As you are applying to university, you may find you need to contact your chosen university by email. Writing a professional email is an important skill you can take with you for emailing professors, applying to jobs, and within future careers. Read on to find our top tips for writing a professional email during your applications to UK universities! 
 

Formatting Your Email:  

Make sure to use a professional email address that you check often. For example, your previous university or school email is usually fine, but if you have already finished your studies at that institution it's a good idea to check with them how long your email address will remain active. Some schools will cancel the emails of graduates after a certain period of time.

You can use a personal email address that you've created yourself instead don’t use something like coolguy@gmail.com, as this seems unprofessional. You should also make sure to check what the display name on your account is as well, as the universities will be able to see this. Our advisors have seen many students who had previously changed their display name as a joke and then forgotten about it.

Some students opt to create a brand new email address just to use for their university applications to keep things organized. This isn't a problem as long as you remember to check it regularly. If you are thinking of doing this, consider setting a calendar reminder or alarm for yourself to prompt you to check your email multiple times a week (if not daily).
 

Subject Line:  

The subject line of your email should be short, concise, but tell the receiver what the email is about. When emailing a university, always include your student or reference number. For example:  

ID:12345678 + Visa Question  

Avoid using words like “Urgent”, “Please Respond”, etc. in your subject line, unless it truly is an urgent email - if every email the university received was marked urgent, there would be no way to differentiate the emails that actually are.  

Finally, check the font you are sending your email in – something legible, like Times New Roman, Calibri or Arial is fine, in size 11 or 12-point type. Do not use all caps, or unnecessary highlighting or colour.  
 

How to Start Your Email:  

Your email starts with your salutation. This is where you address your email to the recipient. If you know their name, include it. For example:  

“Dear Mr. Smith,”

If you don’t know their name, something more general like:  

“Dear Sir or Madam”, or “To whom it may concern”, or “Dear Admissions,” is fine.  

Do not ever just say “Dear Sir” or “Dear Madam”– you do not know the gender of the person answering your email, and should not assume.  

“Dear” is the more formal address – avoid saying “Hello,” “Hi”, etc.  

Feel free to follow the address with a kind greeting, such as “I hope this email finds you well”, but this is not required.  
 

Composing Your Email:  

You should introduce yourself to start the email. List your name, the course you applied for, and the purpose of your email. For example:  

“My name is John Smith, and I have applied to study BSc Archaeology and X University. I have a question about my offer conditions.”

From there, make sure to be concise, explaining as clearly and briefly as possible the reason for your email, so that the recipient can best assist. For example:  

“On my offer letter, I was asked to provide IELTS results. As I completed a degree in English in my home country, I was wondering if this condition could be removed? Thank you for your assistance.”  

Try not to drag the email on – it is completely fine for your email to only be 2-3 sentences, as long as the reader can understanding why you are emailing, and what they need to do to assist.  

Make sure you use formal language – avoid slang terms, unnecessary contractions, emojis, profanity, or jokes. Always write in complete sentences, and check for any spelling errors.  
 

Completing Your Email:  

Make sure to use a formal closing, don’t leave your email open ended. There are several options you can use, but it should read as though you are signing a letter. Phrases like “Sincerely,” “Respectfully,” “Best wishes,” are all fine, followed by your name on the next line, and your student number again. For example:  

“Best wishes,  
Jean Valjean
24601”
 

Proof-Read:  

Before sending, check that the email address of the recipient is correct and the name (if known) is spelled properly. If you have stated in your email that you will provide an attachment, make sure it is attached. Check again for spelling and grammar, and then you are ready to send!  

Once you have sent your email, you will usually receive an automatic reply, which often states the standard timeline for a reply. There is no need to reply to this email. Keep in mind that you will only receive a response during the recipients work hours – and that those work hours will more than likely be in the UK. If you don’t receive a quick response, that is not unusual.  

If you don’t receive a reply, it is fine to send a follow up approximately two weeks after your initial email. Following the rules above, be polite, and simply say:  

“Hello ,  

I hope you are well.  

I would just like to follow up on my previous email. If you require anything further, please let me know.  

Best,”

With these tips, you should successfully be able to send a professional email, and find success with your studies!  Need more help or advice with your applications? Let our advisors guide you through every step!

When looking at different university webpages, you might come across references to rankings. The tables that you will most likely come across are the QS World Rankings, and the Times Higher Education Rankings. 
 

What are the QS World Rankings?

According to their website, QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) “is the world’s leading provider of services, analytics, and insight to the global higher education sector, whose mission is to enable motivated people anywhere in the world to fulfil their potential through educational achievement, international mobility, and career development.”

