Study at Politecnico di Torino

The education system in Italy is highly ranked in comparison with other European nations. Study is basic right which is provided to every citizen and the costs are minimal. State grants the aid to make education cheap. As compare to last decade, Italian universities are attracting many international students and this number is increasing year by year. However costs are still much for a student from third world country who is studying here without any scholarship or mean of support.

My main topic here is to describe the studies in Politecnico di Torino, as I'm studying here too. So you may be find it boring, but for the students who are planning to pursue studies in Politecnico di Torino, this post could be helpful.

Politecnico di Torino is an engineering and research institute. Politecnico di Torino entertains international students in all three levels of study; Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral programs. There are also few specializing master courses of one year; 1st level and 2nd level of specializing masters. Politecnico di Torino have 5 campuses in Turin city, one in Alessandria, one in Mandovi, one in Biella and one in Verres. You can find out the the details of these campuses on the university website, which courses are offered, are these research centers only or courses are offered too.

Politecnico di Torino is one of the big universities in Italy, according to number of students enrolled. There are more than 30,000 students, and around 15% international students. International students are enrolled in every level. Large sum of students come from China and Pakistan.

Starting your first year at Polito within deadline is very important. You can't miss your classes. Education here at bachelors level is all theory, very few practical lessons. Like in Pakistan large portion of lessons are done in labs and workshops which give you practical experience. On the other hand if you are coming after last week of September, it will be impossible for you to apply for regional scholarship. So starting your first year of education at the right time is quite important.

First year lessons are done in big halls, where all the engineering students attends their classes. As first year of education for all the disciplines is same. Which gives you adequate knowledge to pursue any stream. So if you change your mind after a year to change your faculty or discipline, you can take any other major you like.

Regarding the exams you have 4 attempts to pass the single exam, 2 attempts are given in the *running semester, 1 in the *not-running semester and finally one in the fall term which lasts for fifteen days in the first half of September. You can attempt all or attempt just one to pass the exam.

All the students have university portals which have all your teaching material and a bridge between you and your teacher. You can use personal student email. WiFi coverage is provided in every corner of university premises. You can stay connected all the time to your studies.

To be continued....
 
*Running semester = The semester in which lessons of the concerning course are delivered
*Not-Running semester = The semester in which lessons of the concerning course are not delivered

Exam and Fun

I came across this picture when my brother send me this early in the morning. I was sleeping and didn't notice it. When I read it later, I found it very interesting and funny.

Exams are stressful, all of you will agree. You study a lot for months, and in just few hours you have sum up your knowledge for

evaluation. A few comments like these release your stress and cheer you up.

I really appreciate the efforts of the professor who prepared this. It make you laugh and realize the importance of exam. You should be prepared for it. Meanwhile it also appreciates your effort to make you less nervous and stressed. 

One in all these few lines sketch the scenario of exam hall, what happens there. How the students get nervous.

I hope you like it and will leave your comments.

Living in Turin

Turin was the first capital of Italy when Italy unified in year 1861.Turin is quite famous with attribution of Shroud of Turin. The city has a rich culture and history, and is known for its numerous art galleries, restaurants, churches, palaces, opera houses, squares, parks, gardens, theaters, libraries, museums and other venues.

Turin is one of most beautiful cities in my view. It's a business and cultural center in front of Susa valley and surrounded by Alpine arch.  Also capital city of region Piedmont.

Most of the city's historic structure was built in 16th to 18th century, like squares, gardens and castles. Turin is sometimes called "the cradle of Italian liberty", for having been the birthplace and home of notable politicians and people who contributed to the "Risorgimento", such as Cavour. The city used to be a major European political center, being Italy's first capital city in 1861 and being home to the House of Savoy, Italy's royal family.

The city currently hosts some of Italy's best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the six-century-old University of Turin and the Turin Polytechnic. Also prestigious and important museums, such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana are also found in the city. Turin's several monuments and sights make it one of the world's top 200 tourist destinations, and the tenth most visited city in Italy in 2008.

