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Study Abroad

Dear Madam,

My son is studying Civil Engineering. He is in his final year and wants to pursue his master’s abroad. Can he pursue his master’s in Mechanical Engineering? If yes, then please mention some good universities in this discipline.

Mohib Rahaman

Dear Mohib,

Your son can change his specialisation in his master’s as long as he maintains a high GPA, has a GRE score of over 325 and writes a strong statement of purpose explaining why he wants to change his line of study from Civil to Mechanical. While some universities will accept students only from similar backgrounds, most others are open to students from any stream of engineering. Since Mechanical Engineering is a very popular stream, it is offered by most of the top universities across the world.

German Universities known for their programmes in Mechanical Engineering include Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, TU Munich, RWTH Aachen, Carl Benz School of Engineering, University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt, FH Aachen, Hochschule Heilbronn University and Magdeburg University.
National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University are the best in Singapore. In the UK, Cranfield, Bath, Bristol, Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Imperial College London, Manchester and Southampton are known for Mechanical Engineering. In the US, MIT, Stanford University, University of California Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology are good.

Dear Madam,

I am doing BE in Biotechnology and I wish to pursue my master’s in Food Technology or Microbiology or do a Pharma related course abroad. Please suggest the countries I should apply to, where there are good job opportunities. What will be the cost of pursing master’s abroad?

Sai Priyanka

Dear Sai,

For courses in Food Technology, Microbiology and Pharma, I would recommend the UK and the US. You have some of the best universities in the world and a wide selection of courses to choose from. Since this month, the UK offers students two years post-study stay back option to work making this an even better option than the US. Tuition fees and living expenses in the UK is cheaper. The duration of a master’s programme in the UK is for one year, unlike in the US which is for 2 years. Hence, you end up saving on one year’s living expenses too.

Studying in the UK will cost you anything between Rs 20 to 30 lakhs for the entire tuition and living costs. The US will cost Rs 40 to 50 lakhs per year. The only exam you need to write to meet the entry requirements in the UK is the IELTS academic test. For the US, you also need to take up the GRE. All universities in every country offer plenty of scholarship opportunities for academic achievers.

Dear Madam,

I am studying in BA first year. I want to do MA in English. What are the job opportunities available after MA in English? Will I be able to do my PhD abroad with a limited budget after doing master’s? Which tests should I take up to do PhD abroad?

Ridhan Rox

Dear Ridhan,

With a master’s in English, you could teach, be a translator, work in media, communication and public relations or work in any multinational corporation in human resource training, content provider for websites, pursue higher studies specialising in journalism or do a PhD in an area of your interest.

You don’t need a big budget to do your PhD as these programmes in most universities come with generous funding. The test you need to take up to pursue your PhD in English is only a language test like IELTS, TOEFL or PTE. While all countries accept any one of these three tests, most UK universities accept only IELTS.

Dear Madam,

I am a first-year BSc student. I would like to pursue a master’s degree in Astrophysics. Please suggest some universities preferably in North America and Northern Europe.

A student

Dear Student,

In the US, the universities well known for Astrophysics are Caltech, UC Berkeley, MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Arizona, Princeton, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Columbia, Michigan Ann Arbor, University of Chicago and Ohio State University.

In Europe, the top picks for Astrophysics are TU Delft, University of Leiden, University of Amsterdam and GRAPPA in Netherlands, LMU Munich, University of Heidelberg and The Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, Sapienza University of Rome and University of Trieste in Italy, ETH Zurich and University of Geneva in Switzerland, University of Copenhagen in Denmark, KU Leuven in Belgium and Chalmers in Sweden.

Dear Madam,

I have finished my under graduation in Mechanical Engineering. I have applied for a Japanese language learning course in a language school in Japan. What are the courses or software related to Mechanical Engineering I should learn to boost my chances of getting a good job in Japan once I finish the course?

Keith Menda

Dear Keith,

Tohoku University, Nagoya University and Kyushu University in Japan offer master’s in Mechanical Engineering.

Mathcad, Computer-Aided Design, Finite Element Analysis, Microsoft Excel, Visual Basic for Applications, MATLAB and Python are some of the popular software packages used by mechanical engineers.