Essential Skills development

Good Grades in college, good IELTS score (for those who dont have english as their native language). participation in extracurricular and co-curricular activities, leadership qualities, will all help in securing admission into the university of your choice. It might also get you a scholarship for higher education (For a list of scholarships and more information, visit www.fundurstudy.com ) however, there is more to Student life in Australia than only studies.

have you ever thought about what other skills you posess in addition to your academic qualification? are you good at music or dancing or sport ?
Initially, it might seem like these additional skills mean very little. however if thats what you thought, then you are grossly mistaken.

Car driving is an essential skill to posess when you are in Australia as a student. public transportation in all the major cities is reasonably ok (i.e. the buses and trains are clean and are on time but the only major drawback is the lack of services) . it is pretty understandable that the frequency would be poor, since most people drive their own vehicle and also because of the population distribution factor. if you have an international drivers license, you may be able to use it for driving in australia as a student. you can just buy a second hand car if you will use it regularly or just rent a car if you intend to go camping or sight seeing with a group of friends.


another important skill to posess is swimming. you might have questions like..."I dont go to the beach often ..why do I have to learn to swim?", or "I dont like water, why should I bother ?" and many more in mind but the truth is ...if you learn to swim it will surely be of use one day or the other.


yet another asset...have you ever learned a foreign language ? in school? summer holidays? for passion towards the subject? or just for the heck of it? if yes, then you should probably polish your skills before you pack your bags ! foreign language be it japanese/french/german or even other languages spoken within your own country. if for example you are from south india and speak kannada, it is worthwhile to learn another language for example telugu. unfortunately, most peole dont realize the importance of languages until they miss out on some opportunity or loose an edge over others because of it.

As far as essential skills are concerned, driving, swimming and language are the ones I would rank higher up as a requirement. but if you have the time or the opportunity, you must grab it and develop any other possible skill that will come in handy during your stay in Australia.