But for most of us further education is a once in a lifetime experience that should ideally deliver a whole range of benefits, both in terms of wider education, career development (of course) - and also that mysterious, difficult to define element we could call “life experience”.

 

The best Middle East universities are making a straight pitch for our best students in all three categories, offering a dynamic and vibrant cosmopolitan setting, based in a fascinating traditional culture -with some very 21st century attitudes to advanced education.

Students at, for example, the American University of Sharjah are surely in the fast lane of modern academic practice.

 

It is a centre of excellence (for example in mechanical engineering), with strong, practical links to corporate field leaders at the forefront of international commerce, but couples its forward-thinking, hands-on approach to practical learning with a need to interact fully with a far broader set of disciplines.

 

In a nutshell it means the successful student can hope to come away with much more than a certificate, and will also have gained valuable experience of the real world and the mechanisms which make it tick.

 

He or she will also ideally have been able to open up an impressive array of suitable career avenues for future personal development, perhaps streaming future achievements towards special areas of study that dovetail with specific areas of research.

 

The option of a gap year can be the ideal solution for someone who wants to gain from this sort of dynamism, but doesn’t want to commit to four years away from other commitments.

 

It can be a useful base for further study or work experience at a later date, or may help with some particular career choice when combined with other efforts - and could also answer both of these requirements.

 

In this sort of scenario the student is much more than a mere tourist, and will be gaining both from the international dimension - social interactivity is guaranteed - and the host culture.

 

New perspectives will become apparent in a way which may only really be possible in a theoretic sense in a more familiar and insular environment - and it isn’t too dramatic to say that horizons will definitely expand.

 

On the practical side Universities in Dubai, for example, benefit from a massive and sustained determination by the home government to create an education and research environment which, to put it bluntly, matches the quality of all those magnificent hotels and exclusive golf clubs.

 

Second best isn’t an option when you are attempting to grow a field-leading academic sector, and it would be inexcusable when trying to reinforce an educational powerhouse which already enjoys an excellent international reputation.

 

For students with an existing experience of Middle East life (most likely through parents’ involvement with ex-pat life and work there) the conceptual leap needed to go for student life in the Gulf isn’t too great a challenge, while for others - aware, perhaps, of the benefits, but dealing with unfamiliar territory - some initial research is obviously needed.

 

But anyone ploughing through their overseas study options ought to be considering a milieu which is both very different from home but at the same time enterprising, one founded on solid core academic values, and - crucially - in a constant state of forward evolution.

 

The American syllabus overlay at the AUS (for example) means the entire experience can be slotted neatly into global mainstream recognition, giving instant access to all the most important career levers inherent in modern economic life.

The basic information is easily found online, and blog and forum comments galore can be sourced just as easily. But could it be for you?

 

For graduates who have seen the benefits, and gained from what is certainly a major life experience, it’s a question that seems to have been well worth answering in detail.

 

Read more: http://www.impartialreporter.com/opinion/roundup/articles/2014/06/17/405...