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What Students Say
Likes
- A really interesting point about QUB was their engagement with students. my department, HAPP, often organised events to make sure the students are connected and remain cordial.
- Friendly and supportive professors that made the 3 years of the degree really enjoyable and less stressful
- Teaching assistants: our TA's would usually take non-lecture classes which were less formal and more interactive. this helped us students to clarify our doubts at a more relaxed pace.
Dislikes
- The university campus is spread on a vast broken up scale. there are many buildings that are in different locations so going from one location to another with 5 minutes in hand between classes was a big challenge at times.
- The unpredictable nature of the weather would really bring down the morale of many international students and also the will to go to classes in a sudden downpour. thw winters are also unbearable at times.
- My course, in my opinion, needs to be heavily decolonised. Majority of its content is western influenced and lacks diversity. Even in talking about political instabilities in countries, very less focus is on the eastern world.
Course Curriculum
8
- The course was not very difficult. it was majorly theoretical, given the nature of my degree. the involved PPT’s and lectures for the entirety.
- The good part was that the professors had academic understanding and knowledge which they imparted very easily on to us. The conceptual understanding and clarity was made pretty easy by the professors as they were pretty friendly. However, given that the theoretical nature of the course and the degree there was no hands on experience provided to the students and this made the course very redundant, making it a loop of lectures and classes without any break or change in scenario.
- My course had only four Indian students that I was aware of.
- However, in other courses, there was a biggest strength or a bigger intensity of Indian students in their batch.
Admission Experience
- I applied to various colleges.
- Initially, I planned on going to Australia and got accepted at Monash but due to pandemic lockdown rules, the university asked me to do some of my course online with no set guarantee of offline classes. My parents decided to not continue with this.
- Then I applied to the University of Glasgow and got accepted. However, they called me saying they did not have any seats left for my course and wanted me to take another one for a whole semester. I decided it would waste 6 months on a course that I was not interested in. so I discontinued.
- I also applied to the University of Strathclyde and they never responded to my application. I have zero clue as to why they did not respond. My application credentials were up to mark and I submitted all documents they asked me for.
- I think QUB stood out especially as a Russell Group University. The cost of living in Belfast is lower compared to cities like London and Manchester.
- The faculty seemed really nice when I attended an induction session.
- There were many Indians in the meeting, which made me realise that this university was not closed off to internationals.
- The admission process was very simple. We had to write one statement of purpose. After submitting the form and paying the fees, we had to wait for a month or two for them to revert.
- If you were a student of an English-medium school, you did not have to submit any IELTS or TOEFL scores.
- The overall process was pretty simple and after talking to my friends, they also admitted that none of them faced any issues other than the wait and anticipation of their response.
- The intake I took was the autumn one because that was the most popular one and the closest one for me.
- The entire process took around 2 months.I applied in the beginning of August. Got shortlisted within 2 weeks. Got in touch with their representatives.Kept in regular contact. Waited for my CAS form, which took 3-4 weeks.
- After I received it, the rest was smooth. i was basically enrolled in.
Class Schedule
8
- My classes were twice a week and my non-lecture classes were again twice a week. Each class was usually one hour long with exceptions of certain classes being two hours long. The usual timings would be in the morning. The classes arranged from 9 AM or they would begin either at two or 3 PM. Sometimes the tutorial classes, which were the non-lecture classes, would be somewhere around 4 PM and the final class would always end before 5 PM.
- This was, however, different for other courses. Some master's degree courses would even stretch up to 8 or 9 PM from what I’ve heard from my seniors and friends.
- My batch was a group of 200 to 300 students but we were divided into several other modules and separate classes. The strength of each class would vary completely depending on which students choose what course. Many times, there were at least 100 students in a class and sometimes only 50 or a handful. The classes or the classrooms would be designed to accommodate all students, but sometimes you would see some classes be a little smaller for the amount of students that were actually in the class.
Faculty
8
- The faculty-to-student ratio is 16, but in my opinion, that did not seem as big a number as a staff member was always available for you to help you. The quality of education and interaction did not really get affected, in my opinion, because the readiness of the professors and the faculty staff, especially the non-teaching staff, to help the students and be available at any given time, especially given the office hours.
- In my opinion, the teaching methodology needs a little bit of updating, as my course when I graduated until then was fully classroom-based; we need some more hands-on experience to explore the depth of our courses outside the classroom. With less hands on experience, the students are less prepared to face the job market and work in the actual formal sector. I think this needs to be updated with the current world, given the competitiveness of each field.
- The faculty member assists students in finding jobs because there are facilities in the student union body that provide you with opportunities, even since the university also employs students part-time in set hours. The university pay is often secure and the job is less stressful as compared to other part-time jobs that do not recognise the nature of a full-time student.
- Sharon Miller was my mentor of sorts in university. She really helped me in ways that I could not thank her enough for. I was a peer mentor in my third year and a student ambassador for the first two years and she has been coordinating that job for me for the entirety of my course. I became really comfortable with her and admired her as a mentor figure in my life.
- Prof. John Barry is another such person. he has been my professor for anthropology courses and environmental science courses. He has been someone who does not only teach for the motive of teaching but also to engage with students and making sure that the concepts have real life implications. He always helped the students beyond his university or a professional field. even today, I am connected with him and often look back at my time at the University. Thank these to individuals for making my time really enjoyable and less stressful.
Campus Life
8
- My university, divided into various campuses all over the city.
- There are many facilities available, such as libraries, sports facilities, and medical services. The library there are two libraries and the more popular one is McClay.
