Study in Egypt

About Egypt

• GeographyEgypt is also known as the Arab Republic of Egypt. The capital of Egypt is Cairo. This country experiences very low amount of rainfall. That is why it depends on the river Nile for its existence. Nile is one of the major rivers of this country. Therefore, quite naturally Egypt is called the Gift of the Nile. The agriculture of Egypt sustains due to the floods occurring from the overflow of the rivers. Rains don't contribute much to the irrigation. Majority of the people living in Egypt are Muslims. A minor section of the residents of Egypt are Christians.
• History-In Egypt, the kings were called Pharaohs. Way back in 3000 B.C. the reign of these pharaohs became very prominent. The ancient Egyptian language is known as Hieroglyphics. The meaning of the Hieroglyphics is words of God. When the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I started forcing his people to convert to Christianity, there was a huge impact on other countries as well. There was tremendous bloodshed. The ancient scriptures and the proof this language was completely lost. Then in the year 1790, a stone known as the Rosetta stone was found with such ancient Egyptian scriptures. By 640 A.D. the Muslims ruled over Egypt. It is them who made Cairo the capital of Egypt.
• Culture-The literature of Egypt dates back to the age of pharaohs. When the pharaohs died, their body was buried in their respective pyramids. The tombs of the pyramids were covered in hieroglyphics and other ancient writing. It depicted about the king who died and about his reign. We get a lot of information about the people of Egypt from those inscriptions. In fact, the workers who constructed the pyramid are the first engineers of this world. Imhotep is by far the first engineer to design the pyramid. As of now no evidence has been found of an architect dating prior to him. Egyptians were patron of painting. The proof of this could also be found on the pyramids.

Quick Facts

• This country is one of the oldest civilizations of the world.
• The Egyptians speak Arabic language. It is the language of more than 50 million people in Egypt.
• The reason that Egyptians created the mummies of their pharaohs is that the Egyptians thought that by this process, the soul of the dead body will be able to reach a new world of afterlife.
• The ancient Hieroglyphics language consisted of 700 different symbols.
• It is believed that the modern pen and paper we use is a result of the ancient inventions of Egyptians. The Egyptian kings used to record their instructions on papyrus which can be compared to our modern day thick paper.
• Our modern day calendar of 365 days is a result of the innovative thought process of the Egyptians.
• The national animal of Egypt is Aquila nipalensis which is one kind of an eagle. This is why this eagle is shown in the national flag of Egypt.
• The city of Cairo, which is the capital of Egypt, is the largest city in the middle east.

Admission Process in Egypt

• You must submit the photocopies of the mark sheets and certificates of class 10,12, graduation/ master's degree as applicable for the course. The photocopy of your birth proof is also required. You can think of submitting the photocopy of your birth certificate. If the university has not stipulated what certificate to show as your birth proof, then you can also give the photocopy of your passport. If any university requires a birth proof and the proof of passport, then you need to give both.
• You must submit a photocopy of your passport. The validity of the passport must remain for at least 6 more months. If you are applying for a degree course then it is better to apply with a passport validity of around 1.5 years. Otherwise there is a high chance of your application getting rejected.
• You must attach a passport size photograph with your application. Other than the application, you may have to attach photographs in few other places. So submit as many as photographs asked by the university. Sometimes the required number of photographs could reach up to 15. Always submit the application form of admission in the format stipulated by the university. Download their format and feed your information accordingly.
• You must submit the proof of the passport of your parents. Make sure that the photocopy you submit contains the date of issuance of the passport. It should also should the date of birth and address of your parents.
• You need to pay a non-refundable admission fee along with the application. That means, in case your application gets rejected your application fee will be forfeited.
• Lastly, you need to submit a proof of your health. You will have to submit all the blood reports as asked by the university. They will require the blood tests for different kinds of contagious diseases. Don't miss out on any report to avoid rejection of your application.

Student Visa Application Process

After you have received the student visa and you have finally arrived in Egypt, you need to visit the nearest police station. You must do this within seven days of your arrival. Failure to do this will result in severe consequences. The police might consider you as A rule breaker and you might be asked to leave the country. You might be deported from the country. In my suggestion, always visit the nearest police station within the first three days of your arrival. This will give you ample time to produce the documents required by them. They will scrutinize your student visa. They might ask you to show your identity card, documents certifying your academic records, and your age proof. You will definitely have to show your passport, visa in the police station. It will be helpful if you carry all your documents along with you in the first visit. They will be able to process it then and there and register your name and the period of your stay. This is done to keep track of foreign students who are coming here to study. They want to make sure that nothing illegal is happening and you have come to this country on academic purpose only. There is a relaxation upon this registration procedure for students of Canada, America and few other countries. There is no relaxation for India. So you must rush to the police station after you reach Egypt. The details of the documents required to apply for a student visa in Egypt is given in the following sections.

