Studying abroad - where's the money?

To a lot of students, studying abroad or pursuing an MBA implies a large investment. Here I specifically mean "$$$$". Coming from a blue-collar family, the funding for studying abroad also used to be one barrier that I thought I could never overcome. Regrettably I think a lot of Taiwanese students may have the same idea as I used to have (that's right, shortage of money doesn't stop me anymore! ;)) and simply let money be the single most important factor that prevents them from doing something. Frankly, I don't think anyone should be 100 percent prepared before approaching their dreams (it's awesome if you could, of course!). In my point of view, when the odds stand more than 60% on your side, you should take action!

After my personal experience of using Euro 15,000 (tuition fee, travel & living expenses) to study in the Netherlands for 13 months, I found that there is no need to lose sleep over money. Actually quite a lot of people combine resources from wherever they could think of in order to go to business school. I am not saying that we should just sit and wait for the money to fall from the sky. But the point I want to make here is that the source of funding is secret to no one; what usually makes a difference is whether one is determined enough to research those mundane details and pool the resources together. For students in Taiwan who worries about money for overseas study, I recommend the following approaches:

1) Scholarships: If you grades back in the uni weren't that bad and you've already accumulated a couple years of work experience, chances are you may suffice to the requirements of many scholarships. Because I studied in the Netherlands before, I highly recommend the Y C Lo Scholarship if you are a Taiwanese student or a resident in Taiwan. The amount of grants vary from Euro 3,750 to Euro 15,000. Though it may not cover your full expenses, something's better than nothing!

2) Student loans: For folks whose only source of income is themselves, loaning from the bank is an option that you can consider. That said, if you had due payments from previous studies or worst personal debts, be sure to clear it up so that your credit can be released before getting a loan for the b-school.

3) Savings: Though listed as no. 3, I personally believe savings should be the most important financial resources everyone should accumulate for themselves! No matter your goal is to go to b-school, start a family or your own business, start saving NOW!