It is often referred to as the Capital of the Alps. Also the home of the Shroud of Turin, the football teams Juventus F.C. and Torino F.C., the headquarters of automobile manufacturers FIAT, Lancia and Alfa Romeo, Iveco and as host of the 2006 Winter Olympics and, in the same year, the 37th Chess Olympiad. Several International Space Station modules, such as Harmony and Columbus, were also manufactured in Turin.

Turin is calm city, on one hand you'll see cheerful night life but you'll also see mildness. Turin provides a good atmosphere for studies. You can live and study easily. Living costs are low outside city center. Apartments are available for rent. You can search them in your university advertising board or search on internet.

There are many study rooms, where you can study after your university lessons. There are also public libraries.

Food expenses are low, you can have a good meal from 5 - 10 euro in restaurants. There are restaurants where you can buy food with discounts. These restaurants are run by regional body EDISU in Piedmont.

Living in Turin could be adventurous if you are fond of cycling or trekking. You can go to near by cities for a weekend. You can do camping, do cycling or trekking. Turin is surrounded by beautiful mountains.

In Turin rains a lot and you'll never know when it's going to rain so always take umbrella with you. Banks you find everywhere so don't bother to keep cash. Cards are expected everywhere more than 85% of stores and restaurants. There are also some few supermarkets which are open 24h. Transport in Turin is very smooth, available from 4 am till 1 am mostly. There is also a metro line underground and the other line is under construction.

Overall Turin is a good city to live in and study.

Admission Abroad

What should be considered for applying admission abroad, this is the question that no one can answer. In developing countries big bucks are paid to consultancy firms for admission. In this post I will like to layout some basic methodology to pursue so you could avoid the education consultants. And finally secure your admission abroad.

1- Set your goal

First thing is to set your goal, which course you want to study, and why it would be better for you to study that course abroad. What are your preferences regarding countries. The more you keep your options broad the more opportunities you will encounter. There could be lots of factors, so you should right them down, or keep in mind so in the next steps you could consult.

2- Attend education expo

Many education consulting firms held expos and seminars. Attend those seminars you might meet the international admission officers of few universities. Listen what they say, take notes and gather information about courses. Living expenses and practical information about the city where the university have the campus. But never signup with fees. Analise this information you collected with your motive.


3- Online search

Once you attend the expo, you will have some real facts and figures. Rather than attending seminars or expos, you can also meet the education consular at your institute. Now many schools and colleges provide this service to their students to get admission abroad. Check the websites of international universities and study their international admissions sections. You can check the information regarding:

• Study structure
• Available courses
• Admission requirements
• Deadlines
• Tuition fees
• Practical information
• Student life
• City facts

See that the course you are looking is available or not, how is the structure of university, its better to go in depth. Check out their grading system, what it will worth if you come back to your country after studies. What are the prospects when you enter the job market in that country or some other country. Talk to the international admission office of that university directly, ask them as many questions you want. They are there to help you out. Pay special attention to admission requirements and their deadlines. Deadlines vary for most of universities even they are in one country.

4- Join social media

After that your next resort should be social media from their you can communicate with other students, who are currently studying or got graduated. You can talk to them and gather information as much possible. Gather information regarding living expenses, staying in dorms or renting apartments, food costs, any taxes for students.

5- Evaluate your options

Now you are moving towards final steps, so you should evaluate all the data you collected earlier. Decide for yourself, which option is better for you. If you are still not sure go back on social media and ask some students, take their review about your decision.


6-Apply for admission

Once you decided your options (it's better to apply in more than one university) apply for the admission. Complete all the admission requirements, fill out the forms, attach necessary documents they ask and submit your application within the deadline. Its better to apply in early admission cycle, if possible.

Best of luck!!!

Any questions, I'm available to answer.

Study in Italy

"Study in Italy" is a valuable information tool for students wishing to attend higher education (H.Ed.) programmes in Italy, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. 
This national website provides the following information: types of H.Ed. institutions (university and non-university sector), admission procedures, study programmes, university degrees, non-university H.Ed. qualifications (academic diplomas), tuition language, student life and welfare services, country information, etc.  

