Can you Study Abroad with Backlogs?

Students who have backlogs are often confused about where to study abroad, or whether go for it all or not. Backlogs are sure a dent in one’s academic journey, but a halt does not always mean a stop. So, what to do with the backlogs? Too little of them is not a problem, and it can be worked around, however, too many of them make it tough for you and the options are fewer then. Here are the options for the students who have backlogs and want to study abroad.

Backlogs and Studying Abroad:

Often students will be hesitant about applying abroad when they have a few backlogs, and do not have enough information on the universities and countries that accept the application with the backlogs. One has to keep in mind that the universities abroad which are highly ranked and has a very low acceptance rate will be extremely tough to get into, and the students will have to look for other universities than that are very prestigious and highly ranked. For most of the countries, the number of attempts is not counted as the number of backlogs, however. This means that if you clear a backlog in 3 attempts, it is still one backlog and if you clear 3 backlogs in one attempt, they are still three backlogs.

Here are some of the countries most preferred by the students, and how they are with the applications that have backlogs:

Study in Canada:

There is a long list of Canadian Universities accepting Backlogs for undergraduate studies. Remember that the evaluation of the application does not depend on how many backlogs do you have, but it depends on the overall profile. If one has secured good scores overall, has great IELTS scores, and is academically strong overall, you can apply for a bachelor’s in Canada. The average minimum requirement of the percentage will be 70% and the number of backlogs should not exceed 5 for a Canadian college which accepts backlogs.

For Masters in Canada, at least 60% to 65% is required to apply for postgraduate studies. The number of backlogs can go up to 10 to 12 backlogs if you are applying for Post Graduate Diploma in Canada. The universities only have authority to grant the degrees. So if you have a higher number of backlogs, for post-graduation, PG Diploma should be the way and not the universities. For other factors in deciding the PG Diploma and Masters in Canada, go through our guide: Which one is better to study in Canada: Masters or PG Diploma?

Universities Accepting Backlogs in Australia:

Remember when we said for most of the countries, the number of attempts is not counted as the number of backlogs? Well, Australia is an exception. The number of attempts is counted as the number of backlogs here. Go8 Universities are the most prestigious universities in Australia. Some of them accept the backlogs, in case the number of backlogs is under 3. How many Backlogs are allowed in Australia? For Private Australian Universities, the limit of the backlogs is however 7 to 8 backlogs. Australia is not very accepting of the backlogs, and it is tough to get into top universities here.

Study in Germany:

Just like Australia, Germany is one of the countries that counts the number of attempts as the number of backlogs. The universities are not very accepting about the backlogs. Top universities in Germany, along with many public universities would not accept students with backlogs. However, there are some institutions in Germany that accept applications of the students with 5 backlogs/attempts. A frequently asked question would be, how many backlogs are allowed for MS in Germany? The answer to this depends a lot on the type of university and profile of the students. Sometimes, having significant experience in the field of study helps.

Study in the USA with Backlogs:

Most of the Universities in USA prefer the applications with zero backlogs. As the US universities are already competitive, there are only a few universities accepting backlogs in USA. The top universities do not give preference to applications with backlogs. Apart from the top universities, some universities consider the applications with 5 to 8 backlogs. The higher the backlog count goes, one needs to score higher in the GRE. A number of universities in USA prefer high GRE scores, and if you have scored enough, the 5 to 7 backlogs can be accepted.

Study in the UK with Backlogs:

The United Kingdom is lenient with the backlogs when it comes to international students. Again, note that the most prestigious and influential universities will not accept the applications with backlogs. The other universities in the UK accept applications of the students even with a number of backlogs going as high as 15. As long as one has secured a good GRE score, and the profile is acceptable, backlogs are accepted in the UK.

Study in New Zealand:

The universities in New Zealand accept up to four backlogs from the international students. However, it is not always true. Some of them would not accept an application even with one backlog. The other institutions for higher education accept applications with more backlogs. For the students with backlogs, it is essential to score well in English language proficiency tests and have a strong background in other departments such as extracurricular activities.

Backlogs & Visa Interview:

Many of the students face a question: Is Visa rejected if there is More Number of Backlogs? To answer that in general, No. In most cases, if the university has accepted you for the program, the backlogs do not matter the visa officials. There might be a question on why you have so many backlogs and what was the reason behind it. If you are able to convince them with a genuine reason, there would be generally no problem in acquiring a visa. For Visa, the overall profile, and not just backlogs. If your profile is strong, you can get a visa without any significant hiccups.