Sai Krishna shares his experience of applying to Swansea University, UK: Shiksha Success Stories

Q. Tell us your name, which city you are based, and what are you currently doing?

Sai Krishna: My name is Sai Krishna and I am from Gunter in Andhra Pradesh. I have completed my undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering in 2020. Currently, I have planned to pursue my higher education abroad. 

Q. Why did you pick studying abroad over studying in India?

Sai Krishna: Personally, studying abroad has multiple benefits over studying in India. Studying abroad will allow me to choose from a slew of courses that may not be available in India. The study programmes and course modules followed by universities abroad will also be different from universities in India. Interaction with students from various cultures and countries, the teaching methods, and the exam evaluation process are all going to be unique experiences while studying abroad.

Finally, being part of such an exceptional education ecosystem will allow me to have a beneficial learning approach to the education system followed abroad which will only benefit me in my future endeavours. Hence, I think studying abroad will be beneficial in the long run as compared to pursuing a master's in India.

Q. Which course and country did you choose and why?

Sai Krishna: Well, I have chosen to pursue Masters's in Engineering, Leadership, and Management from Swansea University in the UK. Since, I have pursued Mechanical Engineering for my undergraduate studies, opting for core subjects during my master's would severely limit my job search. Hence, including management subjects in my master's would prove to be beneficial during my employment search. This combined with my core mechanical skills would only prove to be beneficial in multiple ways. This is why I have opted for Masters in Engineering, Leadership and Management.

Q. Once you were sure of going abroad to study, how did you research the application process?

Sai Krishna: Well my research process has been elaborate, to say the least. Based on factors such as course content, program modules, teaching methods, the possibility of higher education, and employability I shortlisted my preferred course: Masters in Engineering, Leadership, and Management. Based on my selection, I went on to shortlist countries and selected my preferred country, the UK.

Once I was sure about the course and country of study. I started my search for my university based on university ranking, ease of application process, scholarships and tuition fees. I also paid attention to the course modules as different universities would opt for different modules. After considering all the elements, I finally shortlisted a single university, Swansea University to pursue my Masters's in Engineering, Leadership, and Management.

Q. What is your profile (academics, test scores, work experience etc.), and which all universities did you apply to?

Sai Krishna: As informed earlier, I have completed my under graduation in Mechanical Engineering with a 7.7 CGPA. I have attempted the IELTS exam as part of my studying abroad admission process and got an IELTS band score of 7. My work experience includes having undertaken two internships, one with Royal Enfield and the second with MG Motors. The universities that I applied to as part of my master’s application process are the following, Swansea University, Aston University, Nottingham Trent University, University of Portsmouth, University of Lincoln, Aberystwyth University, and Brunel University London.

Q. How was your experience with Shiksha Counseling Team? How did you discover us?

Sai Krishna: I came across the Shiksha Counselling Services when I was searching for various courses and universities for studying abroad. I registered on their website and requested a callback. I received a call back shortly on registration and I was assigned a Study Abroad Counsellor, Deepika Mittal, to assist me with the entire process. She was very responsive in her approach and responsible when it came to handling my application process.

She got all the documents required and guided me through the application process. She also informed me of funding options and necessary documents required for the application process like Letter of Recommendation (LORs) and Statement of Purpose (SOPs) and how to get ready for the visa application process.

Q. Which all universities did you get admission to? Did you receive any scholarships?

Sai Krishna: I had applied to a total of seven universities and I got admission to all seven of those universities. However, I went on to select Swansea University and applied to scholarships only from this university. Initially, I received a scholarship of £3,000 under the Swansea University Thrive Bursaries initiative. Later, I received a second scholarship of £4,000 under the International Excellence Scholarships. I was asked to choose from the two and I opted for the latter.

Q. Please share your journey while applying abroad?

Sai Krishna: I was thoroughly guided by my counsellor, Deepika Mittal. I had provided her with my documents and she did all the background work leading up to my application process. She informed me about funding options and documents like LOR and SOP that are an integral part of the admission process, which I had to submit. Based on my profile evaluation they shortlisted a set of universities based on my preferred course. I applied to seven universities from the list and I got admitted to all seven universities in a matter of two weeks. Based on factors such as university ranking and programme curriculum, I went on to apply to Swansea University. So once I decided to go to a particular university, my counsellor guided me to apply for different scholarships available for international students in that particular university.

Q. What do you think was the most challenging part of applying to universities abroad?

Sai Krishna: Honestly, nothing was challenging because I was guided at each and every process by an industry expert. The major part of your application process is handled by the counsellor as they have been in the business for several years. During my admission process. I also wanted to apply for my UK Student Visa. So once I got my admission letter from the university I decided to apply for a study visa to the UK. I informed my counsellor, who arranged all the necessary documents as part of the visa application process. She got the document checklist in order and all I did was pay the required student visa application fee. Later she guided me in the visa process through a mock visa application round that I could face at the visa center. My UK Study Visa process including biometrics was completed within 15 working days and I got my UK Study Visa.

We at Shiksha would like to wish him all the best in his future endeavors.