It can be easy to simply ask about the scholarshipopportunities a university offers. However, institutions receive hundreds of such enquiries, so your message won’t stand out.

The more unique or personalized your question or enquiry, the more likely it will resonate with the university staff member who reads it; it will be something different from what they see normally.

There are a lot of other things you should be asking. Just think of everything which you would want to know about a university you might be studying at (especially one in a completely different country from your own).

So what should you ask?


‘Where can I live?’
Do you know what accommodation the institution offers? Is this accommodation on or off-campus? How expensive is this accommodation and what’s included? Are you guaranteed a place in on-campus accommodation in your first year? What support is there to find accommodation off-campus?


‘What’s the international student body like?’
What proportion of students currently enrolled are from overseas? What countries do these students come from? Are there many students from your own country? If so, are there any specific clubs or societies which are tailored to students from here?