After you leave school – actually, before you leave school – you should already have checked out what is the best choice for you to make a great future for yourself. This is not only a choice for school leavers either. As there is so much competition out there, many people have realised the value of a postgraduate degree. When I left school, having a bachelor degree meant that you were part of the elite, now that is not the case. Everyone and their dog has a bachelor’s these days, and so the choice of subject and university also matters. Getting that right isn’t easy either, so here we look into how you can choose the best university for yourself or your child.
1. Rank. First and foremost, how does your uni rank, and is it a decent recognition?
Most institutions have gained some form of recognition, and many rely on stars and other ranking systems to sell their courses. In the UAE, we have the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR), and in Dubai there is the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). They are not mutually exclusive, some unis have one or two accreditations from one or more of these entities. Depending on where you want to work and what you want to do will have some bearing on whether this is important to you. If you’re after a Government role, the chances are you’ll have to be a UAE national, and you will need a MOHESR accredited degree, however, most private companies tend not to look for this and you’ll be OK with either a KHDA or MoE degree. KHDA recently introduced a ranking system, and universities are graded on a number of areas that gain from one to five stars, five being the highest score achievable. Should you fancy going on to a post grad degree for a MOHESR accredited university, you’ll need to make sure your BA is from a MOHESR university.
2. Campus. You can have a look around each of the campuses and chat with some of the students to gauge their reaction and feedback. Listen to them! They will know if they are getting value for money or not, or whether the campus is all it looks on the surface. How is the Student Services Department run? Do they care enough once the fees have been paid? Does the institution have easy payment terms? Are the teachers helpful or not? Make sure you check on your discipline teachers too. It’s no good asking IT students if the Psychology teacher is any good or not. Check also on the facilities. If you want some extra curricular sport, then you’ll need to see the footie or cricket pitch,the swimming pool or the basketball courts or check whether there even is one. Many don’t have any of these. Have a look also at the classrooms and furniture. My experience tells me some places scrimp on comfort and practicality for price, and when you decide on three years (or more) at uni, you need to make sure your place of study is both comfortable as well as fit for purpose.
3. Travel. Getting to and from uni is also important, and so if you live outside Dubai and don’t want the hassle of driving or bussing to Academic City or Knowledge Village through hours of traffic every day, perhaps a Sharjah, Ajman, UAQ, RAK, Fujairah or Abu Dhabi university should be your choice However, if you’re a Dubai resident, there are dozens and dozens of institutions to choose from. Access to all campuses (campi?) is easy, and it doesn’t take long to drive from one to another fromKP to AC or vice versa. Think about what other facilities they offer too. Do they help you get work? Are there any external workshops or guest lecturers? Do they organise industry events? Does the Student Council have a voice?
4. Accommodation. Most universities do not have accommodation, but they are often partnered with companies like Uninest, VitaStudent or Myriad and will be able to help you out, and there is often transport from these places to the campuses. There are also stacks of private residence areas, and haggling for an apartment may be more affordable than student accommodation, and this is something that will have to be discussed between parents and children.
5. Visa. Most unis have someone who deals with visas, more often than not, they work part time at a number of universities. There will almost certainly be a fee involved and the process can get complicated, but as long as you follow the correct procedure all should be OK. Ask about the docs you’ll need, and get it in writing, as it has been known for some student services to get things wrong and some tend to (not always though) blame the student.
6. Prestige. How well established is the institution? If it’s been up and running for a long time, that bodes well for you, as they will be used to the red tape and will understand how to navigate the system comfortably. That’s not to say newbies get it wrong, but they may not be as smooth a process as those who have been there, read the book, seen the film and worn the T-shirt. You may also want to know whether or not your university has had much research published. For me, if they haven’t, it is not a bad thing. Some research focused institutions have been accused of neglecting their students for the sake of research because it’s research that gets them ranked, and the higher the ranking, the more they can charge! That’s not to say that they provide a better education though!
7. Staff. Who is going to teach you, and how good are they? Again, you can get plenty of insights by speaking to students on campus. I would advise you to speak both individually and to groups about who and how students are taught. I have known teachers just stand there and read slides, which is no good to anyone. Teachers need to get involved and know their subjects inside out. I used to love a good Q&A session at the end of my classes. I often walked away learning a thing or two more than I did before class. Even teachers still learn things.