Italy has played an important role in European higher education: it is one of the four countries that first engaged to create the so-called "European Area of Higher Education" (Sorbonne Declaration, May 1998), thus starting that type of higher education reform which, known as "Bologna Process" (Bologna Declaration, June 1999) is being implemented all over Europe.

Today Italy ranks among the 8 most industrialized countries in the world. Alongside some big companies, both state-owned and private, it has developed a sound network of small and medium-sized undertakings, promoted a few scientific parks, and is incentivizing basic and applied research in a great variety of fields (biology, ICT, medicine, physics, etc.).

Typologies and Lists:

Italian higher education is structured in a binary system, consisting of two main articulations:
- the university sector
- the non-university sector.

At present, the university sector is made up of 89 university institutions which are classified in:
- 58 State universities
- 17 non-State universities (legally recognized by the State)
- 2 universities for foreigners
- 6 higher schools specialized in postgraduate university studies
- 6 telematic universities.

The non-university sector includes 4 education typologies with their institutions:
- higher schools of design: polytechnics for the arts, academies of fine arts, higher institutes for applied arts, music conservatories and recognized music institutes, higher institutes for musical and choreographic studies, national academies
- higher education in language mediation: higher schools for language mediators
- higher integrated education (FIS): programmes of higher technical education & training (IFTS)
- a few specific fields (e.g. archiving, diplomatic, restoration, military studies, etc.) which, along with their respective institutions, fall under the supervision of ministries other than that of Education.

Practical information:

Academic Calendar:

The academic year in Italy is made up of two semesters. The first semester starts in September/October and ends in January/February. The second semester starts in February and ends in July. The actual start and finish dates will vary in the different universities but each semester lasts around 20 weeks and is made up of a teaching period lasting around 14 weeks and an exam period lasting around 6 weeks. 

Teaching and learning:

Most teaching still takes place in large lecture halls but this will depend very much on the single course of study. Students are also expected to carry out a considerable amount of self study outside the classroom in order to prepare for exams.  

Assessment: 

Exams are held after the teaching period and are mainly oral exams although some courses will have written tests taking place during the semester or before the oral exam. Each exam will have a number of dates offered during the exam period and students can choose which date they wish to take the exam. They are also entitled to turn down a mark and take the exam again if they are not satisfied with the result. Rules apply as to how often a student can take an exam within an examination period.

Grading systems:

Examinations are graded according to a scale ranging from 0 to 30, with 18 as a pass mark.
A "cum laude" may be added to the highest grade (30; 30 e lode) as a mention of special distinction.
All examination results are used to calculate the overall degree mark on a scale of 0 – 110. The final result is based on exam results plus the presentation of a project or dissertation in front of a Board of Examiners. The pass mark is 66 and students who obtain full marks of 110 may also be awarded ‘summa cum laude’ (110 e lode).

Fees and Costs:

Universities and other Higher Education Institutes establish their own fees but in the case of university education there is a legal minimum fee for enrollment and maximum level for student contributions to costs and services, which cannot exceed 20% of state funding.

The average fees a student has to pay is somewhere between 850 euro and 1,000 euro per year since this varies from one university to another and also depends on the chosen course of study. Private universities are clearly much more expensive.

Admission to “master universitari” and other specialization courses also have much higher fees. Doctoral students who receive a grant from the university do not pay fees, but non- grant holders are required to pay the fees, which will vary again according to the university chosen.

Scholarships and financial aid:

All international students are entitled to the same student assistance services as Italian students, on basis of the same requisites of financial means and/or merit. This applies to scholarships, student loans, housing assistance, refectory meal tickets and fee waivers.

These services are managed by the DSU office (Diritto allo studio universitario). 
Alongside scholarship and financial aid information, DSU offices will also provide other services such as counselling and information on extra curricular activities, sport, transport and other practical matters. 
You should contact the office at the university where you plan to study to find out what services are available to you.

