With so many courses and colleges to choose from, selecting the right course and a perfect university can be a daunting task. Let’s find out how to create the perfect universities list when applying in the UK for a master’s degree.

Steps to creating the perfect universities list

Make a list of all the universities you wish to attend for your degree

First, you must create a list of all the universities in the UK that are well ranked, ideally within the top 25 in the UK for your particular degree. This list should include all universities that offer your degree, and match all your other requirements such as career prospects, budget, and duration. For example, if you want to do a Masters degree in Finance or an MBA in Finance, list all the universities, as per rankings that offer your degree and are universities that you would like to attend. Your choice can also be based on criteria such as the university’s location, opportunities and other factors that are important to you.

Bifurcate your choice of universities into a list of Dream, Reach and Safety universities

Secondly, you must create a list of dream, reach and safety universities. A Dream University is ideally the university that you aspire to attend and where chances of admission are low. Next are Reach universities, where you have a good chance of getting accepted. Then we come to Safety universities. These are universities that you have a very good and easy chance of getting into. 

You can determine what category each university falls in by looking at their GPA requirements, standardized test requirements and the number of students they admit each year. 

Let me give you an example for a clearer understanding. Let’s assume that you want to go for an MBA, and your GMAT score is 650 and GPA is 8.3 out of 10. In such a scenario your target universities for an M.B.A. program could be Oxford, Cambridge and London Business School; your reach universities could be Warwick, Imperial and Durham; and your safety universities could be University of Manchester, Cass Business School and Cranfield School of Management. These are on the basis of the overall rankings, average GMAT score, GPA requirements, school reputation and overall employability. 

You should create a final list of 10 universities where you have 3 dream universities, 4 reach universities and 3 safety universities listed. It is not recommended to only apply to dream universities because those are the toughest to get in. So, it’s important to be very strategic about your final universities list!

Sign up at UniRely for free, and our counselors will help you do the primary research, shortlisting best-suited universities for you. To get more information about how to apply to universities abroad for your master’s degree, please visit our website – www.unirely.com.