8. Degree subjects. Massively important. If you fancy a cheap uni but they don’t run the course you want, what’s the point of even looking? Don’t settle for something you don’t want to do because a uni offers a cheaper alternative. Going back to the previous point, have a look at the background of those who are leading the course too: what’s their previous form like? You might also want to check the number of people doing the courses, as the last thing you want is a class with only two or three students, because while you may have more of the teacher’s attention, you get far less of the bouncing ideas off each other. I often found that seminars and tutorials were where I learnt most. Also ask when the classes run, as some of the unis may be either weekend or evening.
9. Achievement figures. How do the start and finish figures add up? What’s the percentage of students who finish and those who leave? What are the reasons for this? These are all questions the university should be able to tell you off the cuff. If they haven’t got figures, why not? How many of their students found jobs after graduating? How many students got internships? What’s the career department like? Who runs it? How active is it? What’s their LinkedIn profile like? Do they back up their chat with evidence? Can they also back up their numbers with evidence? Sometimes universities bask in former workers’ achievements too, so ask for how long has the current career guide been in place, and what’s their record since they took on the role?
10. Website. How does it compare or contrast (see what I did there?) with the cyber platform and the reality of campus? Are the photos dated from when the uni was first built? How’s the upkeep been? Is it still as fresh as the photos? Do all the links work? Do all the forms work? What’s the response time for emails for requested information? Can you enroll online? What’s their learning management system (LMS) like? What do the current students say about it? Does it work? How responsive are the administrators, the message bots or the teachers and coordinators?
11. Past history. What do the alumni say about the university? Are they part of the current set up? Are there any mentors from the past who can help current students? How many staff are former students? In one of my roles, I tried to encourage use of students for internships and future employment. I had a team build a jobsite and then revamp it for one of their term projects. I encouraged marketing students to run the campaigns and we still run the student magazine, GEDD!T.
12. Budget. Money off often gets put down to scholarships, whereas the reality is, it’s a price reduction scheme to get people to sign up with early bird payments and suchlike. Sometimes there will be genuine scholarships for outstanding or disabled students, but the norm is to call it a scholarship to get that signature. Don’t ever forget that education is a business.
13. Satellite campus. Often these are called a branch campus, and although many purport to offer exactly the same education as the mother campus, maintaining quality control is a difficult thing to do. I have interviewed some of the world’s reading authorities on this, and some refuse to even have the question raised, let alone avoid answering it! Safe today it can be a little hit and miss, although as previously mentioned, KHDA and the MoE do their best to ensure some standards.
14. Support systems. As with all educational bodies, there needs to be a support system in place for those who find academic work difficult. Ask other students about the Teaching and Learning Advisor, and how helpful they are. Do they go the extra mile or do they get frustrated with students? Some students need more help than others, and they mustn’t be scared off by a poor support system. These are the students who work hard for a credit, and rarely see a distinction. I actually prefer spending time with these guys because they work so hard to achieve, and I spend a lot of my time coaching and mentoring them because I feel they deserve it. I also provide free academic workshops in order to prepare school leavers for university life, and this is one of the most important journeys of their lives. It is vital they get the right start, and have a good understanding of what life at university entails, and how they can get the best from it. On the eltcentral.co.uk website you will see there are a lot of academic help videos that are designed to offer the support in the places a student needs it most. Following those tips and examples will help students achieve better grades, and make studying easier.
15. Foundation. This is actually a very efficient and money saving route into uni. What the foundation programme does is prepare you for university life while you’re at university. Rather than doing the A Levels at school you’re immersed into the tertiary learning sphere and you get to mix with first, second and third year undergraduates while you’re doing your foundation. The quality of work I got from my foundation students in the first year of undergrad was better than I got from those students who had come from A Levels. Although maybe that was down to my teaching? It’s also cheaper than doing three or four A levels, and depending on the institution, can provide entry into international universities too, but check out the intended uni before you dive in. If you’re going to study in the UAE, you’ll be fine having completed a foundation programme.