Studying Abroad: Guidelines,Fees and Help thread

[Yasir]

It depends on your lifestyle. How many times you eat/If you cook your own meals/If you eat out/How often you go out.
For me, I bought myself a bicycle so I avert all transportation costs. I spend about 400-500RM a month on food because I'm on a strict work-out diet that I cook at home with raw meat and vegetables. So, I don't eat fast food or travel that much. I do have gym expenses though so that's an extra cost. So, in that sense, it depends on what your lifestyle is.

I can't say about the best, like even in Pakistan, you can't say for sure whether Ufone Warid etc are the best. But, Maxis Digi and Umobile are pretty popular.

 

[Syavash]

It depends on your lifestyle. How many times you eat/If you cook your own meals/If you eat out/How often you go out.
For me, I bought myself a bicycle so I avert all transportation costs. I spend about 400-500RM a month on food because I'm on a strict work-out diet that I cook at home with raw meat and vegetables. So, I don't eat fast food or travel that much. I do have gym expenses though so that's an extra cost. So, in that sense, it depends on what your lifestyle is.

I can't say about the best, like even in Pakistan, you can't say for sure whether Ufone Warid etc are the best. But, Maxis Digi and Umobile are pretty popular.

Ok so I think its best if I explain my lifestyle to you because I need to define a budget

1) Eat alot (gaining weight to start gym) and yeah will be cooking at home mostly.
2) Might get a bicycle, how much is it?
3) How much should I keep aside for internet? On my cellphone I mean, rough estimate will do, very little calls, alot of messaging, 3G access ofcourse

And thats pretty much it. And how much are you paying for housing? Monash's housing is kinda ruining my plans , 600RM :/ Thats the only thing pissing me off about it lol

 

[Yasir]

Ok so I think its best if I explain my lifestyle to you because I need to define a budget

1) Eat alot (gaining weight to start gym) and yeah will be cooking at home mostly.
2) Might get a bicycle, how much is it?
3) How much should I keep aside for internet? On my cellphone I mean, rough estimate will do, very little calls, alot of messaging, 3G access ofcourse

And thats pretty much it. And how much are you paying for housing? Monash's housing is kinda ruining my plans , 600RM :/ Thats the only thing pissing me off about it lol

Well, assuming you are very capable in the kitchen and you work with fresh ingredients such as vegetables and raw meat etc, it should cost you around 400-500RM a month. I can give you some cost estimates too.

A whole chicken would cost you around 7-13RM, depending on the size and the store. Just learn to cut it yourself, it's pretty simple.

Vegetables cost around 1-4Rm, depending on how much it weighs. Fruits are shit expensive here, you'll find grapes for 5RM+.

I got my bicycle for 450RM, mountain bike - 14gears. I got it on Christmas sale though so I'm not sure. The more expensive ones will run you no less than 1200RM.

I don't really use internet on my cellphone so I don't know. For normal broadband internet, people usually use internet from a company called Unifi. 5mbps/phone/cable(with limited channels) is for 150RM. As for telephone calls, I find myself only text messaging so I have to get credit once every week and a half or so (10RM each time) I did notice that having GPRS activated drained it a lot faster. I have no idea about 3G either, never used it.

I couldn't find housing in my university because I was late for my session. So, I'm sharing a private apartment with some people I met here. It costs me 650RM(rent, not including utilities) but the place is god damn beautiful.

Me, personally, I don't drink any sodas or have any kind of fast-food, strictly. However, sometimes I do go out and buy Nando's Extra hot sauce (10.99RM( from the store for some home cooking. Stuff like that will incur some expenses but not a whole lot.

As for gym , your university probably has a gym but they tend to be REALLY full and not have the best of facilities. If you do end up joining a private gym, you'll have two main choices from multinational gyms. TrueFitness and FitnessFirst. Marginal difference between the two except the FitnessFirst has Spas and therefore their fees is higher. I'm at TrueFitness, it costed me around 2110RM for 18months, that's 117rm/per month. Usually, it's much more expensive than that. Around 180-200rm a month. TrueFitness:

Hope that helps, feel free to ask any more questions you may have.

