What Students Say
Likes
- - The competitive environment amongst the students, which makes any serious student motivated to study for longer period with a clear purpose in mind.
- - The beautiful historic walls of the 573-year old university.
- - The scenic landscape of gardens spread across the campus. It's preferable to carry a camera, or a good quality phone as there would be many captivating moments to capture while strolling across the campus
Dislikes
- - There are limited University accommodation facilities which are nearby to the university, as most of the available accommodation services are way far from the campus and require a transport to travel. So, it's better to book earlier in advance.
- - The weather can be depressing at times, with sudden rains and cold breeze.
- - During the months of November to January, there may be much less exposure of sunlight, with sun setting at around 3:30-4 pm itself. Due to which, I developed depressive thoughts during the initial days of stay, and had to eventually consult advice from the wellbeing team of the university, which later helped out significantly.
Course Curriculum
8
- The difficulty level of my course curriculum is pretty hectic, with lots of assessments and modules during the entire academic year. While my course has both content related to theoretical and practical stuff.
- The most positive aspect regarding my course is the various career opportunities that my course provides, while the negative aspects of my course include much part of self-study and very little integration of faculty diving deep into explaining the basic coding structure.
- There are around 2-3 classes scheduled in a day, with timings varying from 9 a.m. to 5pm. While each class consists of 2 hours.
- There are around 120 students in my class.
- There are around 25-30 Indian students enrolled in my course.
Admission Experience
- I had shortlisted around 8 UK universities, out of which I got offers from 7 of them and one rejection.
- I had received confirmed admissions from the University of Glasgow, the University of Bristol, Cardiff University, Queen Mary University of London, the University of Birmingham, Newcastle University and the University of Sheffield.
- I got rejected from the University of Leeds.
- The purpose of my rejection from the university was that they didn't find my undergraduate computer science modules relevant to pursuing a Masters degree in artificial intelligence.
- The main reason for choosing the University of Glasgow over others was better ranking and reputation, as my university comes under the Top 100 universities worldwide. And moreover, it is an ancient university that is more than 500 years old.
- The application process was pretty smooth, and I received a conditional offer in 40 days. After which, I had to pay an initial deposit payment of around £2,000 for booking the seat. Later, I had to submit my documents related to my English proficiency and undergraduate degree mark sheets. And eventually, I received my CAS document and unconditional offer letter within a week of submitting my documents.
- The eligibility criteria for the admission process was primarily a 60% in my undergraduate degree, with no more than 4 backlogs. And an English proficiency score in any one of the exams like IELTS Academic, TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic, Cambridge Proficiency in English (CPE) and Cambridge Advanced English (CAE).
- For IELTS, a minimum overall score of 6.5 is required, with either a writing score of 6.5 and no other modules less than 6.0 or a writing score of 6.0 and no other modules less than 6.5.
- For TOEFL iBT, a minimum overall score of 79 is required, with minimum scores of 21 in reading, 17 in listening, 18 in Speaking and 24 in writing, or scores of 19 in reading, 20 in listening, 20 in Speaking and 21 in writing.
- For PTE Academic, a score of 59 is required, with a minimum score of 59 in all subtests.
- For CPE/CAE, an overall score of 176 is required, with no subtests less than 169.
- For Oxford ELLT
- While the scores and eligibility criteria depend majorly on the type of course one desires to pursue.
- I haven't faced any kind of admission challenges during the entire process, and the process was pretty smooth.
- I have applied for the September 2024 intake, and the factors that influenced my decision are that September is the major intake for studying Masters in the UK, with better opportunities and facilities.
- The application process was pretty smooth, while I received a conditional offer in 40 days. After which, I had to pay an initial deposit, and later I had to submit my documents related to my English proficiency and undergraduate degree marksheets. And eventually, I received my CAS document and unconditional offer letter within a week of submitting my documents. As I had to wait for my undergraduate degree certificate and marksheets from my university to process, the timeline for the entire process took a bit longer, starting from the 1st week of April to the 3rd week of July.
Faculty
8
- The faculty-to-student ratio in my course is around 1:20, while the ratio doesn't vary significantly with respect to the quality of education.
- The teaching methodology is based on team-based interactions and online exams, while some are similar to the Indian approach to teaching. Yes, my course content is very relevant to prepare for securing a better job in my field.
- Yes, the faculty members assist the students in various ways, like advising several part-time job opportunities to apply for or attending various career fairs and creating a strong network with companies for a better full-time job later.