Lifestyle

Lets start the lifestyle of a student in Egypt with food. The food of this country is mouth-watering. The students of Egypt love something called asKoshari. It is a mix of rice, lentils, chick peas, a bit of tomato. You can think of this as an afternoon snack. After your entire day of classes, you will love this dish. It will curb your hunger. It is tasty and not bad for your health too. All the ingredients involved in this dish are the regular ingredients of the meals we take at home. If you are fonder of non-vegetarian food items, then you should definitely eat Seekh Kebab. It is made of lamb. This is also a delicious dish for lunch. If you are more of a chapatti person, then this is an ideal dish to go with the chapattis. But, some of you might be apprehensive of this dish as it is made of lamb. So for you I can suggest dishes with roasted chicken. Egyptian roasted chicken is a wholesome dish in itself. It can also go nicely with rice. This will be liked by students of the eastern zone of India. This dish is spicy and tasty.

The tuition fees of universities of Egypt vary in between very cheap and very costly. If you study in government funded university then, you can study for free. In private universities, you will have to either pay tuition fee per semester or a lump sum in the beginning of the course. The fee may be as high as 9000 Euros per semester. Although government universities are free, the faculty level of those universities is not up to the mark. In fact, if you ask a senior student of Egypt, then he or she will advise you to study in a private university. The accommodation facilities available in the universities and outside the universities are discussed in the following sections.

For students from India who are women, there could be some restrictions regarding the dresses. Egyptian women can wear long sleeved dresses, full length skirts, veils, etc. In short, only those dresses are allowed among the women, which are of full length covering the entire hands and legs. In fact, veil is preferred for the women in some universities. Jeans are not preferred that much in public places. So if you are not comfortable in the dresses that are allowed in public in Egypt, then you will have to rethink about studying in Egypt. In fact, few universities do not allow students skirts shorter than ankle length or pants. Violating the dress code over there could lead to agitation in the premises.

During your weekends and day offs, you can visit the cafeterias with your friends. You can think of eating out on Sundays. You can go for a movie on Sundays. Egypt is very popular for its movies. In fact, this country has been a subject in many Hollywood and Indian regional movies. One popular example of this is the franchise of the Hollywood movie Mummy. You can also think of attending music and dance concerts during your weekends. You can visit the locales of this country, when you are not busy with classes or studying. It is advisable to travel various cities and locations of this country instead of watching television during the weekends.

Cost of Living for Students

Accommodation and Food-In Egypt, it will be cost effective if you stay in a hostel. The rent of a hostel ranges from 5 US dollars per day to 20 US dollars per day. If you stay in a hostel within the university premises then the cost would be very low. But getting a vacancy in a university hostel is very tough. The hostels have room service facilities. You can take a single room separately. If you find that a little costly, then you can go for dormitories. A dormitory is an arrangement where you share the room with other one or two roommates. This way, you can split the cost. The charges of the same maybe either included in the daily charges or you may have to pay them additionally. But in either case, you don't have to take the headache of cleaning the room every day. You don't have to hire any housekeeper from outside. So that means it will be easier on your pocket. Most of the hostel charges include breakfast. That means, you will have to arrange for two other meals. You can think of eating in the university canteens. You can think of eating the dinner in a restaurant nearby. The meals in any restaurant are not too costly or not too cheap. The cost is affordable. A meal in a restaurant may range in between 50-100 Egyptian pounds. But, it will be a wise decision to start cooking at home after eating out for a month or two. It will be easier on your pocket and enhance your cooking skills. Some grocery items like potatoes, lentils, onions, beans, tomatoes are quite cheap in Egypt. In fact, you may manage to get a market where the price of these and other grocery items are less than that in Indian market.

Transportation If you rent a hostel in the heart of the city, then communication to any place will be easier. You can even visit some nice locales of the city by mere walking. You can buy monthly passes from travelling to and fro the city in 100-150 Egyptian pounds in most of the cities. In the capital of Egypt, that is Cairo, the transportation costs are almost triple. So for a monthly pass you will have to pay around 300 Egyptian pounds. You can also hire cabs for special purposes. The cost is moderate. In fact if you opt for app cabs, then base fare for those cabs will differ by around Rs.100 from that in India.

