Hi there! It has been a long time since my last blog. My placement project was in full swing in the past few months, hence I didn’t have the chance to share my life with you. I would definitely continue sharing my placement story whenever I am free 😊

I am aware that Surrey’s undergraduate applicant sessions are coming up in February, therefore I guess it would be great to share with you the reasons why I chose Surrey. Well, I deeply understand that choosing a university could be a fairly difficult but critical decision for most students. Having been studying at the University of Surrey for two and a half years, I am confident to say that choosing the University of Surrey is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.

Firstly, I believe the main reason we wanted to study abroad is to explore and widen our horizon. We hope to gain different experiences and get along with people from different nations and backgrounds. The diverse community at Surrey enables me to learn a multitude of cultures and make friends with people from diverse backgrounds. For example, most of my flatmates in my first-year accommodation are not local British, they are from France, Finland, Greece, New Zealand……and I am the only Asian in the flat. We always have drinks together in the kitchen, talking about our study life and weekend plans. We also had amazing conversations about our cultural difference. Additionally, we celebrated Halloween and Christmas together! This has made our friendship even closer. Therefore, Surrey has been a great place to experience and embrace various cultures. There are more than 140 nationalities at Surrey, you would definitely meet someone from a country that you have never heard of!

Secondly, Surrey is one of the top universities with the highest graduate employment rate. In addition, since Surrey has strong partnerships and connections with lots of institutions and organizations, almost every undergraduate student gets to secure a professional training placement opportunity. For example, as a bioscience student, I got several opportunities to apply for placements in world-leading pharmaceutical companies (eg. GSK, MSD, Pfizer), and some outstanding universities connected with our uni (eg. Harvard University and Cornell University). Furthermore, if you would like to join our student exchange programme, there are tons of university options in hundreds of countries, including University of Seoul (Korea), Shang Hai Jiao Tong University (China), Okayama University (Japan) and Trinity College Dublin (Ireland).

Surrey always provides us with plenty of resources and guidance in our applications. I received a lot of professional advice on my CV and interviews from the Employability and Careers support in MySurrey Hive. I am very grateful for their help in my placement application. Without having discussions and mock interviews with them, I would not be able to be selected as one of the only 10 sandwich students working in Francis Crick Institute, the largest Biomedicine laboratory in Europe.

Last but not least, when I was looking for universities, one of the most eye-catching information that popped up was that Surrey was awarded GOLD in the Teaching Excellence Framework. This indicates that the teaching quality of Surrey is of the highest in the UK. Indeed, the lecturers are very dedicated and enjoy teaching. Some lecturers will offer one-to-one tutorials to discuss essay questions with students after receiving our results. One of my lecturers even replied to my queries outside working hours. They always care about the students. My personal tutor gave me suggestions on selecting placements and encouraged me to start preparing PhD applications early. My lecturers motivate us too, they always tell us not to get too stressed during exams, since grades aren’t everything.

On a whole, I am very proud to be part of the University of Surrey. I look forward to developing my talents and contribute to this vibrant and dynamic community. Interested in studying at Surrey? Don’t miss our applicant sessions in February!

Well, that’s it from me today. Have a nice night and see you in my next blog! Take care and stay safe!!!