- Most students go to this library during their exam seasons and the library is open till late midnight and sometimes even 24 hours.
- The university provides membership to its own gym and sports facility called the PEC, and there is a high-class gym with lots of equipment or swimming grounds, badminton courts, tennis courts, and even rock climbing with a small coffee shop in it.
- The university also gives you medical services and membership, or even a general practitioner assigned to you throughout your course, you can avail yourself of the services by visiting the hospital with your student ID.
Part Time Jobs
- There are at least 26 residential assistants each year, but they extend to 52 overall at all the university accommodation sites. I am not sure about teaching, assistant research assistance, and departmental assistance positions and will not be able to comment on their pay range and other details.
- Many on-campus jobs are available, such as being a tour guide and telling your experience to other students who come for a day tour to explore the campus. It is pretty easy to secure a job on campus, but the competition is really high, so if you are on the laptop searching for a job, then you can apply, but the guarantee is not very high. The maximum hours of work for a job and international student can be 20 hours per week, but the university campus jobs only give you approximately 15 hours per week of work.
- Most Indians work in retail and as baristas. Some even do bartending jobs; it really depends on what jobs are available and what some students are willing to do. Many students even work in coffee shops such as Starbucks and grocery shopping centres. It is pretty difficult to get a job given the saturation of the job market and studying while working also becomes hectic because some managers expect students to work full-time rather than part-time. The application process is pretty simple. It involves filling out the form and answering whatever questions they ask you. The next step is usually after being shortlisted, being given an interview time Some prefer an interview in person, while others prefer doing it over Zoom or phone call my part-time job interview was done over a Zoom call . The next step is usually a trial shift for you to understand their day-to-day working. Some places even offer a week's worth of trials for you to understand their hectic work environment.
Placement
6
- I will not be able to comment on this, as such information is available online but not given to students, particularly.
- Average salary usually ranges from £18,000-£25,000 per year. It can depend and even increase to some fields, such as fields of medicine and biochemistry, and even engineering.
- Most students get their jobs from the job fairs in the university weeks before graduation and some good jobs from LinkedIn
Accommodation
Off Campus
6
- I opted for student accommodation in my first year since most international students opt for that and it’s a safe and secure environment. The university itself recommends international students take student accommodation provided by the university in the first year. Firstly, to engage with other students, and secondly, to adjust before they move out. The monthly rent was one £24 per week for the first year. It included a room with an attached bathroom and a common kitchen to share with the rest of your flatmate. The accommodation also had a social space call di treehouse where events were organised by residential assistants every day. In many events, he could do some activity and some also offered free food for the students. There were also free organised trips from the university for the accommodation students.
- A big challenge was not to find accommodation, but rather to do grocery shopping and cook for your own self, even though I used to do that back at home sometimes, but fully being able to manage three meals a day was a big challenge. I was fortunate enough to have found a friend in first year with whom I used to cook and go grocery shopping together.
- I would personally recommend students to bring a lot of spices. If you are an Indian and you like a certain Indian touch to your food, also bring some dry food that you will not be able to find abroad or something that is very specific to your taste. A skill that someone needs to learn before they move out is cooking something that you can prop up in less than half an hour. It is very important for being a student.
- In the second year, I was again in the same accommodation, but in the third year, I was in a private student accommodation, which had 195 GBP per week as its rent.
- My first year accommodation was around 30 to 40 minutes. A walk from my main campus and in my third year. It was around five-minute walk The distance of the accommodation really impacts your villain. Wish to go to a class. so picking and choosing your accommodation based on distance also becomes very important.
- Most Indians stay in my first-year accommodation, Els Village, in the first year, and then they disperse all over the city; some live in private houses and some go for different other accommodations.
Exams
- No exams were required for my degree other than high school graduation.
- Simple and basic documents like passport, aadhar cards, passport-size photos, mark sheets of class 10 and 12, etc.
- Other documents like SOP, LOR, and a CV were also a part.
- There was no interview for the application. The application just involved filling out the forms and submitting documents.
Events
6
- There are many facilities and events at the university throughout the year. They involve even international festivals such as Diwali and Eid.
Fees
- My course fees kept going up each year.
- Initially it was somewhere around 15,000-16,000 GBP after some application scholarships.
- It went up to 18k GBP till my final year.
- Accommodation prices also went up each year.
- My first-year accommodation was 124 GBP per week.
- In the second year it was free for me, as I was a residential assistant, in which your rent is free for the role you take.
- In my third year, I went to a private student accommodation that was 195 GBP per week.
- The rent in student accommodations is usually per week and leases are per month.
- The rent in student accommodations gets collected either all at once or per semester, depending on which accommodation you stay in.
- However, in the first year, they collected rent in 4 quarters in the entire year.
- The buses are pretty cheap. 1-2 GBP for a one-way ticket to a not-so-far-off location.
- The day pass, which gives you unlimited rides for a day, costs 3.5 GBP
- The groceries would cost me around 40-50 per week and even 100 sometimes, depending on how much I eat out.
- Eating out would cost at least 10 GBP for one meal if you include a drink.
- Monthly expenses would be around 200-300 per month, which is controlled yet relaxed and uncompromised spending.
Scholarship
- I got the international office scholarship for about 1000 GBP just for my first year. All international students for their first year mostly get this scholarship.
- One of my batchmate got India academic excellence scholarship too.
- There is no specific data for the number of students who get such scholarships open to students but I think the administration can provide such information on request.