 

[Syavash]

Well, assuming you are very capable in the kitchen and you work with fresh ingredients such as vegetables and raw meat etc, it should cost you around 400-500RM a month. I can give you some cost estimates too.

A whole chicken would cost you around 7-13RM, depending on the size and the store. Just learn to cut it yourself, it's pretty simple.

Vegetables cost around 1-4Rm, depending on how much it weighs. Fruits are shit expensive here, you'll find grapes for 5RM+.

Ok so thats just the same as Saudi. could you give me estimates for:

1) 1 litre of full fat milk
2) Bread
3) Dozen eggs

And by 500RM on food you mean eat properly? (Since you're going to the gym, I'd guess you eat properly, by which I mean 2-3thousand cals a day?) I can't rely on normal estimates from other sites, since I tend to eat more than people ussually do, proper healthy diet ofcourse.

I got my bicycle for 450RM, mountain bike - 14gears. I got it on Christmas sale though so I'm not sure. The more expensive ones will run you no less than 1200RM.

I don't really use internet on my cellphone so I don't know. For normal broadband internet, people usually use internet from a company called Unifi. 5mbps/phone/cable(with limited channels) is for 150RM. As for telephone calls, I find myself only text messaging so I have to get credit once every week and a half or so (10RM each time) I did notice that having GPRS activated drained it a lot faster. I have no idea about 3G either, never used it.

Nice bike. Unrelated, but, how is a mountain bike better than a normal one? Faster? And is it convenient, I mean lke in Saudi most cities are spread pretty far apart geographically so any type of transport other than a car is a no-go.

I couldn't find housing in my university because I was late for my session. So, I'm sharing a private apartment with some people I met here. It costs me 650RM(rent, not including utilities) but the place is god damn beautiful.

Looks epic. I'll have to pay around RM700 for a place at Monash's residence, but it does have a huge olympic sized pool and other facilities, so worth it or not? :|

Me, personally, I don't drink any sodas or have any kind of fast-food, strictly. However, sometimes I do go out and buy Nando's Extra hot sauce (10.99RM( from the store for some home cooking. Stuff like that will incur some expenses but not a whole lot.

Ok thanks :|

As for gym , your university probably has a gym but they tend to be REALLY full and not have the best of facilities. If you do end up joining a private gym, you'll have two main choices from multinational gyms. TrueFitness and FitnessFirst. Marginal difference between the two except the FitnessFirst has Spas and therefore their fees is higher. I'm at TrueFitness, it costed me around 2110RM for 18months, that's 117rm/per month. Usually, it's much more expensive than that. Around 180-200rm a month. TrueFitness:

Hope that helps, feel free to ask any more questions you may have.

What do you mean usually more expensive? Do I get a discount if I subscribe for 18months?

And what other expenses should expect other than food and accommodation? My lifestyle is pretty similar to yours so far, so I'm guessing your expenses wll be a good guideline And what about night life in KL, shows etc, how expensive would those be? I heard they have a circuit too there?

Last thing, I was googling and found places like Cameron Highlands or Kinabalu etc, would these be expensive to go to? or Ipoh? (I'm crazy about travelling :$ )

 

[Yasir]

Ok so thats just the same as Saudi. could you give me estimates for:

1) 1 litre of full fat milk
2) Bread
3) Dozen eggs

And by 500RM on food you mean eat properly? (Since you're going to the gym, I'd guess you eat properly, by which I mean 2-3thousand cals a day?) I can't rely on normal estimates from other sites, since I tend to eat more than people ussually do, proper healthy diet ofcourse.




Nice bike. Unrelated, but, how is a mountain bike better than a normal one? Faster? And is it convenient, I mean lke in Saudi most cities are spread pretty far apart geographically so any type of transport other than a car is a no-go.