Starting in 2004, QS began ranking universities and their success in the following areas: quality of research being produced, employability after graduation, quality of teaching, and the overall international outlook. These 6 key determining factors became the basis for what is now the QS World Rankings.

Looking at these key factors and comparing them across universities around the world was meant to bring insight into quality of education and promote the outlook on international education.
 

What are the Times Higher Education Rankings?

Also starting in 2004, the Times Higher Education Rankings is an annual publication through Times Higher Education (THE) magazine.  

THE rankings consider 3 primary areas (research, teaching, and impact) but as many as 13 different factors can be accounted for when determining where a university scores in any one primary area. When ranking universities, THE tends to be a bit more in-depth than QS to take in other factors when determining rankings. For example, when looking at research, THE will take into consideration the volume or research compared to the number of staff members.  

Did you know? THE and QS worked together to publish university rankings from 2004-2009! After 2009, THE and QS went their separate ways to consider different factors for ranking universities. Their rankings are now published separately.  
 

What Rankings are Available?

This can vary depending on the table that you are looking at, but typically rankings are done to assess one, or all of the following:

• Student Satisfaction
• Outgoing research from university
• Employability of graduates from university
• Quality of education in general or within a certain subject area

Ranking tables can typically be adjusted using filters so you can determine how universities score against universities in their own country, or against universities around the world.
 

How to Read/Interpret Rankings

Since there are many different tables available to review, it is helpful to look at the rankings in clusters.

The first cluster or top 10 universities are going to be universities that operate competitive and expensive programs. These will be numbers 1-10 on a ranking chart. For reference, these tend to be the largely known universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and similar.

Then if you look at the next cluster of unis in the top 20-50, these universities will offer highly regarded programs, they are great universities with strong academics as well as student satisfaction etc.  

From 50-100 would be the next cluster that you would likely look at and these are still well recognized universities in the UK, quite often they are not quite as well known internationally yet and may not have quite the same levels of funding or research available.  

Some rankings do go beyond 100, but any listed rankings would fall in numerical order so 1 being “the best” in that table. If you are considering how to view rankings above 100, you can look at 100 – X (End of table) or the table or look at smaller groupings of 50 if preferred.  

There are well-over 100 universities across the UK, but some tables include universities outside of the UK as well – rankings really do vary depending on the information used for the table, so analyze these groups in whatever way makes the most sense to you.  

Ultimately, rankings should be used alongside other considerations, but are not necessarily useful on their own when trying to determine the best place to study.  
 

Limitations of Rankings

Limited information available

Not all programmes or subject areas have ranking data available. This means that if ranking were to be considered, a general university ranking table would need to suffice. The limitations with that are that some universities are stronger in certain subject areas when compared to others. Going to a highly ranked university because of their overall institution ranking number might cause you to miss certain universities that excel in other, more specific areas. 

Institution size not typically accounted for

Another limitation that can occur with ranking tables are that smaller institutions are typically overshadowed by the quantity of research and graduates coming from their institutions vs. smaller institutions.  

Larger institutions generally have more funding available and can thus fund more research studies and grow their student intake quicker than the smaller ones can. Does that mean that smaller institutions are unable to produce quality research or education to their students? Of course not! That is why more factors need to be taken into consideration throughout your initial programme research.  
 

How to Use Rankings to Your Advantage

Since ranking tables do tend to include consideration on student satisfaction, it is typically safe to assume that overall, those scoring high in student satisfaction do value their students and what they can bring to the university. This means that on average, you should have a good student experience.

Every student is different so while ranking systems include a different number of universities and considerations depending on the table, there really is no definitive way to rank universities or their programmes. There is also no guarantee that a high ranking will lead to a positive experience (though we hope it will!)

Reviewing rankings and thinking of them in clusters can be used as to help in their decision to choose a university. Ultimately, the suggestion to view rankings in chunks is intended to help students avoid hyper-analyzing the various ranking tables.  

Do not become so focused on rankings that you spend months debating between a university ranked 27th and a university ranked 31st in the table and completely ignore other factors, such as location, departmental specialisms, or even campus size which could all ultimately have a greater impact on the overall experience than ranking alone.  

When reviewing rankings, it is strongly advised that students look at factors beyond rankings to determine what environment will be best to their overall education experience. Remember, the only person who will know what environment is best for your education, is YOU! 

Struggling to know which university you should apply to? Let our student advisors help you narrow down your options. 

You’ve worked with Across the Pond to apply to several UK universities – now what?

