De Montfort University - [DMU Uni], Leicester, England - Scholarship

• I received £1500 as a scholarship. This is a referral scholarship program. I got this as I was referred by my friend, who was studying. This is a program specifically made for students to get their friends and families to join the university.
• This program awards student who refers a friend with receive £1500 reward and a £1500 discount in fees for new students, which is termed a scholarship.

• I was in an off-campus accommodation. I found my accommodation through the Gumtree application. I was in a shared apartment which cost us £1200 including bills, and was shared by 4, so each one of us was paying £300 per month. I didn’t have any difficulties in finding the accommodation. I would recommend future students to look for shared accommodation.
• My apartment was around 1 mile from the campus, and I used to walk through Bede Park to reach the campus.

• Yes, I received a scholarship; as I paid my fees yearly, I got a fee waiver of 2000 pounds
• Some of my batchmates received same amount and also some received 1000 pounds according to the initial fees what they decide to pay
• In my course an average of 40 students got the scholarship and the scholarship vary from 500 to 2500 pounds
• In other courses there are more scholarships available according to merit.

• I found my accommodation through the online platform Uni homes. I also joined telegram and WhatsApp groups for DMU students.
• Monthly rent was 450-480 pounds, and it included all bills, a furnished room with a bed, desk and wardrobe, and a shared kitchen and living area. It also had washing machine and microwave as well
• The only challenge i faced was high demand during intake season—rooms were getting booked pretty quickly
• I would recommend students to start searching early, getting into whats app telegram groups, finding people and taking a full house for rent- this way the rent would be much lower. Always ask for a virtual tour of accommodation.
• My accommodation was just a 6-8 min walk from the university. Most indian students prefer areas like Newarke close, filbert village, Upperton road, western boulevard, bede island and these locations are close to university and have grocery stores and restaurants nearby

• Yes, I received a scholarship before getting the unconditional offer from DMU. There's no such name for this scholarship and the eligibility criteria are that if the student pays 50% of the course fee within 30 days of the conditional offer being offered by the university, then the student is eligible for this scholarship.
• The amount was £1,000, which was deducted from the overall course fee.
• Many of my batchmates received the same scholarship from the university.

• I found my accommodation via a traditional google search. I also used Instagram to find the accommodation where I was living.
• My monthly rent was £900. This is quite an expensive option. My rent was too high but I was ready to pay the price for the facilities offered by the accommodation. The usual facilities like en suite, wifi, electricity bill, water bill, and heating bills were included in the rent, but what stood out about this accommodation and why I was willing to pay that price was because:
• I was living in a premium en suite room. In the room we were provided with the washer & dryer. So basically, each independent room (not shared) had its own washer & dryer in it. 99% of the time the washers and dryers have a separate room for the building residents to use them but in this case the washer & dryer were in each independent room. So no sharing the washer & dryer with other residences.
• They offered free breakfast (Monday-Friday) every week. This was a great deal for me personally. Although the breakfast wasn't lavish or anything, it was croissants and cornflakes. On special occasions we used to get lavish breakfasts.
• They also have free coffee in the accommodation always.
• Challenges faced by me:
• Since I was attending the January intake and due to personal reasons I could not book my accommodation early in my admission stage I had to book during December time. Now December is a time for Christmas and everyone's in vacation mood. The problem is that it becomes difficult sometimes to coordinate with them via emails and calls (since you're not in the UK yet). Due to the festive season and vibes, most of the staff members are either on leave or not in the mood so this factor can be challenging for you to either book yourself in. I faced a similar challenge.
• Suggestions:
• If you're an international student booking it from your home country, please make sure to ask for a virtual tour of the whole place (not just the showrooms) so that you can at least have an idea about the place before paying them. And don't worry, you can always ask them politely for the virtual tour via email or phone call; they won't deny it.
• Make sure to book your accommodation well in advance. And by advance I mean at least 4-5 months prior to living there. Why i suggest this is because all the good accommodations fill up fast, and it'll be quite difficult for you to get a place for yourself. A disadvantage of booking late is that sometimes these accommodations increase their prices for the late bookers to take advantage of their situation. So try to avoid that and if you can, then book 4-5 months in advance.
• Searching for accommodation is pretty easy, I'd say, because there are websites available for students to seek the right accommodation for them. But apart from the traditional methods, I'd also recommend using Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook groups to find the accommodation suitable for you.
• There's a service in the UK for international students where these students can order the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom sets before they even arrive in the UK, and these sets will be delivered to their accommodation that they've already booked.
  • These sets include: Dining plates set, Cutlery set, Cooking Pan set, Glass set, knives, Chopping board, bedsheet, Pillow, Pillow cover, Blanket, Towel set, Bathroom equipment, etc. You can customise these sets according to your preferences and the quality is also good. This service was really helpful for me and I highly recommend all students do that, as it can save you A LOT of time and you'll be stress-free from day one.