Looks epic. I'll have to pay around RM700 for a place at Monash's residence, but it does have a huge olympic sized pool and other facilities, so worth it or not? :|



Ok thanks :|



What do you mean usually more expensive? Do I get a discount if I subscribe for 18months?

And what other expenses should expect other than food and accommodation? My lifestyle is pretty similar to yours so far, so I'm guessing your expenses wll be a good guideline And what about night life in KL, shows etc, how expensive would those be? I heard they have a circuit too there?

Last thing, I was googling and found places like Cameron Highlands or Kinabalu etc, would these be expensive to go to? or Ipoh? (I'm crazy about travelling :$ )

Prices here can vary greatly from store to store. Cheapest Milk would be for 4.99, highest I've seen is for about 5.8. 1Litre that is.
A dozen eggs cost from 3.4-4rm
Bread costs flat 2.4rm, or 3.6 for the bigger one.

99 Store is THE cheapest store here so keep that in mind.

The bikes with the slim tires are MUCH faster due to their light-weight frame but at the same time, they are at least 3 times as expensive. I got the mountain bike because my area is a bit rugged. Riding uphill would be much easier with a lighter bike but I couldn't afford it, starting price for those is around 1500RM.
Btw, the traffic here is HELL. You'll be stuck in a taxi, literally watching your money flyby. It's much better to get your own means of transportation.

It's probably worth it. My residence has 5 different pools. You can always move out if you don't like it, just don't pay for the whole year in one go.

These gyms have offers going around at different times of the year, when I applied, they had a lower price with an 18 month membership plan. Now, it expired but I'm sure a new one took its place. You can go to their branch, they'll tour you around, give you a week or two of free trial then you can decide.

Night life is pretty good, from what I hear. I'm not much of a party person, I prefer being at home most of the time. But, the good clubs here cost 50RM to get it. They usually are worth it though, some top DJs like Tiesto, Above and Beyond etc have also made their way here. I'm not too sure about circuits. Travelling may cost you a teeny bit of money but it's just a one time thing.

Places like Genting Highlands, Sunway Lagoon etc, they can cost you about 500-800rm for just a few days, that is with Hotel rooms though.

I haven't been to the places you mentioned yet. I tend only to go to KL when I need to buy something. There's a place here called China town which is sort of like a flea market, you can bargain and get cheap copied clothing/shoes for really cheap prices. Quality is outstanding.

Keep the questions coming.

 

[XxRebellionxX]

[MENTION=14162]Yasir[/MENTION]
So I was thinking to apply for Malaysia seeing there are many muslims, plus a friend lives there. Now the question I need to ask are:

1. What language of communication do you use? English or their native language?
2. Are students allowed to work part time there? Can we manage without work?
3. Total cost of living there? I usually drink a lot of cold drink and will prefer fast food once or twice every month.
4. What are the internet costs there and cellphone operators cost?

 

[Khawaja]

@Yasir
So I was thinking to apply for Malaysia seeing there are many muslims, plus a friend lives there. Now the question I need to ask are:

1. What language of communication do you use? English or their native language?
2. Are students allowed to work part time there? Can we manage without work?
3. Total cost of living there? I usually drink a lot of cold drink and will prefer fast food once or twice every month.
4. What are the internet costs there and cellphone operators cost?

You can use Urdu/English as well

Ok so thats just the same as Saudi. could you give me estimates for:

1) 1 litre of full fat milk
2) Bread
3) Dozen eggs

And by 500RM on food you mean eat properly? (Since you're going to the gym, I'd guess you eat properly, by which I mean 2-3thousand cals a day?) I can't rely on normal estimates from other sites, since I tend to eat more than people ussually do, proper healthy diet ofcourse.




Nice bike. Unrelated, but, how is a mountain bike better than a normal one? Faster? And is it convenient, I mean lke in Saudi most cities are spread pretty far apart geographically so any type of transport other than a car is a no-go.



Looks epic. I'll have to pay around RM700 for a place at Monash's residence, but it does have a huge olympic sized pool and other facilities, so worth it or not? :|



Ok thanks :|



What do you mean usually more expensive? Do I get a discount if I subscribe for 18months?

