Accent– You’ll find IELTS easier especially with the listening section if you are comfortable with British accent or TOEFL if you are more at ease with the American accent. Hence, decide accordingly.

• Test Duration– IELTS takes place on two different days. The first day of the exam requires about 2 hours 45 minutes of time. Comparatively, TOEFL takes about 4 hours to complete as all four sections of the exam are held on the very same day itself.  So, if you want to give a shorter exam, then go for IELTS.

• Speaking Test– In the IELTS test, you have a 1-1 session between the examiner and the candidate for the speaking test. If you are good with your command over the language and can express yourself freely, IELTS is the right choice for you. On the other hand, TOEFL requires you to record all your answers online through a microphone for the speaking test. For people who are bad at giving interviews, TOEFL might be easy as you’ll be answering to a machine rather than person.

• Choice of universities– If you are applying for an institution in US, then consider taking TOEFL since it is more widely accepted in the US along with GRE. For countries in Europe, IELTS is the most preferred choice.

• Writing Topics– The essay topic for TOEFL is very simple and hardly requires brain storming as compared to the topic asked in the IELTS essay writing section. Also, if you do not have a good handwriting then typing an essay online for the TOEFL test should fit your bill.

• Listening section– The TOEFL listening test is 60 minutes long and the IELTS listening test is 30 minutes. In terms of concentration, most students find the TOEFL listening test very long and this results in them losing concentration and missing out on answers. In comparison, the IELTS listening test involves listening as well as writing down answers simultaneously which is an exciting and easy task.

• Reading section– The TOEFL reading test has multiple choice questions only. On the other hand, IELTS has a range of different questions including fill in the blanks, matching the headings and True, False or Not Given.

It is highly recommended that you take a diagnostic test for both the exams and then decide on the basis of your adaptability and scores.

By: Dilip Dubey

Academic Head and Senior Counselor

Education Street

www.educationstreet.in

Why Study in Ireland

TOP REASON TO STUDY IN IRELAND!

• Ireland has one of the best education systems in Europe.
• The quality of the Irish education system is a major contributing factor to the rapid rate of economic growth Ireland has experienced over the last few decades.
• Irish higher education institutions are widely recognised for excellence in many disciplines.
• Ireland is the largest exporter of software in the world and rates amongst the top five producers of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals globally. The ever-increasing demands of this high technology economy have ensured that the higher education technological sector offers the highest and most advanced standards and opportunities available today.
• Ireland is recognised as an international location for high quality scientific research.
• Ireland is an English speaking country.
• Ireland’s emerald landscape and its people are among the most enriching reasons to study in Ireland.
• Irish people are renowned for their friendliness and hospitality which greatly contributes to the ease with which overseas students adapt to student life in Ireland.
• Also Ireland’s landscape provides a rich environment for the many outdoor leisure pursuits for which it is famous.
• Ireland has a rich cultural heritage with its own distinctive language (Gaelic) music, culture and sports.
• Ireland is a dynamic, lively and modern country.
• Ireland has a young vibrant population, with 40% of the population under the age of 25; Ireland is one of the most exciting places in the world to be a student.
• Ireland is a safe country to study in.
• Ireland is a highly developed democracy with a modern economy.
• The new government rules allow students to stay back for 2 Years on declaration of results to seek employment. Once a student gains employment, the student becomes eligible to apply for Green Card/Work Permit.
  The number of international students visiting Ireland is increasing each year, students from all over the world are taking advantage of the higher education standard in Ireland coupled with the unique cultural experience.

Intake	September (Main), January (Minor)
Major Cities	Dublin, Limerick, Cork.
Deadline	6 Months prior
Duration of Course	1 year (Masters), 3-4 years (Bachelors)
Visa	2 years (Master program), 6 months – 1 Year (Bachelor)
Test	IELTS
Tuition Cost	10000 Euro – 18,000 Euro
Living Cost	10,000 Euro
Earning	9 – 10 Euro Per hour
Source of Income	Part Time – 20 hours a week.
Requirement	IELTS 6.5 and Good Aggregate
Permanent Residency	Possible
Salary Expectation after completion	24,000 Euro – 36,000 Euro
Major Industry	Software (More than 4000+ IT Companies with Headquarters of company like Facebook, Google, PayPal, Apple, Yahoo etc.), Pharmaceutical, Financial Service, Aviation, Hospitality etc.

By Vikas Sharma

Education Street

www.educationstreet.in

Get in touch with us: 022-25681775 / 9820418067.

“Culture Shock”: How to overcome it while studying Abroad.