The application process can seem like such a whirlwind of activity in the early stages of applying. Between writing personal statements, ordering transcripts, gathering letters of reference, re-writing personal statements, and of course researching your top university choices, it can bring a huge relief when you finally click that ‘submit button’. While it is completely normal to have a bit of a quiet period while the UK universities are processing your applications and making their decision, there are a few ways that you can continue actively working to prepare for your UK studies.  
 

CONTINUE RESEARCHING YOUR TOP UNIVERSITY CHOICES

Remember, even if you’ve applied to 5 universities, you can still only attend one. It’s important to continue researching every aspect of your university choices to ensure once your decisions do come through, that you can make an informed decision about which university will be the best choice for you and your academic/professional goals. This is where it’s helpful to make those pros/cons lists! 

Look at the modules offered, the tuition cost, the location, and any other aspect that may be important to you. 
 

ENSURE YOUR PASSPORT IS VALID 

To travel to the UK, you’ll need to have a valid passport. If you need to apply for a UK Student Visa, you’ll need your passport before finalizing your UK offer and starting the visa application process. Some may think this is an obvious statement, but it’s so easy to lose track of passport renewal dates. Do yourself a favour and check your passport expiration date early so that you can renew your passport if needed while you wait for your university decisions to come through. This will give you plenty of time to receive your new passport before you need it for your visa application.  
 

DETERMINE HOW YOU’RE GOING TO FUND YOUR STUDIES 

This is an extremely important step and something that students consistently leave until the last minute. While you’re waiting for your university decisions, make a plan for how you can pay for your UK studies. This may include a combination of the following:  

• Check the UK university websites for available university scholarships.  Ask your Across the Pond advisor for help if you’re not sure where to find these! 
• Many universities will release these in the late winter or early spring so apply early to avoid disappointment! Even if you’re not 100% sure whether you’ll be attending or not: apply for scholarships! You’ll be thankful you did when the summertime arrives.  
• If your parents have agreed to help fund your studies, speak to your parents about the expected tuition costs. The tuition prices are always available on the course pages! 
• If you’re considering a loan or line of credit, make an appointment with a financial advisor at your banking institution to understand the funding options available to you. 
• If you plan to apply to Canadian federal funding to take abroad, make sure you research the application process, application dates and availability for your own province.  
   

Most importantly: keep your Across the Pond advisor in the loop! We’re here to help support you right up until you leave for the UK so do not hesitate to check-in with your advisor about how you’re feeling about any aspect of the process – we’ve all been there! We’ll help keep you on track and excited about your new adventure. 

Don’t have an advisor yet? Enquire today!  
 

When you are looking into applying to UK universities you may hear that most university operate on a “rolling admissions” basis. While this is the case for many applications in the UK there are plenty of exceptions. This can also prompt students to feel like they have lots of time to put together their application and to prioritize other things. But this can end up being a costly decision! Here are some important factors to keep in mind when considering applying to UK universities.
 

ROLLING ADMISSIONS IN THE UK

The vast majority of studies in the UK have rolling admissions until the start of studies. The exceptions to this are professional programmes, such as physiotherapy or occupational therapy which may operate a hard deadline but accept applications on a rolling basis until that point. What many people don't think about is that the rolling admissions process also allows the universities to fill up the study places early.  

UK universities receive the majority of their applications during the winter, and in January places start to get tight on a number of places still available. In fact there is an equal consideration deadline in January that applies to undergraduate degrees (including law degrees). While the universities may continue to accept applications from international students after this, it does apply to all UK applications. 

For popular degrees and universities this may mean that they hit capacity and close to new applications because of a high number applications received before this deadline. You should therefore apply early to make sure you don't miss out on your dream degree. 
 

BETTER OPPORTUNITIES EARLY IN THE YEAR

We see that the universities accept a greater range of applicants when they still have a significant number of places remaining on each course. Therefore, if you apply early, and meet the minimum academic requirements, as well as any subject specific requirements, your chances are significantly higher as long as the rest of your application is of good quality.

In the spring, there will be fewer available study places at the universities. When this happens, the competition for a place becomes higher, an applicant who would have been accepted earlier in the year may unfortunately experience being rejected the closer we get to summer. 

In addition to the academic requirements, you must also attach a personal statement. This letter is an essential part of your application to the university and your Across the Pond Advisor can help you to write this. If you are applying for a programme with limited spaces remaining, a strong personal statement may make the difference between you getting the over versus another applicant with similar academic merits. 
 

GET FEEDBACK FROM THE UNIVERSITY EARLY

For those of you who are still in your final year of your studies, or upgrading subjects, there is an additional advantage to applying early. When the university has processed your application, you will either receive a refusal or a conditional offer. The conditions on this offer will tell you exactly what grades/average you will need to achieve in your remaining subjects in order to gain admission to university. Then you can work in a structured way on your subjects until the summer with certainty of exactly which grades you need to be guaranteed a study place in the autumn.
 