Student life Politecnico di Milano

Student fees at the Politecnico depend on the income of the family of the student. They range between about 150 €/year and 3000 €/year.
Students with good grades are granted partial or full rebates, in addition to various kinds of scholarships. There are many scholarships for international students as part of its recent internationalization program.
Most Italian universities do not offer accommodation for their students on campus. Politecnico has a limited number of approximately 2000 beds available for students. Most students from outside the city are either commuters or renting. It is customary for students to share flats in small groups of 3 or 4 people, as rent rates are very expensive in the city.
The campuses Leonardo and Bovisa are covered by a Wi-Fi network, connected and interoperable with the Eduroam service. Most public areas of the campuses are covered by wi-fi.

Living costs and spending habits will differ considerably depending on your individual expectations and needs and, of course, on where you live, so it’s not easy to give advice that is suitable to everyone.
First of all, you will need cash availability for travel, food and other expenses immediately upon arrival in Italy. Consider an amount of about €200-250 cash to cover immediate needs. Carefully plan how and when to exchange your currency to get the best exchange rate.

It is not advisable to bring larger amounts of cash unless you’re sure you’ll need it.  Before your arrival, plan your budget as carefully as possible and try to figure out if you can meet all the expenses, even considering unexpected and emergency costs. Below is a list of possible future expenses you may face.

• Accommodation - €350 - €650 per month
• Food - €150 - €200 per month
• Study costs - €40 per month
• Social life - €80 per month
• Travel costs - €20 per month
• Mobile phones - €20 - €30 per month

These costs are approximate and should be used as a guide only.

Upon your arrival, you’ll need to buy a mobile phone SIM card, choosing between a prepaid or postpaid card. A wide range of traffic plans provided by Italian companies are available, so choose carefully and check the terms and conditions.
If not included in your mobile device, internet access is available in some cafés, malls, hotels, libraries or Politecnico residence halls, and in each Politecnico Campus.

Many places offer free wi-fi access, so if you have a notebook, laptop or phone device, just ask the password for access or use it directly if a free open connection is available.

Alternatively, you can buy an internet key - a USB device that plugs into your laptop. It’s not expensive (between €10 and €30 per month depending on the number of hours/traffic, plus the price of the key) and can be a good solution in the short-term.

Politecnico di Torino, student stats

Stats:

STUDENTS

• 32.000 students (A.Y. 2012/2013)
• 30% women
• 42% students from outside Piedmont
• 16.5% international students

• 4,900 first year students (A.Y. 2012/2013)
• 12% first year international students

• 400 Specialization Master students
• 633 PhD students (A.Y. 2012/2013)

PROGRAMS

• 28 Degree programs (first cycle level - Bachelor)
• 32 MS Degree programs (second cycle level - Master)
• 18 Courses completely in English

• 6 I level Specialization Masters
• 27 II level Specialization Masters

• 24 PhD programs

• 6 Advanced training programs

• 1 Specialization program

GRADUATES
5,371 graduates in 2012

• 2,802 first cycle (Bachelor) level graduates

(average age: 24 years old)

• 2,569 second cycle (Master) level graduates

(average age: 26 years old)
Employment rate of second cycle (Master) students one year after graduation (Almalaurea - def. ISTAT-Workforce): 74.5% (above the national average of 60%) 42% have permanent contracts (above the national average of 34%)

Italian study visa, my story

I was 17 years old and was studying F.sc Pre engineering in Forman Christian College, Lahore. I secured 91% in my first year of high school and was thinking about my future. I applied first in French university for bsc in physics.

I was passionate for mechanical engineering. This all built by reading mechanical structures and watching F1 racing and motogp, well a part of it. 

While my application was under process in French university I applied in LUMS. I enrolled in LUMS' NOP program a year ago. I took their exam too and was waiting for admission reply.

Just while searching other universities I came to know about the Italian universities. The thing most attracted me was the equal rights to foreigners for pursuing higher studies like in France. I came across Politecnico di Torino. I found the undergraduate Mechanical engineering course in English and applied for it.

