University of Strathclyde (Scotland)

Killaqueen!!!

I'm thinking about doing forensics (or just chemistry) at University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. I doubt anyone on boards goes there but I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm just looking for feedback about studying there, how hard/easy it is to leave home in ireland, social life etc. and if I'm so lucky, feedback on the chemistry courses there.

Or if you study somewhere else in Scotland?...

Would appreciate it,

Thanks

Swindon

hi killaqueen i too am thinking of doing a MSc in strathclyde in computer forensics,the university has a very good reputation by all accounts....i would not be doing it till 2010 but want to make sure its what i really want,you should contact the course director of the course you want to do,thats what i did and they were very helpful...are u entering next year?

Killaqueen!!!

Hi thanks for the reply. No I'm only in 5th year so I'll be doing my Leaving Cert next year. I might take a year out because the problem with going to Strathclyde is I just can't see myself moving to Scotland in 2 years time. I don't know whether I'd be able to. But the college sounds great - if the college were in Ireland I would definitely go to it. It seems to have a great reputation, especially in the forensics department.

Computer forensics is a bit different to what I was thinking but it's probably similar so I was wondering if you thought employment would be good afterwards? That's what I'm worried about

Swindon

Killaqueen!!! wrote: »

Hi thanks for the reply. No I'm only in 5th year so I'll be doing my Leaving Cert next year. I might take a year out because the problem with going to Strathclyde is I just can't see myself moving to Scotland in 2 years time. I don't know whether I'd be able to. But the college sounds great - if the college were in Ireland I would definitely go to it. It seems to have a great reputation, especially in the forensics department.

Computer forensics is a bit different to what I was thinking but it's probably similar so I was wondering if you thought employment would be good afterwards? That's what I'm worried about

Well ya there is quite a difference between the two,the MSc im looking at doing has a 4 month work placement built into it which appeals to me alot and one of the main reasons for choosing it...for computer forensics it may be a case of having to take a job over until i get experience and then move back but id imagine in your field jobs would be plentiful and you would get something very quickly,they say strathclyde has one of the best reputations for forensics in the uk so thats good,glasgow supp to be a great place also to go to uni ud prob have a blast...where did you get your info on the college?did u get the prospectus?

Killaqueen!!!

No I've just been looking at the website and from what I've read I think I'd enjoy a lot of the courses in the School of Chemistry. It's weird, but you can do a MSc or a BSc in all the courses, as an undergraduate. Meaning, I could go straight from school to do a Masters degree? That's good because surely that would appeal to employers more. Although I read somewhere on the site that there is not much difference in the course content, rather to do with the length of the courses.

Also, I'm not quite sure about fees. They seem to be around 1000 pounds sterling but I think these are paid for you if you're an EU student? That's good. Although I'd have to pay for accomodation.

Swindon

Killaqueen!!! wrote: »

No I've just been looking at the website and from what I've read I think I'd enjoy a lot of the courses in the School of Chemistry. It's weird, but you can do a MSc or a BSc in all the courses, as an undergraduate. Meaning, I could go straight from school to do a Masters degree? That's good because surely that would appeal to employers more. Although I read somewhere on the site that there is not much difference in the course content, rather to do with the length of the courses.

Also, I'm not quite sure about fees. They seem to be around 1000 pounds sterling but I think these are paid for you if you're an EU student? That's good. Although I'd have to pay for accomodation.

Hmmm id have my doubts about the fees being paid for you! I thought u had to be resident in the uk for at least 4 years to avail of free fees...i know my MSc would cost me bout 2000k sterling,dont quote me though best thing is to give them a call,emails are far too slow...

derek27

I recently visited SU and the Caledonian University, also in Glasgow city, on some collaborative research initiatives, and will do so again several times within the next 2yrs. Lovely university, the Caledonian Uni is completely modern - pretty much a brand new campus, and the facilities there are second to none. Glasgow is a beautiful city and the people are enormously friendly. The women there are incredibly beautiful - mixing of the eastern and european gene pools which is prevalent in the UK has created a unique look. As for the travel... it only takes ~45 mins from Dublin Airport to Glasgow, and flights are inexpensive. So coming home for all the holiday periods shouldn't present a major problem. Go for it!

Dick Turnip

well i know of 3 people all doing various masters/phds in strathclyde university and they all love it so far. went over there for a weekend before christmas and the social scene is really good in glasgow and the student union bar is by far better than anything in the irish universities.
im not sure about fees but i was under the impression irish students didnt have to pay fees if they go to uni in scotland. also glasgow is much cheaper than ireland, especially dublin, rent prices are on the rise though i think.

Swindon

Killaqueen!!! wrote: »

No I've just been looking at the website and from what I've read I think I'd enjoy a lot of the courses in the School of Chemistry. It's weird, but you can do a MSc or a BSc in all the courses, as an undergraduate. Meaning, I could go straight from school to do a Masters degree? That's good because surely that would appeal to employers more. Although I read somewhere on the site that there is not much difference in the course content, rather to do with the length of the courses.

Also, I'm not quite sure about fees. They seem to be around 1000 pounds sterling but I think these are paid for you if you're an EU student? That's good. Although I'd have to pay for accomodation.

Hi killaqueen where did u read about the free fees if your in EU...i have the prospectus,is it in that?