And what other expenses should expect other than food and accommodation? My lifestyle is pretty similar to yours so far, so I'm guessing your expenses wll be a good guideline And what about night life in KL, shows etc, how expensive would those be? I heard they have a circuit too there?

Last thing, I was googling and found places like Cameron Highlands or Kinabalu etc, would these be expensive to go to? or Ipoh? (I'm crazy about travelling :$ )

Ipoh isn't that much expensive, been there but at the same time Genting is SHIT EXPENSIVE but I would recommend going there on a day trip

Be sure to visit Cameron Highlands and Langkawi if you want natural beauty and yes I would highly recommend travelling by bus, you see all the natural wonders

 

[Syavash]

@Yasir
So I was thinking to apply for Malaysia seeing there are many muslims, plus a friend lives there. Now the question I need to ask are:

1. What language of communication do you use? English or their native language?
2. Are students allowed to work part time there? Can we manage without work?
3. Total cost of living there? I usually drink a lot of cold drink and will prefer fast food once or twice every month.
4. What are the internet costs there and cellphone operators cost?

As far as I know:

1) English and malay can both be used in bigger cities like KL. As for rural areas Malay would be helpful.
2) You can not work part time unless you have a holiday of more than a week and that too limited hours in limited occupations so no you cant get by, by working in Malaysia.
3) Total cost should be anywhere between 800-2000ringgit depending on how much you can and want to spend.
4) Internet as Yasir mentioned is 150RM a month for internet cable and landline. 5 MBPS

- - - Updated - - -

You can use Urdu/English as well


Ipoh isn't that much expensive, been there but at the same time Genting is SHIT EXPENSIVE but I would recommend going there on a day trip

Be sure to visit Cameron Highlands and Langkawi if you want natural beauty and yes I would highly recommend travelling by bus, you see all the natural wonders

Langkawi wouldnt be possible, too far from KL, won't be able to afford the plane costs, dunno how much it is by bus, do wanna visit the skybridge though once i go there so not sure. Will check on Genting, not sure what that is

Thanks

 

[Khawaja]

As far as I know:

1) English and malay can both be used in bigger cities like KL. As for rural areas Malay would be helpful.
2) You can not work part time unless you have a holiday of more than a week and that too limited hours in limited occupations so no you cant get by, by working in Malaysia.
3) Total cost should be anywhere between 800-2000ringgit depending on how much you can and want to spend.
4) Internet as Yasir mentioned is 150RM a month for internet cable and landline. 5 MBPS

- - - Updated - - -



Langkawi wouldnt be possible, too far from KL, won't be able to afford the plane costs, dunno how much it is by bus, do wanna visit the skybridge though once i go there so not sure. Will check on Genting, not sure what that is

Thanks

Genting is a Resort World, I visited Langkawi from KL by bus, you take a bus till kedah and then a ferry to Langkawi. Under 10 hours drive, but you see a lot of beautiful sceneries on the way. I had a night stay in Penang, so don't remember the exact travel time.

 

[Syavash]

Genting is a Resort World, I visited Langkawi from KL by bus, you take a bus till kedah and then a ferry to Langkawi. Under 10 hours drive, but you see a lot of beautiful sceneries on the way. I had a night stay in Penang, so don't remember the exact travel time.

could you give me estimated costs for getting to Kedah, then the ferry and hotel costs?

 

[Yasir]

@Yasir
So I was thinking to apply for Malaysia seeing there are many muslims, plus a friend lives there. Now the question I need to ask are:

1. What language of communication do you use? English or their native language?
2. Are students allowed to work part time there? Can we manage without work?
3. Total cost of living there? I usually drink a lot of cold drink and will prefer fast food once or twice every month.
4. What are the internet costs there and cellphone operators cost?