I wasn't sure where I'll get the admission. In Italy or somewhere else. I had know idea. I spent daily a lot of time considering my options. I was opened minded. Applied in many universities, abroad and Pakistan.

I kept many options and wasn't able to decide, because of lake of information. However I left it all and took admission in NUST. I went to Karachi, Pakistan. Before going to Karachi. I completed the process for Italian study visa.

I secured the admission in Politecnico di Torino. Applied for pre enrollment, attested all my documents and translated them. For DOV I had to provide the final degree, my result of HSSC. I submitted my passport along with my final degree. Due to official reasons our result was late, it came in September. Classes has been started in Politecnico di Torino. I started my studies in NUST, Karachi. 

One day, in the second week of September, I received a call from Italian embassy to submit my final degree. I traveled from Karachi to Islamabad for submission. Days passed by and at the end of November I received another call to collect my passport as soon possible.

That was the time, I bet on my future. I decided to leave, booked a flight, spent my savings  and came to Lahore. Next morning I went to Italian embassy and received my passport with stamped visa. I was sure about my decision and kept it.

As the founder of nation, Muhammad Ali Jinah also said "Stand on your decisions".  I was just 18 years old when I entered Italy. A young mind with lots of dreams.

If I go into details, there were many funny incidents, some harsh and heart breaking. But I kept my decisions and stood by it. As I promised myself. For a young boy, without any guidelines its quite impossible. But only those can make possible, who believe in it.

Study and Work in Italy

Italian education system is quite simple but not worth much in english speaking countries until you attain masters degree or highly talented student in bachelors.

It is quite impossible to study in Italy and make living here. Jobs are few and unemployment is sky high.

The average pay if considered by reviewing most graduates both master and bachelor degree holders is around 1700 euros. So its not enough if you are planning to move out to English speaking countries after 3 or 4 years.

Professional degrees like engineering value a lot in every corner of the world because mostly the experience matters (not always). If you studies in Italy and acquire a job then its better to have some experience of 2 to 3 years. So if you decide to go somewhere else your studies and job experience won't worth less.

Considering a few real life stories of some international students, chances of prosperity are highly increased these days. Foreign investment in the Italian territory is increasing, local companies are being bought out by foreign companies, which will eventually provide a big job pool in coming future. As Italian professionals are leaving Italy, for foreigners  its a great opportunity to fill the gap.

As I wrote earlier, internationalization is increasing year by year to fill the gaps and attract foreign companies and foreign students.


When I first came here in Italy in year 2010, I read an open letter in a newspaper.  The letter was written by a father to his son. In which he wrote about the economic situation of Italy. He also asked him to leave the country after his professional education as this country will not provide him even a single job. But now I'm seeing a change after 5 years of breakage and misery of Italian economy, its finally rising again. Hopefully sooner there will be no one who would like to leave.

Once the economy stands on its feet, means the unemployment rate go below 5% as in year 2007. There will be a lot more job opportunities for both foreign nationals and Italian nationals.

In this time, its still quite uncertain how things will go, but if you see the ground reality you will surely see a change.

Studying in Italy, without scholarship

Studying in Italy is not that hard, as compare to other European countries, living expenses are less. You can decide your budget initially, how much you can spend yearly to study in Italy or in your own country. If you compare the both amounts, you will see a very little difference.

Study in Italy is quite an adventure, if you don't have a scholarships then either you are going to earn that money or you will be dependent on your family. Being dependent on the family is the worst part because you are more than 18 and its the time for you to earn on  your own. The other most basic mistakes we do is that we never make a budget and just keep spending the money. We don't look for a job, as national language is Italian. We have this little thing in mind that to get a job you must speak Italian.

For sure Italian is compulsory but if you look hard you can also find a job where only english language skills are required. With a job, your stay and your study in Italy is more easy.

Everyone can realize that the study is only possible when you have money in your pocket and you don't have to worry about the expenses, so you can concentrate on your studies. If you worry about that you can't manage your stay in Italy or your expenses for study in Italy can't be beard. So kindly don't go to Italy, because you will be wasting your time and money if you had any.
 

