What Students Say
Likes
- Range of dissertation subjects to choose from and work on, giving hands on exposure to research techniques.
- Faculty experience and knowledge.
- The vast opportunity to engage with activities.
Dislikes
- Limited time during labwork to actually gain an insight into everything.
- Limited role of the university in helping bag a job.
- Slight scope for improvement in some coursework.
Course Curriculum
8
- The difficulty level was as expected for a master's degree in a highly academic and research-oriented environment. The coursework was a mix of theoretical and practical work with the dissertation component focusing a lot on the practical nature of what we learned. The dissertation was the most imperative and positive experience for me with a high learning curve. The curriculum is concise but well designed. It gives an overview of everything that one needs to know before diving into working in the field. However, there was no exposure directly from the university.
- As for research experience, because we are bound to work on our dissertation projects, we do gain research experience. Typically 0-2 classes are scheduled per day. Timings are no earlier than 9 AM and no later than 5:30 PM as the ending time. If reached out, the career cell helps with the various services and the faculty may help if they have suitable networks. But mostly, it's the student's responsibility to find a job.
Tips to enhance your application
- IELTS is required. GRE or others are not required but if taken, their scores may be submitted. Other documents that are necessary include SOP, LORs and CV.
- My LoRs were completely written by my professors who directly submitted it to the university. For SoP, I mentioned my background, what led me to apply, the areas I'm passionate about, why I see University of Edinburgh as the suitable place for me, how I think I might be a good fit, and how I wanted to use my skill sets in the future. My CV is a standard CV which lists my basic skills, my educational background, my research and work experience, my projects/internships and some of my achievements/leadership roles.
Admission Experience
- I applied to various colleges before I got into University of Edinburgh:
University of Edinburgh- admitted
University of Sheffield- admitted
Vanderbilt Peabody College- admitted
University of Sussex- admitted
Birkbeck, University of London- admitted
City, University of London- admitted - Owing to the research environment, facilities, ranking and the city itself, I chose the University of Edinburgh. I applied for the 2023 intake and that was based on me having worked for 2 years after my UG and considering it as a good time to go for my master's. The admission process took about 4-5 months from me applying somewhere in Sept-October 2022 and getting accepted in January 2024. Overall, I'm satisfied with the experience and the exposure I'm getting. The discussions and learning in such an environment are nourishing but a lot of it has to be self-driven to make the most out of it because otherwise the offerings can feel limiting at times.
Faculty
8
- My class had a batch size of about 25 students. In my course, there were a total of 3 Indians, including myself. Since the batch size was tiny, the faculty-to-student didn't matter that much but even if much bigger sessions, the ratio was pretty good, it is usually 1:25 on an average. For example, bigger labs would have 1 experienced TA for every 5-7 students. Depending on how much initiative a student takes the make the most of the one year of learning, the learnings can be put to good use for securing and doing well in a job. However, the student must be motivated enough to put in that effort. Faculty members who enable first-hand experience and push students to engage in rich and stimulating conversations are the ones I enjoyed the most.
Campus Life
8
- The University is a city University so it has multiple buildings spread all over the entire city of Edinburgh. It won't be possible to provide a list of locations as it is massive. There is a vast range of facilities including various study hubs, libraries, gym centres, sports centres and so on. Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the biggest festival that happens in Edinburgh and also takes place in the University buildings.
Part Time Jobs
- RA and TA jobs are not easy to get as master's students as they are mostly taken by PhD students. However, other on-campus jobs include opportunities like Library assistant. Usually, the hourly wage is 11-12 GBP. Maximum working hours during term-time is 20 hours per week. It is not very easy to secure campus jobs as there are several students with varied experience applying for those jobs.
- There is a huge mix of ethnicities and every student irrespective of ethnicity is located in various areas across the student, so it is not easy to answer ethnicity-specific questions for a huge city University like the University of Edinburgh.
- I'm working remote on a part-time voluntary, unpaid internship at the Institute for Neuromarketing based in Croatia. I mailed them to get in touch after which I had a series of tests and interviews to get the internship.
Placement
1
- The percentage varies from course to course. I don't have access to the information other than the one already available online. The same goes for the salary range. Students find jobs using campus portals and careers services' help, LinkedIn, reaching out to people, online platforms like Indeed, etc. We don't receive information about other students. There are no campus placements so companies don't hire directly from the campus.
Accommodation
Off Campus
7
- I found my accommodation using the University website. It was a University accommodation. The monthly rent was around 670 GBP for an en-suite room with a shared kitchen (shared among 11 people). Since I applied timely, I didn't find the process of finding accommodation challenging. However, if applied later, it can get pretty tough as flats in good locations go out pretty fast. So, my recommendation is to apply as timely as one can. Student accommodations also provide University-led teams that manage the property, which might help make the process easier. My accommodation was a 7-minute walk from my school's building. There is no specific region where most Indians stay and they are scattered across the city.
Exams
- The admission process included sending in IELTS and GRE scores as well as sending a well-structured SOP, which is the most important thing for most university applications. The eligibility criteria are different for different courses and also keep changing over time, so must be checked as per the year and school of application using their web pages. Overall admission process was smooth and timely, given that you applied early. Applying late may lead to challenges and delays, which can further impact the timelines of visa applications as well.
- My scores: IELTS 8.5; Class minimum score: IELTS 7. No other standardized test required. There was no interview round.
Fees
- Tuition fees- 28200, Accommodation fees- 8045.6.
- There are multiple ways to pay the fee. I pay the tuition fee in 3 installments and the accommodation fee in 10 installments. Other living expenses (excluding the above) would be around 400-500 GBP at max, but usually lower (around 300-400).