One of the most common challenges international students face is dealing with “culture shock.” Culture shock is a feeling of disorientation many people feel when experiencing an entirely new way of life. Many international students find it difficult to adjust to the culture of their host country, so we are here to help you deal with culture shock and make the most of your experience abroad.

Symptoms

Before you leave to study abroad, make sure you’re familiar with the typical symptoms of culture shock so you can recognize and combat it early on. These symptoms generally include:

• Sadness, loneliness, melancholy
• Preoccupation with health
• Aches, pains, allergies
• Insomnia or excessive sleep
• Changes in mood, depression, feeling vulnerable
• Anger, irritability, resentment
• Loss of identity
• Lack of confidence
• Obsessions over cleanliness
• Longing for family
• Feelings of being lost or overlooked

New Challenges

Studying internationally is a new experience for everyone, and with new experiences come new challenges. You may occasionally feel confused, unsure and uncomfortable in the country you go for higher studies. People may have different values and new ways of doing things that seem strange to you. You may feel that everything has changed, including your immediate support system of family and friends.

To minimize the shock, you will probably want to keep in touch with family and friends back home—but it is important to also identify new sources of support. People whom you meet through your school’s international student office may also be a likely source of support. You could also contact relatives or friends who live in the United States to ask for their advice.

It might be a good idea to research international Culture before you leave, in order to minimize the shock upon your arrival.

Combating Culture Shock

If you are an international student experiencing culture shock, here are some tips that might help ease your transition:

• Remind yourself that everything you’re feeling is perfectly normal
• Keep in touch with your friends and family back home via email, text, or telephone
• Surround yourself with familiar items, such as photos or ornaments
• Eat a healthy and balanced diet; try to find familiar food
• Some students find faith or religious communities helpful; many chaplaincies welcome students of all faiths for pastoral or social activities
• Maintain contact with your ethnic group as well as with local students
• Look for activities that will put you in contact with other students who share your interests
• Maintain your confidence in yourself; follow your ambitions and continue your plans for the future
• Find out what services on your campus offer help for international students dealing with culture shock, and reach out to them

Maintain Habits

You may also want to maintain a few habits. Perhaps you could continue to practice your own faith on a regular basis, with a group of like-minded individuals. Or maybe you enjoy jogging, playing chess, or cheering for your favourite sports team. While the activity will most likely be somewhat “Internationalized,” it may offer comfort to do some of the things that you enjoyed doing in your home country. Exercising regularly has been found to be an excellent way to combat depression, so you might consider working regular physical activity into your daily schedule.

Support Systems

During the transition from your home country to the study abroad destination, new support will most likely come from the admissions office or international student office university campus you choose to attend. Most offices coordinate orientation sessions for new students within the first few days of your arrival, to help you get acquainted with your new surroundings.

Other forms of support will come from new friends, an academic advisor or psychological counselling centres. Many universities have therapists who have been trained to work with people just like you to discuss the types of new challenges you face.

A great way to build up a personal support system is to get involved in the social aspects of your campus. Research the clubs and organizations on your school’s website, and you’ll be sure to find at least one group full of people who share your interests, whether they be sports, theater, environmentalism, or knitting. This is an excellent way to make friends with like-minded people, and you will be feeling more at home in no time.

Most importantly, be prepared to open yourself to new experiences; be prepared to learn, not only in the classroom, but in your interactions with new people every day.

Vikas Sharma

Study Abroad Consultant, Education Street

Mumbai

HOW TO PREPARE FOR GRE VOCABULARY

Preparing for GRE vocabulary is a mammoth task to deal with considering the voluminous amount of words that come across as your learning progresses. One needs to build a strategy to grasp command over as many words as possible. Let us take a detailed look at few of them as follows:

Learning the ROOT words

Root words are the basic words to which affixes (prefixes and suffixes) are added to form the new word. Taking a detailed look at studying the root words in addition to learning individual words can help you expand your vocabulary considerably.

Learning words through Apps

Why not make the best use of technology to learn new words at the click of your fingertips? There are many apps related to GRE vocabulary which can help you enhance your vocabulary. One such app is “BuildMyVocab”. With an extensive list of 200 most important words from the Barron’s GRE Word List, this vocabulary app has devised fun ways to remember those words. Another such good app is VocabMagik. It is an innovative English vocabulary app that helps you improve vocabulary for GRE exam. Learning with animated cartoons and witty mnemonics makes learning easier.

Learning in groups / class room sessions

Learning words in a group can be fun. You can participate in vocabulary tests, quizzes and      discussions to make learning better and interactive.