Universities Abroad

Searching for a better course is quite difficult because seeing the course description is not enough. It got a lot better when you consult the community of those students who are already studying there or graduated from that institute. It get simple when the institute is quite near you can attend the open days, meet the professors and students.

Online searches sometimes lead to dead end and you find nothing. So you have to make specific searches what course you want to pursue. Maybe the name of the course is not as you expected but the course outline matches what you want to pursue. So your search should be thorough. If you like any Institute study its website thoroughly.

I will like to share my own experience. I searched a lot to study abroad, I found many universities but sometimes a lost interest because of the less information or missing information. I never attended to contact the institute. So its better if you have any question you should contact the admission by email or by phone.

Check thoroughly all the aspects, the course offered, future prospects, tuition fee and the living expenses. If you search deep you will find all this information. Use google translate for contents not in English, many university not provide all the information in English but their own national language. So it better to see also the non english web pages of univeristy.

With time most of the universities created all the pages in english and many still working on it.

Study in Italy: Useful links

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Italy
With the above link you can see the universities, their location the number of students and much more, Wikipedia provides lot of information regarding stats.

http://www.study-in-italy.it/ 
You can see the database of available courses, you can even get the piratical information. It gives you a lot of information when to apply for admissions and pre-enrollment.

http://www.bachelorsportal.eu
You can find here also the courses offered by Italian universities.
You might not find all of them, so its better to go above and see the other link

http://www.italia.it/en/home.html
You can discover Italy by visiting this website and get an overview of Italian culture.

Further more, you can check the regional websites regarding tourism which can be helpful for you when you enter Italy and you can easily manage your accommodation temprarily.
  

DOV for Italian Study Visa

DOV (Declaration of Value) is an assessment of degree, where the worth of degree is evaluated according to the country education system. It is also necessary for the enrollment in the Italian university. Italian university won't enroll you without DOV unless you are an exchange student.

To proceed with DOV, you have to make request to Italian embassy, like in Islamabad and you provide all the attested original documents and their copies with Italian translation. Furthermore the documents and their copies usually 3 should be attested from Foreign ministry and the Central Board. For more clarification you can contact the respected authorities.

You can attain the DOV without final degree, but you can apply on hope certificate. Once you got the final degree your application will proceed to final step. For better information you can consult my post. Soon I will post all these with details so it could be more clearer to you.

Study Visa Italy

Italian study visa is easy to get but only thing required is patience. You completed your intermediate studies then you are good to apply for undergrad admission in Italy. Application for international students are open from January to March each year. The cost of study in Italy is too low as comparing to other European countries. The university fees are low. Living expenses are not much. Even you don't have a scholarship it will cost you around 4500 per annum. If you get any scholarship, like regional or from university it will more than enough in most cases. They will provide you accommodation, pay your tuition fee, and you'll also get a handsome amount for covering your expenses.

Following are the three most simple steps to apply;

1- Apply for admission in Italian Universities
Italian universities allow the students with 12 year of education to enroll for undergrad. There are no restrictions, you can also apply if you are waiting for your result. For that you should apply with hope certificate and consult with university to how to proceed. It is better to apply for more than one university, you can search many courses in english language, then search also for scholarship opportunities.Priorities your options, which city, which university is better for you. You like the university ranking or not. Check about all the necessary things and apply. To see the admission requirements for international students you can see the International admission section of university website. Or you can also find the contact of international admission office of respected university and ask your queries.

2- Apply for pre enrollment in Italian Embassy
After securing the admission you can proceed with pre enrollment. For pre enrollment you have to provide DOV (declaration of value), and your all attested educational degrees and documents. All documents should be translated in Italian language from an authorized translator. First you will fill in the pre enrollment application and then submit your documents for declaration of value. This process takes time depending on the relevant embassy where you submitted. They might not accept your application if you are waiting for your result of final year of school (only in Pakistan). But you can show them the pages of national website of MIUR where its clearly written student waiting for final degree can apply.