Swindon

http://www.strath.ac.uk/media/media_41906_en.xls
u may find some info on fees here...


£4520 for MSc in forensic informatics! :0 alot o money for one year!

Killaqueen!!!

"Full-time undergraduate (intending on graduating) New students from the EU commencing a course of undergraduate study in September with the intention of graduating from the University of Strathclyde should submit an application form to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for payment of their tuition fees to Strathclyde. SAAS will assess each application on an individual basis.
Note: Unlike UK students, EU students are not generally eligible to apply for a student loan to assist with their living costs."

http://www.strath.ac.uk/registry/students/finance/#d.en.58255

That gave me the impression that EU students got their fees paid for them by the SAAS but, as the last line states, you nornally wouldn't get student loans or any other sort of financial help.

If you go onto the SAAS website (http://www.saas.gov.uk) which is the association that you apply to if studying in Scotland, they assess your situation and determine whether they will pay fees for you or not. However, it seems that all EU residents can get their fees paid for them. This is a bit strange because both English and Welsh residents have to pay if they're going to college in Scotland. Anyway, here is a quote from the SAAS website:

"To be eligible to apply for payment of EU tuition fees only, you must meet the following conditions

-You are a non-UK EU national, an EU overseas territories national or the family member of either.
-You have been ordinarily resident in the EU, the EU overseas territories, elsewhere in the EEA or Switzerland for the three years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of your course (the relevant date).
-You are taking a course of full-time study in Scotland and plan to graduate in Scotland."

That is for tuition fees only. There are other support packages that you may be able to take advantage of but I haven't looked into it as I don't think I would qualify for it.

The best thing would probably be to contact someone at the college but I'm only in 5th Year at the moment (I know I've done a lot of research for someone only in 5th year!), so I'm just curious for the time being.

Killaqueen!!!

derek27 wrote: »

I recently visited SU and the Caledonian University, also in Glasgow city, on some collaborative research initiatives, and will do so again several times within the next 2yrs. Lovely university, the Caledonian Uni is completely modern - pretty much a brand new campus, and the facilities there are second to none. Glasgow is a beautiful city and the people are enormously friendly. The women there are incredibly beautiful - mixing of the eastern and european gene pools which is prevalent in the UK has created a unique look. As for the travel... it only takes ~45 mins from Dublin Airport to Glasgow, and flights are inexpensive. So coming home for all the holiday periods shouldn't present a major problem. Go for it!

Hey thanks for the reply. I had always got the impression that Glasgow was a lovely city with a great night life etc. but a few of my friends and family told me that it's not the nicest city they've been to and it can be a very dangerous/rough area.

Dick Turnip wrote: »

well i know of 3 people all doing various masters/phds in strathclyde university and they all love it so far. went over there for a weekend before christmas and the social scene is really good in glasgow and the student union bar is by far better than anything in the irish universities.
im not sure about fees but i was under the impression irish students didnt have to pay fees if they go to uni in scotland. also glasgow is much cheaper than ireland, especially dublin, rent prices are on the rise though i think.

glasgow is cheaper than dublin? thats a bonus! what are your friends studying there? if only the university of strathclyde could be moved to dublin! i would definitely go then!

ergonomics

Hi! I just spent 4 months studying in Strathclyde. I really loved it but I found the administrative side quite hard to deal with. That seems to be the norm in most colleges though. I was studying English and all my lecturers were lovely and very friendly. There are loads of Irish people studying there too. As someone mentioned, the Student's Union is great and very cheap. That said I found Scotland as a whole to be quite expensive or the same as Ireland. It doesn't help that you have to change to sterling, you really lose out on the regard.

Killaqueen!!!

ergonomics wrote: »

Hi! I just spent 4 months studying in Strathclyde. I really loved it but I found the administrative side quite hard to deal with. That seems to be the norm in most colleges though. I was studying English and all my lecturers were lovely and very friendly. There are loads of Irish people studying there too. As someone mentioned, the Student's Union is great and very cheap. That said I found Scotland as a whole to be quite expensive or the same as Ireland. It doesn't help that you have to change to sterling, you really lose out on the regard.

Oh cool, it seems to be a great college and if I went I would hope there's a lot of Irish people there. What do you mean it was hard to deal with the administrative side? Do you mean that they weren't very helpful? That sucks. Yeah, I'm worried about the money side too. I've been saving a bit from a part time job but if I was in Scotland I'd need a lot of money for accomodation, food etc. Were you working while in Scotland?

Cheers

ergonomics

With regard to administation I continually felt like nobody knew what they were talking about. Any question involved being sent to about three different offices and then you would only ever get 'I think' or 'Probably' or 'I guess' as an answer. There was never a definitive answer. I should also mention that I was unable to open a bank account, even with letters from the college. I was refused continually and ended up using a bank account owned by my landlord, which is highly illegal but was literally my only option.

I was working in Scotland and there are LOADS of jobs going all the time. You'll have no problem getting a part-time or evening job, I can guarantee that.

Killaqueen!!!

^Ah right..well it can't all be great! It sounds like a really good college but I dunno if I'd like to study there for 4/5 years. Maybe I could do a degree in Chemistry over here (like in Trinity) and then if I was still interested in forensics I could do a masters.

Does anyone know if you have to pay fees for a masters degree over there? I know EU undergraduates don't have to.