Spending $30,000 on studying in UK is a waste

I studied in Vietnam and worked overseas for a period. I have worked with many experts from the west, as well as Vietnamese returning from overseas study. From my experience, I think my evaluation of overseas studies is fair.

I've met many people coming back from studying masters in the U.K. and the U.S., and they were mostly good with theory, having little experience in their field. Their English competence is not much better than people in Vietnam, as they only studied overseas for a couple years.

Studying overseas only decides 50% of one's success. It's an opportunity for one to test their capabilities. How to make good use of that opportunity depends on each person.

One should only study overseas if they are very passionate about a sector in which they cannot find a good education for in Vietnam, and only if they wish to stay and work overseas.

Vietnam does not have different payments for those studying at home and overseas. If one spends VND800 million (US$32,800) studying in the U.K. for 1.5 years for example, it will take a long time for them to break even by working for less than VND20 million a month in Vietnam.

Knowledge acquired overseas will also become a waste if not applied in Vietnam after two or three years.

Instead of spending VND800 million on studying in the U.K., one can use half of it to travel for several months across Europe and the U.S. for valuable experiences and spend the remaining half on language courses with native English teachers in Vietnam, while working full-time. Overall, it would help one gain more experience, at a lower cost.

I work in a multinational corporation, and many Vietnam directors studied in Vietnam, at top universities.

For those who plan to stay overseas after studying, I would say life is easier in Vietnam, where there are more opportunities.

My uncle lives in New York, works for IBM with a doctorate degree. He and his wife, both Vietnamese, moved to the U.S. 15 years ago and they only had one child as the cost of another was too much.

He has bought a house on a mortgage, which he expects to complete paying in 30 years.

He always feels lonely as he does not have a big family and a big community of acquaintances like in Vietnam.

His wife said they might go back to Vietnam after their son grows up and moves out and gets married, because it would be very lonely for two old people to live there.