Admission Journey: How Prateek got into University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Studyabroad.shiksha.com got in touch with one of the students – Prateek and learned about his experiences in how he got into the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow for Ph.D. in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Q. Tell us about the course you are pursuing at your college/university abroad.

Prateek: I am pursuing my Ph.D. in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

Q. Please give details about your academic and professional profile.

Prateek: Work experience

Academic Qualifications

Q. How tough it is to get into this university? What does the university expect in a prospective student’s profile?

Prateek: Personally, the most difficult part of getting into a university like Strathclyde is finding funding towards tuition fees and living expenses. I was lucky enough to have the university scholarship towards my tuition fees and department scholarship for my living expenses (partial).

For a Ph.D. entry, having some good research experience with quality publications will make the entry process easy. The student also has to qualify the English requirements set by the university. It’s quite easy for someone if he already has external sponsorship otherwise it is difficult to enter if the candidate is having some financial limitations. Sometimes, the academic faculties may have some active projects which can sponsor the students.

Similarly, for the MS courses, the university expects the minimum English and strong academic qualifications for the entry purpose.

Q. Why did you shortlist this university? What parameters did you take into account when making the final decision? Which other school admits did you receive?

Prateek: I applied to the many UK, Italian and Australian universities and I received the offer letter from Liverpool University, University of Birmingham, Swansea University, University of Technology Sydney, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna and the University of Strathclyde. However, the reason for joining Strathclyde was, I got a supervisor having the same working area that I used to work, and secondly, my present research is fully sponsored so it made me choose it over other universities.

Q. What all exams did you appear to get into this university? How did you prepare for these exams?

Prateek: I only appeared to the IELTS exam and I prepared on my own to clear the exam.

Q. When and How did you apply to this college/university? How long did it take from application to admission?

Prateek: I contacted the supervisor around May 2018 and after getting shortlisted; I applied to the university in June-July 2018 and joined in September 2018.

Q. How much did the admission/application process cost? How did you arrange for funds? Did you get any loan or Scholarship? Does your university offer scholarships to overseas or Indian students?

Prateek: My tuition fees are fully covered under project funding of my supervisor for three years so I need not apply for any extra scholarships. And, along with that, I am getting a partial finding of 4000 GBP per annum towards my living expenses and rest I am managing of my own.

Yes, the university has some scholarship provisions for the internal students and it varies from department to department.

Q. Did you avail of services of any study abroad agent for admission related help – SOP/LOR/Essay/Visa, etc?

Prateek: I prepared the research proposal with the help of my supervisor and our department administrative coordinator helped me out during all my application process. Globalreach assisted me for my visa processing work.

Q. How has your study abroad experience been so far in your chosen college? What are the top 3 things you like about your college and 3 things you wish were better?

Prateek: The experience has been really good and I am enjoying my research here.

3 things I like:

• Research-oriented environment and facilities
•  Cooperative faculties
•  Library facilities

3 things you wish were better:

• More large-scale experimental setup can be introduced
• University lab assesses time can be increased
• Some more licensed software may be introduced

Q. Your advice to study abroad aspirants wanting to get into your course/college? What worked for you?

Prateek: For MS aspirants I will suggest applying for the available scholarships (university offerings as well as external funding) and for the Ph.D. candidate I will suggest having some good research background with quality publications to make the selection process easy.

My research publications helped me out to get into college.

Studyabroad.shiksha.com wishes Prateek a prosperous career.