Compare and Contrast Essay

Write a compare and contrast essay on pursuing a degree program at a local university and one in overseas. Education is a never- ending learning process that has always been a part of our life. Recently, there are numbers of students who pursue their degree abroad. As the saying goes, ‘the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence’; many considered studying abroad as a better option. Nonetheless, studying abroad or local have their uniqueness. Studying local and abroad is similar in terms of obtaining degree; however, they differ in terms of costing, grading system and experience gained by the students. Studying abroad and studying locally share some similarities and one of it is producing better students. Students despite pursuing a degree program at a local university or abroad are still able to compete in future jobs markets. These institutions keep improving to produce a holistic student who is at the best in both; curriculum and studies. They are being trained on how to communicate and they are required to do a lot of presentations. Furthermore, universities local or abroad both conducts curricular activities which also encourages students to participate. One of the most obvious differences between studying locally and abroad is the cost required. This is an undeniable fact that studying abroad requires additional cost with the same education one will get. As different countries have different currency rates, when students convert their currency to another country’s currency, the student’s country currency will become smaller. In addition, students cannot avoid the high transport expenditure too if they study abroad. Not only that, the grading system differs for pursuing a degree program at a local university and in overseas. Pursuing a degree at a local university will be easy as students are familiar with it. Not only that, students who are studying in a local university are able to obtain their degree easily as they are graded solely based on the final examinations. Whereas, if the student studies in the states, the grading system would be different as marks for assignments, presentations, quizzes, tests and finally final examinations will all play a role. Hence, students are required to pay much more attention and put extra effort for everything in order to score flying colors. Lastly, experience gained by the students when studying abroad and locally is atypical. Normally students will feel more comfortable in their own motherland, as they are already familiar with the local environment, culture as well as the native language. Hence, in local, students are able to focus better on their studies since various problems like communication problems and cultural difference can be excluded; but it is different for students who are studying abroad. However, the experience of living in overseas is precious which cannot be obtained in local. Going abroad to further studies will benefit the students by gaining new knowledge about other countries. They would also have chances to interact with a lot of people from

different background and culture. One will know also know how another culture approaches daily life with unusual challenges. In short, both, studying abroad and locally have both similarities which will be producing better students and differences which are costing, grading system, and experience gained by students. It depends on the students to compare before deciding where to go.