Do not simply memorise / Use the words

Do not keep memorising words simply for the sake of learning. You can put the learnt words in to practice by using them regularly.  It may be easier to implement them into an essay or a volunteered comment / speech in the class.

Develop a habit to read extensively

Cultivate a habit of reading extensively.  List down the new words that you come across while reading. Make it a habit to recall these new words regularly. As you read any website or newspaper, try replacing the words with the new set of words you’ve learnt. Last, and perhaps the best thing you can do is use this newly gained vocabulary as often as possible. A very good book I’d suggest is WORD POWER MADE EASY by Norman Lewis. It also has ample of vocabulary exercises to solve as you learn.

Few links

The following are the few links which can be helpful.

Manhattan GRE Flash Cards

Learn 1500 essential GRE words

Wordnik

Vocabulary.com.

Barron’s 333 High Frequency Word List – GRE

Barron’s 800 Essential Word List – GRE

Manhattan 500 Essential Words – GRE

Manhattan 500 Advanced Words – GRE.

Know More about GRE Examination:

and http://educationstreet.in/how-difficult-is-gre/

By: Dilip Kumar Dubey

Faculty Head and Branch Head (Education Street)

www.educationstreet.in

Application Aced !!

You’ve finally made up your mind to study abroad – but that’s really just the easiest part, isn’t it? The next step’s the clincher, and it’s bound to last a while, so buckle up. Your application package is your chance to get your foot inside the door of some of the most prestigious universities abroad. But even if you have an excellent academic history and a great GRE score, if you don’t get the right help to prepare your application with precision you would lose on some prestigious universities.

Admission committees at universities sift through several excellent applications every year, and to make the cut, we at EDUCATION STREET ensure that your application is unique.

So how do you make your application unique? If you’ve started making your to-do lists (and if you haven’t, you really should start now, because the application process can be an organizational nightmare), your checklist may look something like this:

• Application form
• Essays
• Recommendation letters
• Standardized test scores
• Resume 
• Transcripts

You ought to know that every component of your application plays a pivotal role in your admission – or rejection. As Stuart Schmill, Dean of Admission, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says, “We look at all parts of the application to develop a picture of the applicant’s talents and motivations. It might vary for different applicant, and depends on what element tells us more.”

STANDARDISED TEST SCORES

Let’s go down the list first. Registering to take standardized tests is one of the first things you might want to deal with, because test dates are booked in advance, and its best you register early to get the date you want. Besides, knowing your test date is snapping at your heels can only spur you on to prepare harder.

Every university and programme has its own score requirements, which EDUCATION STREET helps you to shortlist according to your profile. Do not worry if your GRE score is low or your academics scores are not great. Depending on your programme, you may even be able to balance out an average score with a sharp SOP and strong recommendation letters. EDUCATION STREET specializes in this. We have dedicated editors for the same.

TRANSCRIPTS

Going further down the list, getting your transcripts together may depend on the degree of bureaucratic obstacles at your alma mater, so expect two trips to your college office at the very least.

APPLICATION FORMS

Application forms attempt to extract basic information like contact details or your family background, but some also request short answers to questions to understand the student.

Guidance at every stage is given to you at EDUCATION STREET. We give personal attention to what is filled by you in the forms and once confirmed by us then only you submit the form. Sample forms are there at office for assistance. Students can also sit in office and fill the forms so arrangement for Wi-Fi and Terminals is available.

ESSAYS – Statement of Purpose

Essays are one of the most important parts of your application because they are your chance to be more than a set of numbers and scores.

You need to reveal facts about yourself that are not apparent in any of the other application material – an inspiring incident from your childhood, a life-changing event, challenges that have made you think the way you do, or how your ambitions took root. You can also mention subjects you are passionate about – ecology, cruelty to animals, adult literacy, healthcare for the aged, anti-nuclear proliferation – because they demonstrate how you think.

Universities also like to know that you have researched about the university, the programme and the faculty members and are keen to be a part of their academic community.

This is also your opportunity to explain inconsistencies in your academic or work profile (for instance, why you missed a semester or performed poorly in it, or why you took a year’s sabbatical from work). If you’re in a niche, unknown academic stream or field of work, you may also explain that here.

