By working through the questions here and looking at the detailed information about each university and programme that is available on websites and in prospectuses you should be able to identify a list of between one and ten programmes you would like to apply for. So how do you apply for a place on the programmes of your choice?
Each university has its own admissions system for postgraduate programmes, and you will have to apply separately for each university. There is no limit to the number of programmes or universities you can apply to, but it is difficult to apply to more than between 5 and 10 because of the time it takes to complete the applications. All universities have their own official application form that you will need to complete fully. Some universities deal with applications centrally for the whole university, while others deal with applications in the faculty or department that you are applying to. Some have application forms available on their website, and some are now able to accept forms that have been submitted electronically. This means that you need to check the exact system for each university. The list that follows, however, indicates the steps you need to take to apply for most postgraduate programmes.
1 Study the website of the universities you are interested in applying to, and also study carefully the printed prospectus (catalogue) for each one. Some universities have their prospectus on their website, but for others you will need to look at a hard copy version. You can obtain the prospectus by:
• Ordering one online through the website.
• Writing to or e-mailing the postgraduate admissions office.
You can also look at the prospectus in the library of many organisations – for example, the British Council offices, the library or careers office of your university or language school. This will provide you with the information you need on the application procedure for that particular university.
2 Decide who you are going to ask to be your referees, and ask them if they are willing to do this. Respectfully check that they are not going to be away at the time any request for a reference may come to them, and also remind them of the need to respond quickly to a reference request.
3 Complete an application form and send it to the university you are applying to, using the system it describes on their website or in their prospectus. You need to do this very carefully, because if you forget to send a document that they are asking for then this could delay the processing of your application. The key documents are likely to be:
• The application form itself, which has been completed and signed by you.
• Evidence of your qualifications – copies of your degree certificates or transcripts and your English language qualifications: if these are not in Roman script (for example, if they are in Chinese or Urdu or Cyrillic script) then you will need to send a translation of your certificate with an official certificate indicating the translation is correct.
• Details of your referees: this may simply be their contact details, but it may be the references themselves.
4 You should receive an acknowledgement from the university when they receive your application, and some indication of how long it will be before you hear from them again.
5 If you are already living in the UK or are going to visit the UK then the university may ask you to an interview. Some universities will also interview postgraduate applicants either by telephone or video link if that can be arranged. The advantage of an interview is that it gives you the opportunity to find out more about the course and the university but also about the academic staff who you will be working with.
6 Finally, you will need to decide which university offer you wish to accept. If you have several offers then you will be able to choose which one best matches your needs and interests. When you have decided you need to inform the university of your choice, but you also need to inform those universities whose offers you will not be accepting, because this means that a place on a programme could then be offered to somebody else. A common problem that universities complain of is that applicants do not tell them if they are rejecting an offer. When the UK government’s new visa regulations are introduced (probably in 2008, see Immigration and visas) you will have to choose the offer you wish to accept before you apply for a visa as you will only be issued a visa to come to the UK to study one specific programme.
|