• Yes, I received a scholarship but that was a part of the partnership that DMU had with my college (The Vedica Scholars Programme for Women).
• I received a 50% scholarship. Considering that I was not doing the full course, I had to pay 12000 pounds but because of the scholarship, I paid half of that i.e., 6000 pounds.
• Yes, my batchmates from Vedica who joined DMU received an equivalent scholarship.
• I do not have an idea about the number of students who receive scholarship but I have heard that they reduce the fees based on your previous academic performance.

• I used online platforms to find my accommodation.
• I had taken an ensuite room with a shared kitchen and living space at Castle Court by Unite Students. The monthly rent was around 500 pounds.
• I had to contact multiple sites to get my booking done. The availability of good properties was also an issue.
• Start seeking accommodation beforehand as the last-moment ones are highly-priced and you might not even get a suitable one if though you are willing to pay more.
• My accommodation was right next to the college campus. Most Indian students stay in student accommodations only.

• I am not aware of any scholarship for this particular course but one can do their own research maybe the university has now introduced some sort of scholarship for this particular course now. While I was there I was not aware of any such thing but one can do their own research about this and get to know more through their brochure and university website.

• I opted for off campus accommodation but there were options of on campus accommodations as well. The off campus two bedroom apartment costed us 120 pounds per person per week. There was deposit of around 800 pounds with the owner which we got full refund when we vacated the apartment.
• The apartment had two bedrooms fully furnished with a study table cupboards, beds and chairs. The kitchen area has a dining table, a sofa, a refrigerator and a washing machine. All grocery stores were very nearby and this place was only 400 meters away from the college campus so it was very easy to walk to the classrooms.

• I didn't receive any scholarship during my course Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology for De Montfort University. I was late to apply for the scholarship as my admission was done in last minutes.
• One of my friend actually received scholarship from University. The amount was about £2000.
• It is heard that De Montfort University provides scholarship for about 10 to 25% students considering various categories.

• I opted for a Off- Campus Accommodation. It's was a 3 bedroom apartment, just a 10 minute walk from University. I found that place with the help of an agent.
• My monthly rent was £400 (Total of £1200 for whole apartment). Only the water bill was included with the rent. The electricity bill and gas bill was shared among the tenants.
• It was a three bedroom house with tables and wardrobe in each room, Kitchen, Bathroom, toilet, a common area and a study room.
• It is quite challenging to find a affordable accommodation. My recommendation for future students is to stay in University accommodations. That is better for a student as they will provide better facilities and will be safer. And the accommodation will be near the University.
• My accommodation was just a 10 minute walk from University. And most of the South Indians stay in off- Campus accommodation and North Indians Stay in On-campus accommodations.

• There is scholarship available for people who have prior work experience. I had 3 years of work experience, So I got £2000 worth of scholarship. It also depends on the interview. If they think you are worth the money, they will surely give you discounts and help you with accomodations. In my class, I think 25% of the people got scholarship and all of them had prior work experience. They typical amount that people get is £2000 in my knowledge.

• I found my accomodation on the DeMontfort University website only. They have collaborations with several student accomodation companies. My accomodation was Unite Students. It was somewhat expensive compared to other accommodations but facilities were excellent.
• I used to pay £650 per month. The staff was very helpful and informative. It was situated just behind the University. It took me 5 mins. To reach my building.

I chose this country since I did not require a Visa here. The reason I chose this University because it was the highest rated in the shortlist I had since I just had 2 years of work experience, I was limited to options. Overall it was a good experience since it was a very new experience, just had issues with getting a job.

Yes, I did receive an MBA scholarship worth 2500 GBP. I submitted a 1000 words essay on why I think I am eligible for this scholarship. This scholarship is very rare and is given to exceptional students as a token of appreciation for their hard work and excellence in a particular field.

This University ticked all the boxes that I had in mind for a great place to do career advancement for the next two years. One of the many things I like about this university is the enormous-beautiful-widespread campus, Its global rankings, the courses they offered, their UK rankings , employment opportunities after graduation, and finally a good life off campus as well.

No

Course curriculum had specific topics that interested me. Was research based.