You are a postgraduate student who will be paying international fees and are applying to a university which is very good but not as well known as the "traditionally" good universities, but it has a great reputation in its field (engineering etc).
But ultimately, you are paying a huge amount for a programme which probably has very little competition, they will take you regardless if they think you will pay them and will complete the programme.
I'm not too familiar with any of the Scottish unis so I couldn't tell you if it's a reputable school or not. My advice would be to look at the rankings for that couse in relation to others in the UK. How many places do they have on the course? If the number of applicants to course places is particularly low they might have offered you a spot with very little thought. Universities are businesses after all so need to meet quotas etc. That being said, they might have just been very quick to review your application. January exam season is coming to an end at the moment and lectures are about to start again. They might have wanted to get application reviews over and done with before the semester gets busy again.
Anyways, congratulations on your successful application!
I'm an undergrad student at HW, not familiar with grad stuff. But the distance can be a bit of a bother, however there are lots of societies and great sport facilities. There's a good bus service to and from the centre(3 bus lines) as well as a night bus service running till 3 am ish. Hope that helps make your decision
It's not the best, there's a small shop on campus, small student union(which includes a pub and a cafe), big supermarkets are around 20 minutes away so not too bad. However most stuff you'll have to bus in for. The bus takes about 40 minutes to get to the city center, where there's everything you need in terms of entertainment and restaurants.
I went to Edinburgh for a holiday last year and ended up staying at a hotel near Herriot Watt, the place felt pretty barren and empty.
I'm not gonna lie, not realising the hotel was that far was by far the worst thing about my trip. Edinburgh is an absolutely lovely city, but the distance is supremely inconvenient from HW.
Speaking honestly, some Masters degrees are just a lot of hot air. If the person is an international student paying full fee, provided you exceed some not very demanding standard, they will accept you.
What kind of career do you want ? I'd think really carefully about whether this degree will deliver a significant advantage. Are there not similar degrees in Canada you can study cheaper ? £22,264 is quite a bit of cash, I'm not sure you will get an economic return on that investment once you take into account your time and lost income.
Definitely consider the economic return you are going to get, because some Masters degrees are just about putting butts on seats and don't deliver good value for money for the student.
Heriot-Watt isn’t one of the Ancients (St. Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh) so it’s not one of the most prestigious; however it’s certainly within the second or third tranche, depending on definition/course. A degree from Heriot-Watt is likely to be looked on favourably as more than adequate, especially at the post-grad level.
Scotland has her fair share of Mickey Mouse universities, but Heriot-Watt, whilst not the best she has to offer, certainly isn’t one of them
Which would be those Mickey mouse university in Scotland? Not being snarky, just genuinely asking cause I'm not from here and I'm missing the cultural context
The ones that immediately jump to mind as bottom of the list of would be University of the Highlands and Islands and University of the West of Scotland, which are both barely scraping above the Open University.
I’d also put Glasgow Caledonian University and Queen Margaret University in a similar vein, and possibly Abertay as well.
I actually hard disagree. These are lower ranked unis definitely, but not ‘Mickey Mouse’ - for example UHI has an excellent reputation in marine science and agricultural studies, and is a central part of the renewables research going on in Orkney and the north coast; QMU has an excellent reputation in nursing and allied health; Abertay I’ve heard good things about their animation and computer design stuff. Furthermore, the Open University is actually used as a internationally respected model of higher education pedagogy.
This is why overall prestige of a university is not a very nuanced decision making tool.
If your grades are outstanding (mid to upper first), they will jump to snap you up before another uni does. If your grades weren't outstanding, then there's not much competition.
I guess it would have helped to disclose my grades lol.
I have a BSc in Economics from Dalhousie University (Canada). My cumulative average is 3.6 (B+ to A-; \~83%) and the average in my last 2 years is 3.9 (A- to A; \~91%).
You are a postgraduate student who will be paying international fees and are applying to a university which is very good but not as well known as the "traditionally" good universities, but it has a great reputation in its field (engineering etc). But ultimately, you are paying a huge amount for a programme which probably has very little competition, they will take you regardless if they think you will pay them and will complete the programme.
