We wanted to learn more about how international students make decisions, and how StudentCrowd can help. So we interviewed our fantastic Graphic Designer, Abel!
Abel applied to university before StudentCrowd was established. How did he decide what university to attend? Where did he look for information? And how could StudentCrowd have helped?
Abel answered all of these questions and more in his interview. Read it below:
My name is Abel and I am a Designer at StudentCrowd.
My journey to becoming a designer was not an overnight success. I made the decision to move abroad and attend university in a different country to pursue my passion.
I chose to study in the UK as it has some of the world's top universities. I had previously studied in an English school in Spain which meant I could do A-levels abroad and apply to UK universities.
English universities rank very high in the world. Their reputation, variety in courses, cultural diversity and future career opportunities are extremely attractive to young students. One that stood out to me was Loughborough University.
The government's student loan system meant I could afford to move abroad after meeting the UCAS entry requirements.
Lastly, undergraduate degrees typically take three years to complete, while postgraduate programs can be completed in one year. This allowed me to enter the workforce sooner.
I was extremely excited about studying design full-time and meeting people alike. I had visited the university's design and art school and I was extremely happy with the supportive environment students learnt in.
Selecting the right university and location felt like navigating a maze. Despite knowing that I wanted to study Graphic Design, I had so many questions!
I was concerned about the cold weather, the fewer hours of sunlight in comparison to Spain, even the catered hall’s food.
I looked at the top 10 ranked universities in the UK for art and design and aimed for those. I then visited my top 3 choices from my short-list. After visiting Loughborough, I was sure I was making the right choice.
UCAS.
I started thinking about universities and researching before choosing my A-levels, so for around 2 years whilst I completed my A-levels I kept researching and asking older students who had moved abroad.
Online, I mostly focused on UCAS, although I did look through various forums and websites to find real student testimonials about each university. At the time it was quite tricky. I also asked my school teachers and they put me in contact with a former student from my school who attended Loughborough University.
I checked university tables across multiple sites and for various types of rankings, i.e student satisfaction, future prospects, social experience, as well as entry requirements for each university.
I chose Loughborough University which ranked high on Art and Design and Sport, two of my passions. It also ranked high in student experience. It achieved top 7 in every national university league table, and top in the region.
I looked on online forums, Facebook groups and, lastly, on the university's website.
What was the campus atmosphere like? How was the local music scene? What were other students saying? Which hall was the coolest or most popular?
Looking back, I wish I had someone to guide me through the process. It would have saved me from conflicts, negative comments, headaches, and even a few injuries from playing football against my previous hall's team! But even if someone had offered guidance, why should I have trusted them?
Unfortunately, I did not have access to StudentCrowd at the time, and, after moving into my chosen hall, I quickly realised it was not the right fit for me. I ended up switching to a neighbouring hall due to issues with my flatmates and the hall atmosphere itself.
I found the information and reviews online about my preferred courses, facilities, clubs, and student union to be extremely helpful. It was crucial for me to have detailed information about the halls, especially since I was abroad. The transparency with which the hall offered rooms with prices, photos, location, and contact information really assisted me in making my decision.
I did visit the university to make the final decision on which hall I wanted to stay at — nothing compares to visiting the area yourself and getting a feel for the atmosphere on campus.
For me, the best parts were the value for money, social experiences, and location. I think the most important factor was definitely the value for money, along with the social experiences. The location wasn't a big deal since Loughborough is a small town and the halls are all close to each other on campus.
While studying abroad, I encountered challenges in obtaining accurate information about universities. Despite the appealing online presence of these institutions, it's important to look beyond their promotional materials. I took the initiative to explore multiple platforms like websites, Facebook groups, and forums to gather authentic feedback from current students. Consolidating all this data on a platform like studentcrowd would have made my research much more efficient.
I found the reviews online about my preferred courses, facilities, clubs and student union very useful, but they weren’t all in one place and they were not verified, so I would have definitely benefitted from a platform like StudentCrowd.
To learn more about StudentCrowd, visit our website today.