I got the acceptance from Glasgow University, Southampton University but what made me chose Edinburgh was the love for the city as well as the ranking of the University. Edinburgh stands 18th in the world (later moved to 16th) The climate of the city is chilly and rainy and apt for me. The course contents and the labs were really good.
Course Curriculum :
The course curriculum and the academics is good and is upto date with the current market trend- UK market. I did find it difficult to get a job in the semiconductor field at the start as whats being taught at the university was diff from the Indian universities. But the quality and the delivery is great. More stress is given on the practical knowledge rather than theoretical knowledge.
Exams :
IELTS requirements were 6.5 with a minimum of atleast 6 in each section. I scored the exact 6.5 in each module.
Placement :
There was a job fair organised by the university twice that year with major companies- ARM, TCS, INTEL taking part in it. We were given PHD options but it wasnt funded so most of the students were not interested. I got placed at an electrical company in Qatar (not from campus). We didnt have post graduate study visa but now-a-days students are getting 2 years work permit, so its easier for them to get jobs in UK with an average package of 60-70k GBP per year.
Internship :
No
Fees :
The total fee during 2017-2018 for Msc Electronics was 24700 GBP.
Scholarship :
No, I didnt get any scholarship for my course. Although you can apply for - GREAT scholarship, and Common wealth scholarship. You have to write the essay for that year.
Faculty :
So everyone is assigned a personal tutor. I was assigned to Dr. Adam Stokes (program director). He was very humble, right from the start and helped me in settling in and during my modules/subjects selections. My thesis professor was Alister Hamilton (ex program director) was really very helpful and helped me during my thesis and during my lab modules as well. The ratio was decent and the staff was very cooperative. They knew that we all were international students and it would be slightly tough for us to understand the Scottish Accent in the start so they used to teach us slowly, giving more stress on the vowels and making us comfortable with their accents. Most of the other faculty’s were working in the industry so they used to share their experience with the recent trends in the market.
Campus Life :
I joined the ho key club right from the first week and even played cricket from the Electronics department. The campus has all the sports and equipments. There is a designated GYM facility which is open till 9pm. Wifi service is great and is accessible at all the university owned places. Library is 24*7 open and is accessible by the students. It had 100+ systems with vpn and remote access to the actual labs in the campus so we used to complete our assignments in the lib. University has stadiums and International pool facility which is open all around the year accept 3 weeks in the winters. The best thing about the old campus of Edinburgh is its building and the library which is still used by the students. It has very old books which are available for the students or reading.
Hostel :
I booked university accommodation named - Holyrood North (now the name is changed to O’Shea). It had 5 diff buildings with different names and a complete laundry setup and a palce to park your bikes. The main building had a common shared kitchen place for 300 residents. Rest of the buildings had 6bhk flats with common room and shared kitchens (private room with washroom). The place also had shared rooms with attached washroom and twin sharing rooms as well. The average rental for me (private room with attached washroom) was 6430 GBP for 10 months.