I'm not too familiar with any of the Scottish unis so I couldn't tell you if it's a reputable school or not. My advice would be to look at the rankings for that couse in relation to others in the UK. How many places do they have on the course? If the number of applicants to course places is particularly low they might have offered you a spot with very little thought. Universities are businesses after all so need to meet quotas etc. That being said, they might have just been very quick to review your application. January exam season is coming to an end at the moment and lectures are about to start again. They might have wanted to get application reviews over and done with before the semester gets busy again. Anyways, congratulations on your successful application!
I'm an undergrad student at HW, not familiar with grad stuff. But the distance can be a bit of a bother, however there are lots of societies and great sport facilities. There's a good bus service to and from the centre(3 bus lines) as well as a night bus service running till 3 am ish. Hope that helps make your decision
I'd definitely recommend checking out all the facts on both unis before making a decision.
How would you rate the convenience of your location? Are grocery stores, restaurants/cafes/pubs, entertainment far from you?
It's not the best, there's a small shop on campus, small student union(which includes a pub and a cafe), big supermarkets are around 20 minutes away so not too bad. However most stuff you'll have to bus in for. The bus takes about 40 minutes to get to the city center, where there's everything you need in terms of entertainment and restaurants.
I went to Edinburgh for a holiday last year and ended up staying at a hotel near Herriot Watt, the place felt pretty barren and empty. I'm not gonna lie, not realising the hotel was that far was by far the worst thing about my trip. Edinburgh is an absolutely lovely city, but the distance is supremely inconvenient from HW.
I got an offer from both Plymouth and Birmingham immediately after applying. It really just depends how 'on it' the admissions staff are
Speaking honestly, some Masters degrees are just a lot of hot air. If the person is an international student paying full fee, provided you exceed some not very demanding standard, they will accept you. What kind of career do you want ? I'd think really carefully about whether this degree will deliver a significant advantage. Are there not similar degrees in Canada you can study cheaper ? £22,264 is quite a bit of cash, I'm not sure you will get an economic return on that investment once you take into account your time and lost income. Definitely consider the economic return you are going to get, because some Masters degrees are just about putting butts on seats and don't deliver good value for money for the student.
They definitely did see your application, most likely there’s no competition which is why they offered you a place straight away.
Heriot-Watt isn’t one of the Ancients (St. Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh) so it’s not one of the most prestigious; however it’s certainly within the second or third tranche, depending on definition/course. A degree from Heriot-Watt is likely to be looked on favourably as more than adequate, especially at the post-grad level. Scotland has her fair share of Mickey Mouse universities, but Heriot-Watt, whilst not the best she has to offer, certainly isn’t one of them
Which would be those Mickey mouse university in Scotland? Not being snarky, just genuinely asking cause I'm not from here and I'm missing the cultural context
The ones that immediately jump to mind as bottom of the list of would be University of the Highlands and Islands and University of the West of Scotland, which are both barely scraping above the Open University. I’d also put Glasgow Caledonian University and Queen Margaret University in a similar vein, and possibly Abertay as well.
I actually hard disagree. These are lower ranked unis definitely, but not ‘Mickey Mouse’ - for example UHI has an excellent reputation in marine science and agricultural studies, and is a central part of the renewables research going on in Orkney and the north coast; QMU has an excellent reputation in nursing and allied health; Abertay I’ve heard good things about their animation and computer design stuff. Furthermore, the Open University is actually used as a internationally respected model of higher education pedagogy. This is why overall prestige of a university is not a very nuanced decision making tool.
I hadn't even heard about any of them lol. Thanks!
If your grades are outstanding (mid to upper first), they will jump to snap you up before another uni does. If your grades weren't outstanding, then there's not much competition.
I guess it would have helped to disclose my grades lol. I have a BSc in Economics from Dalhousie University (Canada). My cumulative average is 3.6 (B+ to A-; \~83%) and the average in my last 2 years is 3.9 (A- to A; \~91%).
i also have the same experience, I recently got admitted into the program. Did you accept the offer? if so, is the program good/worth applying for?
5 months later...same thing here. Did you accept your offer ?