Documents for University Admissions in Egypt

1. The validity of your passport must remain for more than 6 months. Along with this, there should be more than 2 blank visa pages left. In fact it is better to apply with 4 blank visa pages. This is because; in Egypt you can enter more than once with a student visa. It may so happen that you have to leave the country after one semester or two semesters and then again you come back to complete the course. So in that case, the visa application office might not prefer a passport with very few visa pages.
2. You need to download the visa application form, fill it up and submit it along with the visa application fee. The fee will differ based on the fact that whether you want it for single entry or double or more entries.
3. You need to submit the proof of your parent's passport.
4. If you have a local guardian in Egypt, then you would require a consent letter from your parent certifying the guardianship. The letter should be addressed to the Commissioner Immigration Control Department.
5. If your parent has been transferred to Egypt for a few years, then you would require the proof of the work permit of your parent.
6. You need 2 passport size photographs. The photographs should be taken by some professional in order to avoid rejection.
7. You have to submit a photocopy of the admission letter given to you by the university of Egypt. Do check if the admission letter contains the sign and seal of the concerned authority. Otherwise the admission letter has no meaning.
8. You must have a fit certificate signed by your physician certifying that you don't possess any contagious disease or mental instability.
9. Last but not the least, you will have to ask the university authorities to send a cover letter to the Commissioner Immigration Control Department stating the subject of your admission, the duration of your stay, etc.

You may have read from the books and seen in the films how beautiful this country is. If you see the port of Alexandria, then you will be mesmerized. The Siwa Oasis is another beautiful tourist destination. It is also known as Sekhtam. The First and Second World War was also fought on Siwa. If you get an intelligent and knowledgeable tour guide, then he may show you the exact site where this battle was fought. When you stay in Egypt for 3-4 years, then you must be going to the city of Cairo. Cairo is the capital of Egypt. Tourists never miss the step pyramid of Saqqara once they go to Cairo. You will behold with awe and wonder, how the workers built such strong and aesthetic structures, in such olden times. They had no modern scientific technologies to help them out.In fact, the first pyramid that was built in Egypt way back in 2648 B.C. was built in Saqqara. Along with that Memphis and few other places attract tourists. The pyramids, sphinxes etc. are the main attractions of this country.

Top Universities in Egypt for Indian Students

1. Al-Azhar University-Subjects taught-This university mainly offers courses in medical science, for example, Orthopaedics, Dermatology, Pharmaceuticals, Anaesthesia, Gynaecology, Clinical Pathology, etc. Other than these, this university also offers few engineering courses and courses in general applied sciences. In case of general sciences, most courses related to Biology are included in the departments of this university.
2. Cairo University--Subjects taught-Physiotherapy, Economics, Political Science, Mass Communication, Nursing, Veterinary Science, etc. This university is a very old one and has research and postdoctoral programs too. You can opt for various types of research scholarships. Although in most cases, the scholarships are offered to students who have the citizenship of Egypt. You can come to this university to attend workshops, international conferences on various new topics.
Ain Shams University-Subjects taught-This university is famous for its engineering courses. The rank of this university lies in between 700-800. The university has a very large campus. You will be astonished that almost 2,00,000 students could be accommodated in this college. The courses offered in this university are Renewable Energy Engineering, Humanities, Materials Engineering, Communication System Engineering, etc. Among these courses, Renewable Energy Engineering is a course on which you will find a degree course very rarely in India. In my opinion, if you are choosing to study in this university, it is better to choose this subject as your specialization.Mansoura University-Subjects taught-This university also provides courses mostly related to medical science. This university offers various courses in nursing. It also offers courses in Surgery, Pharmaceuticals, etc. The higher authorities of this university have inculcated information technology in as many areas possible.
3. Alexandria University-Subjects taught-This university is the second largest university in the world. That is why; it has a vast range of subjects to offer to the students. Sometimes students of small towns complain that they don't have a proper college to offer them courses in Tourism and Hotels, Agricultural Engineering etc. If you want to study a master's in engineering eventually, then you can study both bachelors and masters from this university. Then eventually, you can study PhD. in the same genre. This university has these subjects which are rarely pursued in small towns. In fact, the faculties of this university consider tourism management as a science. Also there are courses on Economics, Agricultural Economics, M.Sc. in Art Education, Aquaculture, etc. This university provides a B.Sc. degree in commerce discipline. One thing to be mentioned here is that, if you want to establish your career in India, then it is better not to go for a subject like B.Sc. in commerce.
4. Nile University-Subjects taught-Computer Science Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Industrial and Service Engineering Management, Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Management, etc. This university provides a management course clubbed with the engineering curriculum. This will be highly beneficial if you are looking for a career as a manager in any company. If you are looking forward to working with foreign collaborations, then this university provides a wide variety of courses.