By Yueh-Ting, MSc International Management and Marketing
As an international student, when I apply to universities, the first thing I consider is the reputation. The University of Sheffield is one of the top 100 universities in the world, and it has many facilities to support students, both academically and in leisure.
The Students Union has been rated as the best student union in the UK. Therefore, the university is a very attractive choice.
In addition, the Master programmes in the UK are one year long, which is shorter than many other countries. Although this means that classes can be more intensive and the pressure might be higher, students can study effectively and move to the next stage of life quickly.
Another personal reason is that the Management School offers scholarships for Taiwanese students nominated by National Cheng Kung University. I’m grateful to participate in this programme. As my undergraduate degree from National Cheng Kung University is in Accounting, I wanted to combine new areas of study into my Masters qualification. The International Management and Marketing (IMM) programme provides both management and marketing knowledge, making it an attractive choice for me.
In the first semester, we studied with Marketing Management Practice (MMP) & Global Marketing Management (GMM) students. Each course offers a two hour lecture and a one hour seminar per week. The lectures about marketing are interesting because teachers use real-life stories to explain theories and the theories about marketing usually relate to psychology. To me, learning these things seems like learning about people, including myself. In the seminar, student’s group together to discuss case studies with the knowledge we learned from the lecture, academic papers, and textbooks. Also, we practice presentations in seminars, which is very important for growing our skills for the workplace.
Another benefit of studying in Sheffield University Management School (SUMS) is the Employability Hub which organises events for students to enhance their connections with the real business world and elevate transferable skills, such as networking and how to deal with interviews. In addition, students can apply for a company project for their dissertation, which offers a fabulous chance to contribute their academic knowledge to solving real business issues.
As for the city, Sheffield is a big and safe city. The living costs are also relatively lower than other cities in the UK, and much cheaper than London. It is easy for students to buy daily essentials in the supermarkets around the corner from the Management School, such as Tesco and Sainsbury. Or we can easily take the tram or walk to Sheffield City Centre. It is very convenient.
These reasons above are what attracted me to apply to the University of Sheffield and the International Management and Marketing programme. There are still many things making me enjoy my life in Sheffield; for example, making many new friends from different areas. I really recommend international students to apply to Sheffield University Management School and join the big family!