As mentioned in my personal introduction, I am currently in the final year of my undergraduate degree, and just like many other ultimate students around the world, this year so far has been an exhausting journey trying to balance out university assignments and my master applications.
University Assignments
Like previous years, my course ITMB is very much focused on group work and developing IT solutions for various companies from a wide range of industries, and this year was no different. A key highlight of my first semester was developing a crime-fighting system for a police station. Given that the project was directed and instructed by IBM, the entire module was extremely technical with various models taught and applied to real-life scenarios. Initially, it was difficult to get our heads around the concepts as a group because we were not accustomed to such high-level analysis, however through constantly asking questions and the vast amount of help our course coordinator Dr. Pedro offered, we managed to overcome the difficulties and deliver an excellent proposal to IBM. Finally, our hard work paid off as we managed to get an outstanding grade and also learn a lot more about building a company’s IT architecture.
Master Application
During the summer, I was actively looking at different master programmes around the world, and I happened to come across the MIM programme offered by the University of St. Gallen, the Strategy and International Management Programme. After doing some research, I found out that this programme has been ranked number 1 out of all the MIM programmes around the world for the past 10 years according to the Financial Times. The course modules and experience outlined in the programme were also extremely interesting and exciting. Without even hesitating, I began the rigorous application process. I first had to write an essay about the relationship between education and leadership quality. It was difficult to wrap my head around the question at first but after discussing it with my family and friends, I finally managed to write an essay I was happy with. Next, I began preparing for the GMAT and it was definitely not an easy task but thankfully I managed to get a decent score at the end. I had to prepare my CV to ensure it aligned with the guidelines and was fully representative of me as a person. Finally, there was a video interview that really caught me off guard and asked some questions out of the blue, such as how many policemen would you estimate there are in the UK. I think this interview really challenged my ability to think out of the box and test my problem-solving skills. Given the difficulty of the application process and the competitiveness of the programme, I wasn’t completely optimistic that I would get an offer; and until the very last day of the deadline, I finally received a confirmation letter. When I opened the letter, I was beyond delighted to find out I received an offer letter from one of the most prestigious master programmes in the world! I can’t really describe how excited I was to receive the news and to this day it still feels like a dream to me.
I will continue to work hard for the upcoming year and ensure that I am always striving for excellence and I wish everyone who reads this blog can also achieve their goals. Happy New Year everyone!
