What Students Say
Likes
- The Campus is huge and reminds one of a beautiful city castle.
- The library is massive, and one can find texts you usually will not find otherwise.
- There is good amount of greenery and students can sit anywhere in the campus.
Dislikes
- One of the buildings is extremely confusing to navigate and finding my way to class was a task.
- The distance between buildings felt like a brisk walking marathon to get there just in the nick of time.
- Winter was a hassle because walking took much longer than usual and the slopes and stairs get too slippery to make it to class in time.
Course Curriculum
8
- It is a mix of theoretical and practical. The course module in itself is designed in a way that there is a lot of self-study done in order for one to familiarize themselves with the course system and ways of writing assessments. Difficulty level: 8.5/10
- Positive aspects: massive coverage of concepts
- Negative aspects: 1 year is not enough to understand it all. Felt like a crash course.
- My classes were scheduled for 4 days a week. 10 am - 12 pm were morning classes, and 2 pm - 4 pm covered the afternoon classes in the first semester. The second semester had classes for 2 hours, followed by a lot of coding practice for statistics and self-study at the library.
- 30 students in the class, 3 Indians, including myself.
Admission Experience
- I applied to 3 colleges as listed below:
- The University of Edinburgh - Rejected
- Queen's University Belfast - Admitted
- University of Stirling - Rejected
- I received a confirmed application from Queen's University Belfast, which happened to be my second preference of college
- The University of Edinburgh rejected my application because I had not reached their academic target
- University of Stirling rejected my application as I did not have all the qualifications required
- I chose this college over others because I was drawn to the campus, the course module, and the professors were very warm and welcoming as I asked many questions to them, even as I was researching through colleges to attend.
- I had to write my SOP and get 3 references from my undergrad university.
- The eligibility criteria for me were to come from a zoology, biology, or psychology background. I was asked to take my IELTS English test, and the minimum score required is 7.0 for post-grad courses.
- My admission experience was very smooth, and I heard back from the college much faster than the rest of them I had applied to. However, the user interface that college students use can be much better in terms of accessibility. It takes a few tries before one gets the hang of it.
- I applied for the 2022-2023 intake. The course modules of my course I had applied for played a huge role in why I apply to Queen's University, Belfast. It resonated with me, and it was exactly what I was looking for in terms of academic growth.
- The admission process took long if I go back to when I started writing my SOP and papers in order, so the process could be seamless from my end. I started prepping a year in advance while working a job on the side and taking my IELTS tests. For the application itself, I took an extra 3 days to finally hit the submit button, making sure I had filled it out properly. Post which, within 2 weeks, I received a response from the college saying I have been accepted.
Faculty
10
- My intake for the course in 2022 had only 30 vacancies, and we had 4 main facilitators throughout the course who also taught us multiple components, which really helped maintain the comfort and accessibility of our professors all year round. It was quite easy to connect with them in person or over a call.
- The teaching methodology has different approaches from each professor I have had, but it was explained in layman's concepts, and they had a lot of patience, going over the same topic, we did not understand, over and over again. I would agree that the course content and teaching approach were sufficient in securing a job because now I do exactly what I learned in my course. I work as an educator and as enrichment head coordinator with more focus on target training and enrichment for sloth bears. However, it does take time to get to doing what you have learned and doing extra courses and hours of volunteering/interning helps land more jobs in this field.
- In my experience, they do give our references to people they know within their network or give the student a teacher reference, so it accelerates the job-finding process for us.
- The faculty member I admire the most is Dr Hansjoerg Kunc. I was able to connect with him on a deeper level when it came to working with animals, and he was very supportive of the research project I was to undertake. His words of encouragement took me a long way, and now I work with the same animals I did my research on.
Campus Life
10
- There is one big campus, followed by different buildings across the university roads, which is a good walk from each class, as it is fully spread out across the area the university is in.
- We have the library, student union - which has a big space, a cafe in the library and lots of vending machines. The GP is available within the campus as well.
- The student union hosts a lot of game nights and trivia nights at the pub, and there are a lot of events that happen across the city, including club-themed nights and drag nights. Lots of cool exposure in the so-called student city
- I do not remember much, but the SU president always sends out newsletters regarding upcoming events at the university.
Part Time Jobs
- Bartender, barista, and cashier are some of the examples. Hourly wages in 2022 were 10.50 pounds and increased to 11.50 pounds the following year. It increases on a yearly basis.
- I do not remember the hours, but it was fewer than 20 hours.
- It is easy to get jobs through references, but without them, it is very hard.
- Indian students earn the same hourly wages as anyone else who works part-time. With the recession and the cost of living being high, finding part-time work is a task due to the high number of applications, and you need to stand out unless you go through a reference. Students do walk-ins and hand their CV, or they can apply on platforms such as Indeed and Glassdoor.
Placement
8
- I am not aware of any data as such, but a quarter of my class were employed in the first 6 months of completing the course in the field of animal behavior and welfare
- I work in India now, so about 4.5-5 lacs for a fresher and 6.7-8lacs for a senior role
- Campus recruitments certainly help and work along with campus placements and work placements that the course helps you with. Having a work placement officer also helps widen one's job search, as there are weekly calls scheduled with her. Platforms like Indeed, NI gov's website, and Glassdoor work too
- I cannot remember where my classmates work, but I work for India's 3rd largest animal NGO.
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- I found my accommodation on local websites in Belfast. I also joined a lot of Facebook groups to find housing and accommodations.
- My monthly rent for the first two houses I lived in was 450 pounds. The last house I stayed in, I paid 300 pounds, excluding bills.
- My advice, be on the lookout for rooms and houses that are listed closer to college, as the prices are more affordable in that range.
- My accommodation was 15 minutes from college and then 5 minutes by walk towards the end of my course year.
- Most Indian students live around the city center.
Exams
- My college takes spoken English and written English eligibility very seriously, as it is a part of the papers/certifications one has to submit. IELTs are compulsory, or TOEFL (any test that says you can comprehend English) is a requirement.
- I was required to submit 1 SOP, 3 LORs, 1 fully updated CV from my end, along with my 10th and 12th marksheets.
- No, an interview was not part of my application process.
Fees
- I do not remember the fees.
- I do not remember but I think all options of payment are available based upon the list given.
- I used to spend about 700 pounds to pay for my rent, utility bills and groceries. But one way I could save up on the groceries was by relying on the pantry system the university has which is very helpful for international students.
Scholarship
- Yes, I received an in-house scholarship given by the college. But there are many extended scholarships available otherwise.
- I had to pay half of the tuition fee only. I do not remember the exact amount.
- Yes, some did.
- I am not aware of the number. The numbers keep varying depending on how many students can apply for said scholarships, and the awarded amounts vary, too.
