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Higher Education in the US or UK is becoming costlier day by day. You must need at least Rs. 15 lakhs or so to get a post graduate degree from any of the average universities in these countries. But some European countries are offering higher education without any tuition fee. This is because of the public or government funding for most of the universities in European countries like Germany, Sweden, Finland, Austria and Belgium. These are offering various academic courses to international students without tuition fee. It is not a miracle, but there are fair reasons for this transformation. Most of these countries are less populated and respective governments provide free education to all the native students. They also have an international quota of seats and admissions for which there is a huge demand from all over the world. Apart from these, you will get the Schengen visa, which allows you to tour most of the Europe and along with best education.

European universities are known for their quality of the programmes and research. Students can also avail Fellowships and Scholarships for research courses lie Ph.D. along with paid Internships. You can also do part-time work. But getting into a good university in Europe is not at all an easy task for international students. Most of European Universities are very particular on the academic performance and record of the students in their earlier studies. Student needs to get a score of 80 plus in TOEFL and 6 to 6.5 in IELTS in order to apply for a good university.

Here are some important points and tips one should keep in mind while taking a decision on education in European countries.

1. There is a downside in the form of language. It will be a problem if you want to continue in the country even after your studies through getting a job. Learning local language will fetch you in grabbing a job.

2. You should be careful while choosing university / colleges as well. There are some institutes which offer courses in local language as a medium of instruction.

3. Most popular courses among students going Europe are Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, computer science, clinical sciences, biotechnology and pharmacology. Most of these countries ask students to show only 6 to 7 lakhs in their bank account. This will be about Rs. 15 lakhs in case of USA. Germany and Sweden offer a six-month work permit as well but only after completion of your education.

4. Germany, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium and Austria are in the fore front of providing offering free education to international students. In Commonwealth nations such as United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada Universities are charging 7 to 10 Lakhs from International students. But universities in above European nations are investing 5 to 7 Lakhs on foreign students through waiver of tuition fee.

5. Visa is also an important factor in choosing European Countries for your education. With regard to Commonwealth nations, getting admission may be easy but getting visa is very difficult. In the case of EU nations getting visa is much easier than admission in a university.

6. Most of the European nations allow international students to work part time for 20 hours per week. Germany is more liberal in this aspect. It also provides an extra work facility of 90 full days in a year along with 20 hours per week.

The Civil Services Examination consists of two stages – an objective type examination called as CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) to be held in May / June which is used to screen the candidates and bring them to a manageable number. There is a negative marking in this examination. About 4 lakh candidates are expected to apply for the examination (however, not more than 2 lakhs would appear at the examination). Out of these aspirants about 12,000 will be selected for the Main examination. The Main examination is of a descriptive type held in October and comprises 9 papers. About 1800 candidates are selected from the 12,000 who appear in March of the following year for the Interview. The Interviews are held in Delhi and the marks scored by in the Main examination are added to the Interview marks to determine the Final merit list. About 650 + candidates are finally selected for all the services. Service allocation is based on ranking and preference.

The nature of the examination can be analysed through these points:

1. A comprehensive reading of the notification that would appear in detail in the Employment News and the website of UPSC (www.upsc.gov.in).
2. An analysis of the previous years papers and the recent trends – which are available in a few books and websites.
3. Discussing elaborately with successful candidates, seniors, and professionals.

Having known about the examination and the pattern it is time to evolve a proper strategy for the examination.

The first and important step is to decide the optional subjects for Main examination. It is always advisable to take proper advise from seniors or professionals about choosing the optional. The choice regarding optional should be made based on the following factors:

A). Whether you have a general interest in the subject and whether you can sustain the interest for a long period.
B). Availability of guidance – in the form of books, coaching etc.
C). Performance of the optionals in the last few years.

There are a few optionals such as Public Administration, Geography, Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology, have an advantage over others. The important advantages are the availability of coaching and guidance, the specificity of the syllabus and relevant to the day- to -day events.