Reflections on my first term as an MSc student

Two of our MSc ambassadors share the ins and outs of term one as an MSc student at Warwick Business School, from learning in a new environment, to accessing a range of opportunities.

Ti-Kai Chang, MSc Business with Marketing

Before my first term at WBS, I felt very excited about what my journey was going to be; not only was I about to study a subject that interested me so much, but I would also be living in the UK for the first time in my life. In addition, I could not wait to begin my lectures, seminars and meet some new friends here. However, this is my first time studying abroad after living in Taiwan, and I was a little worried about how to keep up with the study, how complicated the lectures might be and how to adapt quickly.

In the 2021/2022 academic year, WBS followed the blended teaching principal, through which students would attend online lectures, but join face-to-face seminars to reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19. However, international students could also study their term one online abroad. I chose to study in person because I thought the learning experience would be better than an online one, with more interaction between teachers and classmates. Moreover, I only have one year to finish my postgraduate course, so I wanted to have a more detailed and comprehensive learning experience.

The knowledge covered during my first term was challenging, comprehensive, and practical. I had four modules in term one, including the Foundation of Financial and Management Accounting, Quantitative Methods for Business, Strategy Analysis and Practice, and Marketing.

Each module needs students to spend considerable time previewing the content before it is taught, and then teachers will give more in-depth knowledge in the live lecture. Following the lecture there would be seminars for students to discuss and query after the class. Every week, I spent hours studying these requested materials, including self-reviewing the lecture materials before the lecture, searching unfamiliar concepts, doing requested assignments and additional practices, and attending face-to-face seminars and team discussions with classmates. I would also use additional resources, which are free to students, such as borrowing books from the library, reading the Financial Times, attending career coaching activities, and sessions in which business leaders shared their insights.

After finishing my first term, I’ve started to understand and wonder how I can utilise what I have learned in my future career, which is my most significant gain during this term. As a marketing student, it is beneficial to understand the theoretical and practical examples of marketing and related subjects, such as financial accounting analysis, cost and budget, statistic calculation, and quantitative analysis. WBS allocated those modules to business students to arm themselves with adequate knowledge before getting into their careers.

He Wang, MSc Management

I wonder if you are as worried and excited as I was before the start of Term 1, as my undergraduate studies were not related to my postgraduate application. I was excited because I imagined a lot of things that could happen when I joined WBS; I was also looking forward to how WBS would affect my life in the future, and whether I will be the person I want to be after graduation?

I browsed the School’s website and thought that an inclusive and open atmosphere will help me more in my studies. For example, people from different countries can interact with each other and often generate brighter and more varied ideas than people from the same region. At the same time, I was worried about how quickly I would be able to adapt to a short master's course, which was completely new to me.

After finishing my first semester, I think WBS has given me so many surprises that far exceeded my expectations. Firstly, it has provided many opportunities, whether it be academic, career-related, or life experience as a student abroad. I have to say that I have had many new and exciting experiences during this time. Although Covid still imposes restrictions on my life, I feel that WBS is serious about listening to students' suggestions and meeting their different needs. In addition, every case and data in the seminar is up-to-date and the professors provide many ways and channels to help each student gain whatever knowledge they want. Between the variety of optional activities and the rigorous demands of the course, I have had to learn to plan my time carefully and find a balance between study and life.

I would have to say that the most useful aspect of Term 1 has been accessing the my.wbs platform, where I found a lot of databases, useful papers, and reading lists, which helped me in my academic research. I was able to find what I was looking for in the database when I was writing my assignments and studying for my next course, and if I couldn't find it in time I could ask the administrator for help.

Read more about the experiences of our MSc students here, or download our MSc brochure to discover our range of Postgraduate courses.