After completing a bachelor’s degree in her home country, Russian national Anna Farafonova was keen to gain some international experience. This inspired her to attend the QS World Grad School Tour in St Petersburg, where she met the director of MSc programs from the UK’s Nottingham Trent University (NTU), who encouraged her to apply. Shortly afterwards, Anna received not only an offer of a place to study a Masters in Management at NTU’s Nottingham Business School, but also a scholarship covering 50% of the tuition fees. Here, she shares her success story and her advice for others seeking opportunities to study abroad.
Attending the QS World Grad School Tour
I obtained my bachelor’s degree in commerce with a marketing specialization at Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. To be honest, I can’t remember how I found out about the QS World Grad School Tour, but it was definitely through the internet. I was interested to study at British universities and I liked the idea that I would have an opportunity to talk to official representatives. This encouraged me to attend the exhibition.
As I expected, the most useful element was the opportunity to talk with the universities’ representatives. There was a chance to build a personal relationship with them and, consequently, this affected my experience of the application process positively. Moreover, I also liked the individual approach to students from the representatives’ side. They were all very supportive and did not just try to persuade you to apply to the university they represented. In addition, the event itself was very well organized and there were always people around who would guide you if you were lost and did not know where to go next.
Applying to Nottingham Trent University
I met the director of MSc programs of Nottingham Trent University during the QS World Grad School Tour event. His name was Alex Hiller, and he provided me with detailed information about the university. After I expressed my interest in a particular MSc program, Alex asked me to leave my contact details and to email him directly if I applied.
The next day I submitted all my documents online to Nottingham Trent University and emailed Alex. I received an offer in just two or three days. I was in touch with other administrative staff from the university, as well as Alex, and all were very helpful.
The key motivator for me was the content of the program at NTU, which included an applied consultancy project instead of a dissertation. I really liked the idea of getting work experience in the UK, and that encouraged me to apply.
A creative approach to the scholarship application
Additionally, Alex told me I could apply for the Nottingham Business School Scholarship, which would cover 50% of the tuition fees. In order to get the scholarship, I needed to prepare a list of documents (mostly the same documents as I needed to apply to any university).
The only thing which was different was the motivational letter. I had to answer the question of why I should be the scholarship-awarded student. I used my creativity to make it different and wrote a success story about me as a CEO manager, who was analyzing her career, highlighting how studies at Nottingham Trent University affected this. I believe it worked!
A chance to develop essential professional skills
I would describe my time at Nottingham Trent University in a simple phrase: time flies! I still cannot believe the year is over and all assignments submitted. The most useful skill for me was good time management. You study independently most of the time, and the course also includes a significant number of team projects.
I thought I knew a lot about working in a team, but this year changed my mind and provided me with invaluable experience related to this. However, the biggest challenge was the final consultancy project. My client was a clothing retailer which had 10 stores around UK. I had to use a high variety of research approaches and develop a marketing campaign at the end. This was a great opportunity to apply all my theoretical knowledge in practice.
I feel that I have grown as a professional. I gained experience in leading international teams and this affected me from a variety of angles. I learned how to build a strong team and encourage it through different stages. I cannot even explain all these elements because they are so complex! But because of the time, pressure, different cultures and different backgrounds, this was the most valuable experience of my life. It might sound silly, but I would say I never realized and experienced the meaning of teamwork before studying at NTU.
Advice for others planning to study abroad
The main advice I’d give to prospective international students is to realize what you really want. It sounds simplistic, but once you know what you are looking for, you will find a lot of opportunities to achieve it. Studying abroad is not a dream as it might be seen at the beginning. When you think only about studying abroad, this is very wide area to think about. Narrow it down. I started my preparation for studying abroad from making a decision about the type of course and the country.
Once I’d set up my orientation, I looked at the resources I had (money, experience, academic transcripts) and the resources I needed to achieve my goal. This helped me realize where there was a gap, and what I needed to find to enrol in my chosen university.
You only need to search for opportunities. There is no one way to find funding or any other study abroad opportunities. I know people who have got scholarships because they emailed a university at the right time. I know people who enrolled in a program with lower grades because they applied very early and did not have any competition. So, decide what you need to do and just do it.