? Which do you choose, study abroad agent or study abroad consultation?
If you want to choose a relatively reliable service institution for studying abroad, you must first understand this industry. At present, there are roughly two modes of study abroad service in the study abroad service market: study abroad intermediary and study abroad consultation. The biggest feature of study abroad agents is that they have the resources of overseas institutions. They have established enrollment cooperation relations with some foreign universities, and at the same time signed overseas study service contracts with domestic students, which were transported to cooperative universities and charged service fees to both parties. Study abroad consultation does not rely on cooperative colleges, but provides business consulting services for students studying abroad.
These two service modes have their own advantages and disadvantages. Because of direct cooperation with overseas institutions, study agents can improve the success rate of study applications, but these institutions that establish cooperation with intermediaries often have poor students and weak strength; Although the study abroad consultation focuses on application according to the actual situation of students, in order to improve the success rate, the choice of institutions tends to be conservative. In most overseas study service institutions, these two business models usually coexist.
It has been published by the Ministry of Education by querying the foreign-related supervision information network of the Ministry of Education. Self-funded study abroad intermediary qualification certificate? There are only more than 400 study abroad agencies, but there are many more active study abroad agencies in the study abroad market. However, since 2004, the Ministry of Education has not approved the new qualification of intermediary service for studying abroad, which leads to the situation that some powerful, capable and reputable service agencies for studying abroad cannot obtain the qualification.
At the same time, we also see that some qualified study agents subcontract their study abroad services, and some are disqualified because of illegal operations. What's more, an overseas study consulting institution without overseas cooperation resources is not in the category of intermediary, so it is unnecessary? Agency qualification certificate? . Therefore, the qualification problem is not enough to distinguish the service quality of overseas institutions. However, it is necessary to clearly understand the qualifications of the organization and be cautious when signing the contract.
Do I have to choose a qualified study agent?
When choosing a service institution for studying abroad, some consumers tend to choose an established institution, because they think that the longer the service institution for studying abroad operates, the more application experience it has accumulated, and the more professional the service, the stronger its application ability. But in fact, this inference is not easy to establish. Although the more study abroad cases handled, the more application experience accumulated, but these experiences are more personal experience of study abroad consultants, coupled with the high mobility of study abroad consultants, making these experiences do not represent the strength of study abroad service institutions.
Among many overseas study service institutions, we often see that the head of a department of some big-name study service institutions set up their own study service institutions alone, or those founded by returnees from top overseas universities. With their industry experience, they have achieved good results in the industry. These institutions are often established for a short time, with small scale and distinctive features. When making a choice, consumers should pay more attention to the service processes and methods of overseas study service institutions and the individuals or teams that provide specific services.
Can you guarantee the quality by choosing the old intermediary?
Because study abroad agency is a word-of-mouth industry, parents of prospective international students are willing to trust the opinions of independent third parties for peace of mind, so they are easy to accept the recommendations of friends who have chosen and experienced study abroad agency services and international class teachers who have a certain understanding of the study abroad market. In fact, this choice has great limitations. Every student's situation is different, his major, school and even country are different, and every study agent will have countries and schools that he is not good at, so it is of little significance to recommend students with low coincidence.
Students attending international schools or classes can be said to be prospective international students and important potential customers of study abroad agents; Some international schools and classes have cooperative relations with study agents, such as the introduction of projects in cooperative universities, the introduction of international courses, and the management of foreign teachers. An important purpose of the cooperation between the study abroad agency and the school is to turn the potential customers of the school into actual customers. Therefore, teachers in international schools or classes cannot be completely regarded as independent third parties that have nothing to do with study abroad agents. In the choice of study abroad agents, should consumers still? Shop around? Collect more information, understand through multiple channels and from multiple angles.
Do you want to listen to the recommendation of the international class teacher?
Let's talk about its three core businesses: Is it appropriate to choose a school? Does the document have personality? Where did the students sent out in the past flow?
While investigating the core business, we should also pay attention to some service details. For example, whether the signing consultant and the application consultant are the same person; Who is responsible for filling in the online application form; Who holds the online application public account? Who wrote the document, whether the document consultant can choose, and whether the communication of document modification is face-to-face or telephone communication; Who is responsible for sending the application materials; Can you write a letter of recommendation for someone? Prices of different service items; Under what circumstances will the refund be made, and so on.
How to examine the application ability of study abroad service institutions?
The advantages of study abroad consultants are reflected in their qualifications, experience and industry knowledge. Consumers mainly examine the quality of consultants from four aspects: first, the level of knowledge, the understanding of institutions of higher learning in the destination country of international students; Secondly, the accuracy of students' ability, quality and personality in judging level; Thirdly, in terms of strategy, the best matching scheme between students and schools can be made on the basis of the first two; Fourth, the sense of responsibility, that is, guided by students' application to the most suitable school, seriously and responsibly promote the whole application process.
In order to improve the interview efficiency, students should arrange a resume in advance, including: school, education, major, GPA language test results; Campus activities, social activities, competitions and awards; Have any special experience; The desired institution, major, etc.
After understanding the basic situation, the study abroad consultant can consult the education situation of the target country, the basic situation of the target school, the specialty setting, the admission requirements, scholarships, etc. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the current situation for applying for the target institution? Which institutions are recommended for application; Whether and when it is necessary to retest language scores; Whether the background activities are enough, what activities are suggested, etc. In short, make full use of every interview opportunity and let different consultants provide information and solutions. Know more and you will know which consultants are more suitable for you.
? How to examine the personal ability of overseas study consultants?
When signing a contract with a study abroad agent, besides checking whether the core interests of both parties are clear in the contract, it is best to attach the oral commitment of the study abroad agent to the main contract in the form of a supplementary contract, and the binding clauses of the study abroad agent that are missing in the main contract can also be supplemented in the supplementary contract to avoid disputes in the future. For all payments, you should ask for a valid invoice or receipt stamped with the company's special financial seal.
When choosing a study abroad institution, don't be too ambitious, stick to the university ranking, and try to apply for an institution far beyond your application ability, so as not to be used by the study abroad agency and waste time and money. In the application for studying abroad, we should be more alert to the gambler's psychology, and never get the admission of an ideal institution by cheating. The handling of fraud abroad is very serious and strict. Once the fraudulent behavior of international students is discovered, they may be repatriated and prohibited from entering the country. This stain may be printed on students' credit files forever.