Hello Everyone,

I just signed up today even though I have been following the forum posts for the last week.

I have an upper second BSc Computer Science degree from a university in Uganda, I want to pursue a Masters program that focuses on how to apply ICT in the fields of business, government and Development. For example E-business, IT technology and Innovation and ICT4D.

For a start, I browsed most of the UK universities course lists and have narrowed down to approximately 20 programs that I would like to apply for. Universities I am considering applying to include:
- University of Manchester,UCL, Loughborough,Royal Holloway,
Sussex, Heriot-Watt, Warwick, NCL, Strathclyde, LSE and St Andrews


I would like appreciate advice on

1. How to make my application stand out (Personal statement and references)?
2. Best application strategy to get an offer from at least one university. (I know I've started late *hides face*)
3. Funding opportunities (links,etc)
4. Universities in Europe that don't require application fees.
5. Beyond the rankings, I would like insight on the Universities i listed. Public opinions/views, best fit for international students, crime rates, etc


Gosh! This is such a long post however I really hope to hear from any of you.

Thanks alot :)

How about courses such as Entrepreneurship and Innovation?

Quite a list there! I think most of that you are going to have research yourself as I don't think it's standard information.

Have to say, I was work sponsored first year so getting on the PgDip was fairly simple. The MSc second year was based on my previous years work.. so again, it was quite easy - my interview over email was like this "who is funding this?" "me" "welcome aboard"

Why Europe if you only apply in the UK? I think you can get a much cheaper education in other places ;)

"(I know I've started late *hides face*)"

When are you planning to start?

Quite a list? Of universities or questions?

Yes I have begun researching especially for funding and what to include in the SOP

I was planning to start applying this month through to next year but I feel grossly under prepared as I have not drafted any documents (SOPs and References).

As such I feel I should apply next September for the academic year 2017/2018, I would have had enough time to identify courses, prepare the documents.

I actually want to apply all over Europe, North America and Oceania. So far I had only started with the UK as most of the universities do not charge Application fees. I will be shortlisting programs and universities in other countries as well.

Where else would you recommend? I have read that the Nordic countries are much cheaper but a couple of university pages i browsed indicated payment of a non -refundable application fee (Sweden, Norway and the US) as such i was discouraged.

A lot of time if you are applying for taught courses you only need a cover letter, a CV and names of referees, It doesn't require a lot of effort really.