1. English. Their English isn't the best but they get around it.
2. They're not legally allowed to work during University days but all of my friends here work as waiters. It's a low paying job so no documentations are needed. You get paid around 4-5RM by the hour.
3. Total cost would be more expensive than Pakistan, overall. However, fast food chains like McDonald's are cheaper here. I can't really give you an estimate here, everyone's comes out different.
4. Internet costs 150rm/5mbps, 250rm/10mbps. This includes phone line(charges separately per call) and cable tv(charges separately per channel). A sim costs around 15RM, with 10RM balance loaded. I use up about 20rm worth of credit a month, using it only for smsing.

 

[Khawaja]

could you give me estimated costs for getting to Kedah, then the ferry and hotel costs?

I can't tell you an estimated cost of the trip as my whole Malaysia trip of 7 days was guided, paid PKR 135000 for the Air Ticket, Hotels, Transport, Food, Attractions tickets .

I can give you an estimated cost of the hotel, however you are better off checking out on booking.com or agoda.com, I stayed in a 4 star hotel and its room costed around 10-11k a night, bring down the stars 2 and you can easily find a hotel in PKR 2-3k, in fact you can find a decent 3 star in 5k. Since you've got all the time in the world travel, don't have a fixed date, whenever you see a deal online snatch it. You can get upto 70% off on rooms, I remember my brothers stayed in Dubai in a 5 star hotel for just 9k a night.

EDIT: 58 RM for a oneway trip from KL to Kuala Perlis instead of Kuala Kedah and then a ferry from there. Near about 100 RM would be your travelling costs.

 

[Saad92]

I have been in Malaysia for past 1 and half year.
if you need any info you can contact me, i am here for a month.

 

[swift eagle]

Is it possible to apply to malaysian university(nottingam uni) on basis of fsc. for any undergraduate program?
Are there any chances of admission or is Alevel a must?

 

[Syavash]

Is it possible to apply to malaysian university(nottingam uni) on basis of fsc. for any undergraduate program?
Are there any chances of admission or is Alevel a must?

Mail them. It does say "Other equivalent qualifications will be expected on a case by case basis.

 

[AbbY]

Okay, so I just got an email from some 'Drexel University' (looked it up, apparently its a decent university) saying that I've been selected as a 'VIP Applicant' with 'special advantages'. So, uh, what gives? Anyone know what all this might be about?
[MENTION=39471]Blastwave[/MENTION]

WTF?

Did you sign up somehwere on any educational website?

This only tends to happen when your credentials are out there.

And,

Did you read the email right? did it come from drexel.edu domain?

Make sure there is no sign of second party email forwarding or marketing.

if everything seems clear and a bit too real, shoot them an email from the university website and ask WTF MATE?

Lol. Actually, some uni's ask collegeboard for SAT scores. Unless you opt not to, Collegeboard sends the scores as per the brackets set by the uni's, of which some send to the students emails suggesting this VIP crap in various words.

Basically, they're trying to say, 'look, you meet our minimum requirement. Care to apply?'.

Point to be noted is, this VIP shit isn't an admission offer, they just want you to apply since one component of the many of an application is met.

 

[Wolfy]

[MENTION=4177]Wajhi[/MENTION]

bro you are in germany or still waiting for your visa? also what about students working part time in germany is that allowed, if yes how much are they getting per hour on an approximation?

 

[ICON]

The best country to go abroad for study with an objective of settling , to my knowledge is NEWZELAND .The advantage is that it inexpensive compared to other countries plus you could immediately get Permenany residence after graduation as their population is too low thus get advantage of it before the immigration policies are tightened . Hence I would advice students to consider Newzeland as well for education purpose

 

[ICON]

Hey anyone going to newzeland for studies ???

 

[NaNoW]

@Wajhi

bro you are in germany or still waiting for your visa? also what about students working part time in germany is that allowed, if yes how much are they getting per hour on an approximation?

Oh i have been in Germany since a while now..
you should read my blogs on Pakgamers Blog.. 4 parts out yet { Footprint | part 1}And so it starts!! - Blogs - Pakistan's Gamers Community