- There are some faculty members with an experience of around 15-20 years and their teaching methodology is so admirable. Some of the faculty members even hold a PHD degree from the University of Cambridge and UCL.
Campus Life
10
- My university has 3 campuses: Gilmorehill, Garscube and Dumfries. While Gilmorehill is the main campus.
- The facilities available in the Gilmorehill campus consist of 4 reading spaces: the James McCune Smith hub, the Fraser building, and the McMillan reading room, as well as the 13-floored university library with over 2 million+ books. There are medical facilities available in the Fraser building, while there are 2 major clubs like Glasgow University Union (GUU) and Queen Margaret Union (QMU), along with GUSA, which involves facilities related to sports within the campus.
- There are several campus events held within the university every month, along with the welcome week, Halloween, Diwali, and Christmas. While there are over 300+ clubs, and one can easily be a part of those groups.
- Sorry, but I couldn't manage to explore the extracurricular part of my campus precisely due to my packed academic schedule. There are around 300+ clubs and each club has their own set of events and extracurricular activities during the entire year. For an Indian, the GuDesi club is very important as they conduct several Indian cultural events.
Part Time Jobs
- The posts of teaching assistant and research assistant positions are only available for the PHD students.
- I have no clue about the pay range.
- Other on-campus jobs available for students include being a part of some club position or helping out with student support work. And the usual hourly wages are around £12.
- The maximum hours of work allowed per week is 20.
- It depends, majorly, on the portfolio and expertise to communicate and network in order to secure on-campus part-time jobs.
- Students from India generally earn around £10-13 per hour through part-time jobs, and it depends completely on what type of job one is applying for. The usual process involves submitting a CV and attending an interview session with the company manager. But yes, the process takes a lot of time to get a prior job application response. Majorly, students from India find delivery-type jobs much easier to manage.
Placement
10
- Around 94% secure employment within 6 months of course completion.
- The average salary range that most students can expect from my course upon graduation is from £30000-£45000.
- Students usually find jobs through networking at career fairs held by the university and attending company seminars and open events.
- Majorly, many of my batchmates have around 3-5 years of work experience as a software developer or tech-related aspects.
- Companies like JP Morgan, EY, and Deloitte hire graduates for my course.
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- I had applied for my accommodation through the university portal.
- The monthly rent of my accommodation is around £700, and the facilities include 24/7 water and electricity supply, Unlimited WIFI, ensuite bedrooms, common space for playing video games and a pool table.
- The challenges that I encountered while securing accommodation were the lack of multiple choices, as I was pretty late for the university accommodation application process.
- Yes, based on the quality and environment of the Blackfriars accommodation, I would definitely like to recommend my overview for future students seeking accommodation in Glasgow.
- My accommodation is around 3 km from the college campus, which is one of the major flaws for me. While most of the Indian students stay in my accommodation as it is nearby to the city centre.
Exams
- An English proficiency score in any one of the exams like IELTS Academic, TOEFL ibt, PTE Academic, Cambridge Proficiency in English (CPE) and Cambridge Advanced English (CAE) is required for admission in the university.
- Documents necessary to complete the admission process include a set of LORs, a CV, and a statement of purpose.
- No, there was no interview process during the application part.
Fees
- My tuition fees for the entire academic year are £31860, out of which I received a scholarship of £5000. So, my total tuition fees is £26860 for the entire year. And my hostel charges for the entire year are around £8400, while it depends majorly on the kind of room, location, and facilities.
- My fee payment type is a manual payment plan and my entire fee structure is divided into 8 installments, with each installment to be paid by the start of each month until the month of May. While there are several other methods available for paying the fees, like direct debit plans, bank transfers, and card transfers, it depends on each respective type.
- My monthly rent costs around £700, while my regular expenses cost around £250. To break down, my monthly transportation expense costs around £70, and my expenses on groceries cost around £130. The rest of the cost is mostly the other kind of expenses like clothing, entertainment, etc.
Scholarship
- I received the India Merit Award scholarship of £5000 for my course, and the eligibility criteria is 1st class marks in the undergraduate degree.
- The award amount of the scholarship was £5000.
- Yes, many of my batchmates from India received the India Merit Award scholarship, with some receiving the Global Leadership scholarship of an amount of £10000. But the eligible candidates for this scholarship are only 300.
- On average, almost all the students from India receive the India Merit Award scholarship, while the typical award amount may vary from £5000-£10000.
