In this article we are going to talk about the Disadvantages of studying abroad. Studying in a different country feels like a dream. A dream we would like to achieve to make our futures brighter. Everything about studying abroad seems perfect and dreamy. We make ourselves believe that education in our home country is not up to the mark and we must attend courses in abroad universities if we really want to do something successful in life. Living in a different country, attending their colleges, away from our parents and friends would seem to you like a chance at exposure like no other. And it is indeed. You would learn so many new things if you take this huge step in life.
10 Disadvantages of studying abroad
Studying abroad can really be dream come true for many people. Some even see this dream but are not able to achieve it due to unavoidable circumstances. It really makes you learn so many new things and even discover more and more things about yourself. But studying abroad cannot always be so good. If it has so many advantages and pros to it, there are also many more disadvantages to it as well. And being a human being, we would not understand this aspect of studying abroad unless we have experienced it first-hand. So here are some pointers that can help give you a reality check.
1. Expensive
This is the biggest given that comes with studying in a different country. Even if you study in your home country, just in a different city a little or far away from your hometown, even that is so costly. And foreign countries can be so much more expensive. Travelling expenses, living expenses, survival expenses, tuition fees, food expenses, luxury expenses are some of these costly expenses. One who thinks about studying abroad would think about it being expensive the most. Even if one gets a scholarship in their dream college, there still would be so many other expenses that it would take up all the savings of a middle-class family. Even if you start working part time in that country, there is no guarantee that you would be able to live comfortably with all the student responsibilities that you would be committed towards.
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2. Family
No matter how much you want to get away from you parents’ nagging, once you are away from them with nothing but a call that can connect you with them, you would surely miss them. Nowadays, teenagers just want to study in a different country or even a different city to get freedom rather than a good degree. It is their age where they demand freedom as if it is the most important thing for their survival. But you would experience homesickness once you are actually away and cannot return home at the end of the day. When there is no mom waiting at the dining table and dad to listen to what you did the whole day when you return home. You understand how important living with your parents is. And even siblings.
3. Language barriers
This is yet another biggest issue with studying abroad. Even if you are fluent in speaking English, you would still face a lot of language barriers. There can even be students from diverse countries whom you are unable to understand because of diversity in your languages. Living in a country where no one understands your mother tongue already seems like a nightmare. You understand the feel of talking in your mother language when you return home during holidays and you would miss it once you have to return for your college. It is one of the biggest disadvantages of studying in a different country as it is difficult to communicate and it takes a lot of time to understand a new language.
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4. Racism
Discrimination is also a very big issue that migrated students have to face on a daily basis. It is harsh realities of the world that people face such partiality at a place they were supposed to be feeling the safest at. This does not only happen at the study place or in just the universities. It happens all over the country wherever you go and whatever you are doing. You would be seen with suspicious eyes if you seem like a foreigner and you would have to prove your identity, and in some cases, your innocence that you might not have had to prove if you were in your home country. Although discriminating on the basis of race, caste, nationality and sex is a criminal offense in many countries but still, it is practiced out through generations.
5. Expectations
Once you have gone abroad and living there to attend a university and gain a degree, there are a lot of expectations from you. Societal pressure for one, that you have to prove that you were worthy of getting a position in that college and when you return home, you are seen like an alien who has come from another planet. And even if you leave society to it, even our parents want you to be extremely successful. It is reasonable to some extent as it very expensive, just like it mentioned above. If so much money has been spent and you would have worked very hard to get an admission in a foreign university, you would be expected to start earning millions just after you graduate and it can become a whole lot of pressure for you to handle.
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6. Degree value
This is another concern for the students studying in a foreign country. The degree they are studying for, the primary reason of them being there would probably hold no value in your home country. It is possible that you would get a job through campus recruitments and even if you don’t, you would have to look for a job in that country itself as the degree holds no value somewhere else. If you are 100% sure that you would be living in that country even after completing your studies, then only you can actually plan on studying there. This would also arouse the problem of visa and deportation. There are strict laws on immigrants who are living in that country with just an education visa.
7. Loneliness
This also includes the problem of language barrier and homesickness. But loneliness is a huge issue in its own. People need other people in their life to survive. We cannot survive if we are completely alone. Of course, you would make new friends there as well, but there is a huge chance that you would still feel alone even with them. This is even a bigger issue if you are of shy nature. You would definitely get exposure but there is also a chance that you would be bored or over-content with that exposure and just want to return home. Homesickness can even lead to depression as we miss our familiar surroundings too much. You would get acquainted with those new places also but make sure that you would be able to hang on till then.
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8. You’re on your own
You are own your own. Literally. There would hardly be someone that you can really rely on and you would have to handle everything on your own. You must have heard that in foreign countries, you hardly get a maid or some butler, you have to clean, cook, manage home, manage the expenses, study, take care of transportation and so many more minute things on your own. You would make friends but they would also have their own life and things to take care of.
If you rent an apartment and it comes with having roommates, you would have to make sure that you help them with everything. No one would just do things for you like your home. At home, a family tries its best to take care of each other and all the responsibilities are divided among the entire family. But when you are living abroad, all of it is on you.
9. Ethical wrong-doings
Your home country would have so many cultures and ethics that you have grown up seeing being practiced by your family, relatives and peers. But when you go to a different country, you notice many new cultural aspects about that country and its people. You would of course, learn about new culture a lot as there you would meet people coming from different parts of the world. But you can also be exposed to a lot of things that can be called ethically wrong in your own country. Not everyone you meet in this world wants what is best for you. There would be many people who would want to harm you or try to manipulate you into doing harmful or even illegal things. Even if you are really strong-minded that you would not get manipulated, there is still a lot of exposure to it.
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10. Transportation
This also comes without saying that you are very far away from your home. Even when you go to study in a different city in your home country only, you have to bear with time and money going into just transporting between those two places. So imagine the time and money and effort that would go into travelling between two countries. Only you would know how far away these countries are from each other, but it is different countries nonetheless. And even the transportation within that country when you have to travel between you home there and your university. And not to mention, immediate travelling expenses are much more costly if you have to travel back and forth in case of any emergency. So this can also e counted as a big disadvantage.
These are a few disadvantages of studying in a different country that you should consider along with its advantages.