Focus on the programme you are applying to. “An engineer is expected to be more analytical. His essay should show how he went beyond the syllabus to develop his scientific interests, like research projects, participation in technical festivals with details of the model he developed, or more about how he used his technical skills to help others – made a website for a shopkeeper, or taught computer skills to senior citizens,”

The most important thing is to be honest. Focus your energy on painting a concise, complete, and well-thought-out picture of who you truly are, rather than present what you think the admissions committee is looking for in response to essay questions

EDUCATION STREET provides SOP counseling   to bring the best essay out of you. We share with you several essays so that you have your mind thinking on those lines. First draft is always instructed to be written by the student, as we believe the essay should have the heart and soul of the student. Later we take it from their and our editors edit and polish it to make the final draft.

RECOMMENDATION LETTERS

When it comes to recommendation letters, one rule you can go by is to approach people, who know you well, as opposed to those that are known well. If you can get both, well then, that’s just perfect, but it’s extremely important to have the former. This is because your letters must have detail and shouldn’t be a collection of empty platitudes.

EDUCATION STREET advises: They may be important people, but if they write just a few generic lines, it doesn’t help you. They must detail your abilities and strengths in different situations and describe your potential as an academic student as well.”

Three recommendation letters are normally required and at EDUCATION STREET we strive hard that it speaks volume about you.

RESUME

Resume should be easy to segment, easy to read, and should always be presented in reverse chronological order, i.e., most recent activity listed first. Keep it brief and crisp.

We at EDUCATION STREET feel resume should give a clear insight towards your profile. So we help you in this task as well by providing you proper guidance and counseling.

So these are prime elements of your application process and EDUCATION STREET would like to assist you for the same.

By

Education Street

End of Education is Character

www.educationstreet.in

www.facebook.com/educationstreet

:: Mulund:: Vashi :: Vile Parle ::

Contact: 9820418067.

How to decide which Universities are Safe, Moderate and Ambitious for me?

The moment you start with your application process the question on which universities to apply daunt you. Some feel the university is too high fetched, another one feels it is clean sweep and some other one around feels I am confused I like them all. In this confusion most of us remove and waste loads of time in this confusion rather than applying before deadlines.  We realize this is a common occurrence with almost all students applying to USA. However the solution is not very straight but with a clear roadmap you achieve the same.

Primary Filtration

1) Fix the Coursework

In the foremost steps you need to decide on few things. Course you want to apply for – like for e.g. – Masters in Data Science or Masters in telecommunications or specialize in VLSI design etc. So this is your primary filter to see which all universities fall in your pool.

2) Like the Location

If you are opinioned about some fix location like silicone valley due to jobs, or someone lives there or its too cold use these as a next level of filter. This will refine it further.

3) Check the Tuition Fees

If funds is restricted or you need some economical range of fees check the university portal for this first ideally.  So check whether university is public funded or not. This will give you a kickass filter.

With above three filters you would be able to come to very crisp options.  Now after this you can use various ways to choose the 6-8 universities you should apply. Normally these many universities are more then enough to apply. More then this we feel is just waste of money and add to indecisiveness at all stages. After this you now have to decide which are safe, moderate and ambitious. For this various methods can be useful. Most sort-after can be a good counselor, which are rare these days but a few of them promise to be very helpful, and life changing. Or it can be forums online to check the feedback of students. And further it could be connecting with the alumni of those universities to share the credentials of their class. This will bring you down to your 6-8 universities and help you make you the most crucial decision. Do not fall prey to unnecessary and faulty information which is also very easily available online. So you need to validate your data either with your counselor or alumni.

After all this you can place your universities in the bucket of safe, moderate and ambitious. There is no golden rule on how many of each from these tags you should apply follow your mind. Some prefer more on safe as they want to take less risk absolutely fine. And some are the high risk takers want to be in make or break situation so apply only to ambitious one. So it all depends on your attitude and you follow that.  Safe universities are the ones where you have got maximum answer for your profile as yes. Moderate is the one where you have got mixed reviews. And Ambitious ones are those, which are like grapes, which you do not know whether they are sweet or sour but you want to attempt them, as they are your dream universities. So segregate our universities the best strategy is to apply in all sections.  Jump into this process beforehand as it takes time and is very important. Also remember to apply beforehand of deadlines as it helps to be up the queue, receive scholarships or funding and also get more positive responses.

Shortlisting US Universities is the crucial stage as you decide here which university among these chosen one would be your life-changing chapter in your career. Hence do take time and efforts and start with this process smartly.

Author- Mrs. Ankita Thakker – Education Street

Ankita@educationstreet.in

Education Street is an overseas education counseling firm helping student as a gateway to solve their dilemmas regarding university application, Test preparation, SOP, LOR, application process, finance guidance and Visa preparation. Three offices widely spread in Mumbai and with a strong team of counselors to guide and tutors to impart.

www.educationstreet.in