YOU CAN APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS

The universities in the UK have a large selection of scholarships for international students. In order to apply for a scholarship, it is a criterion that you have applied to the university. Some scholarship applications will also require you to have already received an offer to the university. Spring is the peak season for applying for scholarships, and the majority of scholarships have an application deadline from March to May. If you apply early, you will have more time to look and apply for scholarships. You don’t want to end up missing a scholarship application deadline because you were still working on your university application or waiting to hear back from admissions if you have an offer. Feel free to ask your student advisor about scholarship opportunities, or read more about scholarships on our website.
 

YOU GET TO CHOOSE ACCOMMODATION FIRST

For many, living on campus is a big part of the experience of studying in the UK. When you apply with help from Across the Pond, you are guaranteed housing on campus at almost every university as long as you apply within the university’s accommodation deadline.

At most universities, the housing on campus is distributed on an ongoing basis. The most popular styles of room (based on price and facilities) are naturally selected first. Here there can be considerable comfort to be had, and a lot of money to save! Your student accommodation will be one of the biggest expenses you have during the year, and if you get affordable and good accommodation, you will have provided yourself with safe and friendly space for a fantastic study year.
 

FREE GUIDANCE

If you would like more information about the application process, or studies in the UK in general, you can contact one of our student advisors today for free guidance! If you decide to apply, we will even try to get your application in before the holidays! Get in touch here.

"How do I choose the best UK university for my degree?" Choosing a university to study at is a daunting task. It’s where you’ll be living and learning for the next 3-4 years. So, first and foremost, you want to make sure it’s somewhere you like! This task becomes even more difficult when you’re studying abroad. Most students don’t get to actually see the university they’ve chosen until they arrive to study. While your comfort at university is important, you also want to go somewhere where you can get the best education for your chosen major! Below I’ve put together some tips for finding the best university for your degree/

Rankings

We try not to rely on rankings too much. They don’t always tell the full story of the student experience at a university. However, they’re useful for determining top ranking subjects at different universities! We prefer to use The Complete University Guide, as they have a nice breakdown of universities by subject ranking. The overall ranking is great, but it is the subject ranking you want to pay close attention to. You’ll get the best education and opportunities for your major there.
 

Faculty Expertise

Definitely check out the faculty for your program to see if the uni is the best UK university for your degree! See what the professors and staff studied, what they research, and what they teach. If you’re studying a broader subject like History, but have a specific interest in something like the History of Women Writers in the 19th Century, it’s great to have a professor on staff to go to, to further your interest in the subject! Being taught by faculty at the height of your field is great for your education and for future reference letters!
 

Research at the University

See what kind of research the university is doing that you could be a part of! Research specializations that align with your subject interest are a great opportunity to get involved and gain additional research experience experience before graduation. Browse university websites or their webpages here to get an idea of their different research focuses.
 

University Facilities

Also look at what the university has in terms of facilities for your degree, especially if you’re studying something practice based. If you’re interested in Fine Art for example, find out if the university you’ve chosen has a set up for your chosen medium and access to the materials and tools you need to succeed. For this, an arts based school would be a great choice! They have campus buildings dedicated to every major they have, with top of the line equipment to help you succeed
 

Extracurricular Opportunities

You won't spend all of your time in the classroom! It’s important to see what opportunities outside of lectures the university presents to help you succeed after your studies. For example: if you’re studying Law, look for a university that has a Law Society or Mock Trial team, so you can get involved in things you’re already passionate about. Your program may offer opportunities within the structure of the course as well. If you’re studying International Relations, studying abroad could be a great idea! My degree took us on tons of relevant field trips; I studied Publishing and we visited a printer, and went to London Book Fair to learn more about all aspects of the industry we were hoping to join.
 

Alumni Testimony

Finally, don’t forget to read testimony from students who have studied the course, or are currently on the course! You can browse through written accounts of the student experience at our partner universities here.  Many of UK unis also have Unibuddy, which allows you to chat with current university students, sorted by degree. Ask them their honest opinion, what things they considered when choosing the school, and what they learn about! They’re a great resource for learning about the student experience as a whole, and for your specific subject.
 

Choosing a degree can be difficult, and choosing a university to study at can be even more difficult! These are just some of the things to consider to help you pick the right UK university to study at. If all else fails, ask your advisor for their opinion on the best schools for your degree. Ultimately, the choice is yours, but we’re here to help!
 

We are here to help! If you’re not sure where to start your research, ask your Across the Pond advisor!

If you are new to Across the Pond and don’t have an advisor yet, you can enquire here.