Organization & planning
The organization of the studies through MicroEDU was really great and uncomplicated. When I decided to do a master’s degree abroad during my bachelor’s degree and wanted to do it in England, I initially researched which universities would be suitable in terms of starting date, course content, costs, location, etc. I’ll be there encountered several universities. I was made aware of MicroEDU through friends and saw that my favorite (Sheffield Hallam University – SHU) was also in the MicroEDU portfolio. So that’s how I came to MicroEDU and wasvery enthusiastic about the personal advice and support. After I had all the documents together, the application was sent to the university via MicroEDU and after a few days I was accepted and was able to concentrate on further planning. I applied about 7 months beforehand. Visit ehuacom.com to get information about vocational training in Finland.
Arrival & first days
After a successful application, the SHU received a really good information brochure in which a lot was written about the university, the city and the arrival. For example, the university offers a pick-up service from Manchester Airport, for which you can register. That means you can book your outbound flight so that students pick you up at the airport and don’t have to find your way to Sheffield on your own. You and other international students are then taken from the airport to the university by bus, where a reception committee awaits you to provide more information and to organize a taxi for you to your accommodation, which the university even pays for.
I had organized a student dormitory (Woodville Hall) for a week from Germany and then looked for private accommodation on site, as I’m not a fan of dormitories. I also have to say that it was the right decision, as many dormitories are very shabby and are also very expensive. Therefore, I would recommend everyone to come to Sheffield first and then look for appropriate accommodation here on site- even if it would of course be easier to secure a place in a dormitory directly from Germany. There is an Accommodation Service on site as well as an organized House Hunting Week in the first few weeks, during which you can view various accommodations. Of course, you get to know your first fellow students here and make your first contacts. In addition, the university offers many activities in the first few weeks to get to know the university, the city and the surrounding area. I definitely recommend participating here as you can get to know many other international students this way. There are of course the usual Facebook groups (just search for Sheffield Hallam University), where you can get some useful tips beforehand.
Education
There are two starting dates for the master’s degree: January and September. Since I started in January, my studies lasted a total of 15 months, which is due to a summer break of around 3-4 months and the studies will not continue until September. During this time you can either write on your master’s thesis, do an internship or just chill out;-) I had decided on an internship.
I am basically very satisfied with the master’s degree. My master’s course (International Business Management) was very mixed internationally. From many Chinese, through Indians, Nigerians, Taiwanese, Thais, Malaysians and other Asian students, there were also American and European students – of course there were also a few Germans there. Unfortunately, there were no British students in my course, which was a bit disappointing, as they would probably have had a positive effect on the language development in the course.
The organization of the course also went very well. You get your timetable organized by the university, which consists of lectures and small group workshops. At the group workshops, however, I have to complain that the quality was unfortunately not always the best – this was due to the very colorful mix of international students, which was a “curse and a blessing” at the same time.
In my course there was at least one graded group presentation for each subject as well as an extensive term paper of approx. 3000 – 5000 words, which mostly had to be submitted at the end of the semester. The group work in particular put me to the test at the beginning, as the cultural and professional diversity of the group members meant that a common way had to be found in order to adequately present the results. The term papers are very interesting because you can usually work on a topic of your interest. If you start early enough, there are no time problems. For German students it should be possible with moderate effort 60-69% in the grading which corresponds to a German grade of 1. 7 to 2. 3. If you want to get over 70% (1. 0 to 1. 3) a lot of time has to be invested, but then it is also feasible. Especially at the beginning of your studies there are many other services such as an English course, proofreading of term papers, etc. , so that you can quickly determine a further development in language skills.
The library is really very well equipped and has only recently been renovated and modernized. During the week it is open 24 hours, which is very good at peak times when all students have to write homework. Because during the day it can get very crowded and loud there, so I recommend the silent area on Floor 2;)
I found the “Consultancy Project” to be a particular highlight. Here you advise a British company on various issues that are determined in advance by the company and at the end of the semester you have to present the results to the customer in a presentation and a report. For example, our group had to prepare for internationalization to Poland for a British brewery. Of course there are worse companies for which you can act in an advisory capacity;)
You should also try to get BAföG abroad. The conditions for this are different than for domestic BAföG and you should definitely apply early enough and see if you can get funding.
City and leisure
When I found out about Sheffield before my arrival, the guidebook said: “Sheffield does not convince at first sight”. I can only partially support this statement. Depending on which part of Sheffield’s you are in, this may be the case. You have to remember, of course, that Sheffield was once a steel city with the flair that goes with it. But the city center, London Rd. With very good restaurants or Ecclesall Rd. With many pubs are more convincing. There is a central Aldi for the cost-conscious German and the Peak District borders Sheffield, where you can go climbing, hiking and cycling. The city is quite manageable and easy to walk around. Nevertheless, there are trams and buses that connect all parts of the city well and in the evenings when you head towards a pub / disco, you just stop at a traditional cap on the side of the road. In the evening you can also enjoy well-drunk and lightly clad English people – regardless of whether it is 20 or -20 degrees. The typical Englishman doesn’t know how to feel cold;)
Conclusion
I can definitely recommend my Masters in Sheffield. It was a great time and studying definitely helped me when I started my job. Even if the workload was sometimes very high and the quality was not always at a high level, you learn a lot, especially in the cultural and international area, and make friends all over the world.
