WHICH university-2-the final five

The final 5 universities my daughter chose, in order of preference, for her under-graduation in Journalism were:

1. University of Sheffield : Subject - Journalism Studies (BA) Accredited by PTC, NCTJ, BJTC.
2. University of Leeds : Subject - Broadcast Journalism (BA Hons). Accredited by BJTC
3. Bournemouth University : Subject - Multimedia Journalism (BA Hons). Accredited by - BJTC, PTC, NCTJ.
4. Nottingham Trent University  : Subject - Broadcast Journalism (BA Hons). Accredited by BJTC.
5. University of Westminster  : Subject - Journalism (BA Hons). Accredited by BJTC

Generally speaking each had an entry requirement of around 85% going down to 65% overall in 12th standard, CBSE. Plus an IELTS score of 7 to 7.5 or above and/or 85% and above in 12th standard English specifically for Broadcast Journalism.

BJTC- Broadcast Journalists Training Council. Find out more about what it is and which courses are accredited.
NJTC - National Council for the Training of Journalists. To find out more, look up their website.  

In this list, the top 2 are highly ranked in the league tables and amongst the topmost in UK for Journalism.  Bournemouth is not so highly ranked overall but is excellent for the subject. The last two had lower entry requirements (than my daughter's predicted) and even though are not ranked so high in the league tables, they are quite well known for this subject and a host of others. So this final 5 list was kind of balanced. Whether she scored well or lower than expected. That actually removed a lot of pressure off her for her 12th board exams. All this was done by August-September of 12th standard.

Now that the 5 Universities were identified we started with the actual application procedure. 

NEXT - UCAS and the application process

WHY this blog at all?!

Sending a child abroad for studies is a major decision in the life of any parent. Especially Indian parents because of huge finances and long distances involved in sending children to US or UK. These being the two most popular destinations for Indian students. The other two being Canada and Australia, in that order.

When we started thinking of sending our only daughter abroad, we started asking around. Friends, relatives, neighbours and anyone who had even the slightest inkling to people with deepest insights. Then of course, there was the internet. The internet had hours and hours and yet more hours of material worth reading on thousands of sites! It was exciting but extremely overwhelming. If it had been for any other reason, I would have probably skimmed through the sites to jump to a conclusion. But the fact remains that an undergraduate degree happens to be a notably important factor in your child's life, as important as his or her schooling. So I couldn't just skim over, in fact I read the really fine print and went into details. And boy did I go into the details!

I spent a whole year and more, researching and jotting everything down. Roughly, in the beginning but had a properly maintained journal by the end. And now that my daughter's safely and happily settling down in the University of Leeds, I've got down to noting down all the points of how that journal came to be and what's in it. To the tiniest important detail.

My journey as a parent and a guide. For these couple of years, especially.

I am writing this blog as a way of helping other parents and students who may be as lost as I was to begin with. I hope this provides clarity and gives some useful insights. Thus making it easier for everybody to take one of the most important decisions of life!

NEXT - WHY study in the UK