Norway has been becoming increasingly popular abroad-study destination among aspiring foreign students in the recent years. It is one of the coldest countries in the world. Nevertheless, we have several of the experiences from students that we know who despite their personal health concerns have managed to survive (in fact, thrive) in cold Norwegian winters (November to March) and warm Nordic months during June and July.
In Norway, there’s no such thing as bad weather – only bad clothing !
.. common Norwegian saying
At Pootalisadak.com, we will be sharing many of the practical experiences and success stories from the foreign students, professionals and business personalities around the world.
Best attraction about Norway is that talented foreign students have been easily getting admission in Norwegian universities and universities of applied sciences. They have also been successful in getting various kinds of skilled employment in Norway. Isn’t it great to know that you can enter Norway for studies without having to pay tuition fees, and after fulfilling certain criteria, you can get countless opportunities in the Norwegian labour market? The priceless and aesthetic dimension of studying in Norway is its splendid natural environment – even at core of its capital city – Oslo. We should never forget to mention the narrative of equity and individual respect in Norwegian society. Oh, Norway promotes multiculturalism ! Saying so, we should not forget to tell you that they become extremely happy if you speak Norsk (Norwegian language), and share home-made Pepperkaker (Norwegian Gingerbread). Oh, Norwegians at their best of health and social-life mostly spend their weekends outside. During quite long holidays, they spend time in hyttes (private cottages nearby sea shores or in the forests) to spend quality time outside. Norwegians love physical activities outdoors – skiing, running and swimming among many. Norwegians visiting a gym or running outside on a daily basis is comparable to a Nepali eating daal-bhaat (Rice, Lentil and Curry – perhaps including chutney).
In this blog, we have attempted to provide practical information for foreign students who might be interested on studying in Norway for free.
Admission and Study Permit (based on Nepali experiences)
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) has hinted in their website that Nepali students might struggle to get a residence permit as Bachelor level student in Norway when they apply from Nepal. Experiences from Nepali students reveal the same situation when they apply for a study permit to study in Bible Schools, High Schools, Vocational Schools and Folk High Schools. They have also mentioned that specific circumstances on certain Bachelor level applications can make their case stronger. By this, we must believe that the intended course / or equivalent should not be available in Nepal and you must be highly driven by your passion to go to Norway and study that particular study programme. However, if you apply from Norway, for example – spouse of married students can get the student permit (both in Bachelors and Masters) regardless their age. If you apply from Nepal, and you prove yourself as a genuine student for a Master’s programme, study permit is almost guaranteed. Saying so, we must respect that decisions are made by the UDI on individual assessments of the applications.
In Norway, the principle of collective growth and development works in their administrative philosophy. Hence, there is no discrimination by age, sex, nationality, ethnicity, colour of skin or whatever – both in academic- and professional life. Though, the previous academic / professional performance and current motivation are significantly considered by the admission committee members of the institutions of higher education in Norway.
Study Masters in Norway: A Guide to Nepalese Students
Nepali students have been complaining that the abroad study consultancies mostly located in Putalisadak area and New Baneshwor area have been demanding huge bulks of Rupees in the name of admission processing and visa processing.
They can easily avoid such heavy prices for the services if they plan in their own. Actually, the students can get relatively better results by getting enough information and orienting themselves for the self initiations of the admission procedures and study permit processing.
General Requirements for Nepalese Students for Getting Admission to a Master’s Programme in Norway:
- Educational Qualification(s): SEE/SLC + Grade 11, 12 / 10+2 / PCL – Diploma + 4 years Bachelors OR SEE / SLC + Grade 11,12 / 10+2 / PCL – Diploma + 3 years Bachelors + 2 years Masters
- Language Requirement(s): Various Norwegian institutions have increased the English Proficiency Levels in recent years as a requirement to get admission into the Master’s Programme in their institutions. However, generally you need to score 6.5 in IELTS or equivalent scores in other English Proficiency tests. Very few universities still accept students with IELTS score 6.0.
- Motivation: You need to submit either structured (in the format provided by the institutions of higher education) or free-written motivation letter.
- Financial Ability: Norwegian institutions of higher education, expect few existing private ones, do not have provision of tuition fees. However, while you submit your documents during the application for admission, you are asked to submit the Bank Statement in your name (signed and stamped by the Bank authorities). This is needed so that the University becomes assured that you can support your living expenses while you live and study in Norway.
Specific Requirements for Nepalese Students for Getting Admission to a Master’s Programme in Norway:
It is obvious that you need to have a Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field if you wish to get admission in certain degree. A student from fine arts domain definitely would not expect to get admission into programme with surgery and medicine as specialisation.
Some universities offering programmes including numerical methods have mandated GRE / GMAT scores as requirement. They generally do not specify the score(s). However, you need to achieve 85 percent of higher marks out of total score in these tests.
To get admission into programmes such as IT, Fine Arts, Music or Dance, you might need to send your samples of performances or final products.
Letter of references are especially required for the programmes that have provision of scholarships – like the ones offered by the ERASMUS programmes, or individual universities.
Master’s Level International Study Programmes in Norway
According to StudyinNorway.no, we have listed 300+ Master’s level study programme in English.
Out of these, few programmes are focused on regional cooperation (Mostly Nordic and European, and sometimes Baltic and Mediterranean) and hence recruit students from those regions only.
Some programmes are part-time studies (3 years part time). Nepalese students do not get study permit for part-time study programmes in Norway.
Still there are several English medium Master’s level programmes of study (mostly 2 years full-time) in Norway. To get a complete list of these programmes, please do not look for the database in some other websites than www.studyinnorway.no.
Sometimes, you might want to look for the list of institutions of higher education in Norway and visit their individual websites for getting a proper picture of available study options. If you do so, you already start avoiding the non-justified payments demanded by many of the study-abroad consultancies in Nepal.
Dates and Deadlines
Till the date, Norway does not have centralised admission application system for International students. It means that different institutions of higher institutions in Norway can have slightly variation in application rounds and deadlines.
Norwegian Institutions of Higher Education call for international applications for the English taught Master’s Programmes from November each year. The Deadlines can vary. Some institutions have deadlines as early as December 1 and some can go little far till February 1 or even March 1.
Most of the admission decisions are received by email during the month of April. Nepali students then have ample time to prepare for applying for study permit, wait for decision and prepare to move to Norway.
Generally, the study start in Norway is August 1 (Fall / Autumn / Summer Semester) every year. They generally do not take international students during (Spring / Winter semester) except the exchange students or ERASMUS students.
DISCLAIMER
We will post 2 separate blogs on ‘How to Apply for Admission at Norwegian Institutions of Higher Education‘ and ‘How to Apply for Study Permit to Norway’ with a proper focus to Nepalese students. Do like our facebook face to get updates.
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