3- Apply for study visa
For students in Pakistan, the visa process is quite easy, you just have to submit your passport, visa fee, your documents showing your financial strength and application form at Gery Visa dropbox. You can ask the complete list from Gery Visa dropbox for required documents. Now each major city have local centers. Italian embassy don't handle visa service as before. Within one month you will get your documents back, with visa stamped or refused. The thing to keep in mind is that don't apply late. Try to apply for visa as early as possible.



This is a just short overview to apply, for queries you can comment, may be able to help out.

University in Pakistan

To set the parameter for best university many aspects are considered. The teaching level, student response, internationalization research and many more. If you look deep into the study culture it all based on American education system (university level study). Syllabus set for the Matric SSC and Intermediate HSSC are quite good but they don't prepare the pupil for undergrad studies. So university has to pay more attention towards their students.

If you consider GIKI, NUST, LUMS, IBA, KEMC they are the prestigious institutes of Pakistan. You can't decide which one have the best method of teaching. But if you look around, you will see many great names who studied from these institutes. If you go back a generation or two you will find Government College Lahore, Punjab University, Forman Christian College. So with time the study appetite of  young Pakistani generation is increasing.

Once a single method of teaching is implemented and just single selection procedure is selected, there will be a lot more talented and patriotic professionals who will prefer to stay in their own country and serve.

Study in Italy

Today Italy ranks among the 8 most industrialized Countries in the world. Alongside some big companies, both state-owned and private, it has developed a sound network of small and medium-sized undertakings, promoted a few scientific parks, and is incentivating basic and applied research in a great variety of fields (biology, ICT, medicine, physics, etc.).

Italy has played an important role in European higher education: it is one of the four countries that first engaged to create the so-called "European Area of Higher Education" (Sorbonne Declaration, May 1998), thus starting that type of higher education reform which, known as "Bologna Process" (Bologna Declaration, June 1999) is being implemented all over Europe.

No other Country in the world has so many art and culture treasures like Italy. More than a half of historical and artistic estates of the world is in our Country (data UNESCO).

Italy is a Country reach in history and traditions, testified by museums, cathedrals, residences, castles, archaeological sites, etc. Each place keeps important traces of the past and the natural environment surprises the visitor with mountains covered with snow and kilometers of shores all around the peninsula.

For further information about Italy and studying in Italy see the website of MIUR (Ministry of Education, University and Research) " Study in Italy".

" Study in Italy" is a valuable information tool for students wishing to attend higher education (H.Ed.) programmes in Italy, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Italy has the top research institutes, and famous higher education institutes. North-Italy to South-Italy you will find highly ranked universities and institutes.
Each year Italy attracts thousands of international students for higher educations. After years of excellence, now the universities are providing another language of instruction "English". This strategy has make the education easy for foreign students. Study in Italy is now most favorable as compare to neighboring countries, where you still can't find degrees totally taught in english. 

Undergraduate Studies in Italy

Italy is one of the best country which offers the same rights to international students like their own national students. A lot of universities offers scholarships in undergraduate studies. One of the best aspect regarding the regional government bodies is that they also offer scholarships to students on the basis of merit and need base (only for the first year of studies).

You may not find your chosen professional studies here in Italy in English, but in coming future there will not be any field or faculty left who don't offer courses in English.

Specifically engineering disciplines, Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino which are ranked No.1 and No. 2 respectively in national rankings are offering a lot of courses in English at undergraduate studies.

The selection of course is much important and after that is surviving in this Non- English country, national language is Italian, it will be much better when u come here focus on your Italian language skills. Then there are money issues, you might not find any odd jobs here so you should achieve a scholarship. If its not available then you have to set your budget to at least 4,500 euros per anum, disregarding your luxurious way of living. Because with this money you will only survive here, you will pay your rent, pay for food and bills.

Then there is a part of reasonable resident, you pay attention towards community. Improve your language skills, and be a part of society.

Best of luck ahead if you chose to study in Italy. Any questions you can leave in comments, its all basic for those students who want to study abroad and don't have a clue that Italy also offers great opportunities.