My Full UK Marketing Master's Application Journey

A bit about me first. Ever since college, my parents wanted me to plan on going abroad for grad school after graduating. But I knew I liked hands-on work far more than academia, and I didn't want to force myself through a foreign degree just to have one. So their advice went in one ear and out the other, and right after graduating I started sending out applications on 104 😃

Then, through my first job, I happened to end up doing cross-disciplinary marketing work and found marketing really interesting. "But I had no foundation," just a bit of hands-on experience without the professional grounding. Add to that wanting to "study abroad while I'm still young," and I finally decided to go. So here's the full record of applying for a UK master's while working, Part 1:

▍Background

▨ University: Fu Jen Catholic University, Journalism; one year out of school

▨ Overall grade average: 85.11

▨ English test: only ever took the TOEIC, scored 895 before graduating senior year

▨ Work experience: editorial team at a new-media company (part-time, 4 months) > new-media department at a TV station (part-time, 10 months) > full-time in the marketing department of a new-media company (almost 2 years full-time)

▍Early May

▍Why the UK

▨ Programs: plenty of marketing programs to choose from

▨ Time: a master's takes just one year

▨ Applying: you basically only need the most basic documents, no time spent writing a research essay

▨ Graduation requirements: a dissertation isn't mandatory; you can choose a business project

▍Late May

▍Finalizing my school list

I made an Excel sheet and weighed schools on a few criteria that mattered to me: my own profile, school ranking (cross-checking QS against UK rankings for "marketing"), location, curriculum, graduation requirements (I really didn't want to write a dissertation 😃), and scholarships

In the end I picked these 5 schools

▨ Manchester Marketing

▨ Durham Marketing

▨ Southampton Marketing Management, Digital Marketing

▨ Birmingham Marketing

▨ Newcastle International Marketing, Digital Business (e-Marketing)

▍June–July

▍Preparing documents

| CV |

▨ Mainly list the following as bullet points: extracurricular experience, work experience, language certificates, technical skills (which software you can use), and referees' basic details

▨ List at most 3 points per experience and pick out only the big highlights; no need to go into detail. Remember to describe your performance with "quantified numbers" and "concrete examples" wherever possible

| SOP |

In my view, an SOP differs from a CV in three key ways: it should show the school "what you learned" from the experiences listed on your CV, "why you're interested in this program," and that "you have a clear picture of and goals for your future." Through these "specific" points, you persuade the school why they should admit you

Here's the main content of my final version after a study-abroad agency edited it, about 800 words in total ⬇️

▨ Paragraph 1: Opening

Imagine you're writing ad copy or telling a story, and use strong sentences to convey what draws you to marketing. Don't jump straight into introducing yourself. At the end, remember to set up a hook that connects to the next paragraph

▨ Paragraph 2: University experience

Mention your university, overall grades, marketing-related electives you chose to take, and how your extracurriculars and part-time jobs shaped you

▨ Paragraph 3: Work experience

Which aspects of marketing your job involved. Remember to give direct examples of marketing work you've actually done so your experience comes across as more concrete

▨ Paragraph 4: Tailored section

Explain why you still want a master's despite having work experience, your vision for your future in marketing, why you chose this school, and why you chose this program

▨ Paragraph 5: Closing

Condense the key points made earlier, including how this program fits your future goals and how your work experience lets you bring a different perspective to class

| Recommendation Letter |

▨ Some programs no longer look at recommendation letters, but I treated 2 letters as required across the board and told my referees that every program I was applying to needed them

▨ I'd heard too many horror stories about professors dragging things out, being hard to reach and leaving people stranded. So as soon as I finalized my school list at the end of May, I emailed my professors and set the DL for the end of September, giving them plenty of time to prepare and leaving myself some time to chase them

▨ For my other letter I asked my boss at work. Since I already had full-time work experience, a letter showing my abilities in the workplace, as opposed to the academic performance a professor writes about, would be an advantage by showing the school a different side of me

▨ The email mainly reintroduced myself to the professor, mentioned which of their classes I'd taken, my plans for the master's, why I was asking them for a letter, and finally asked whether they'd be willing

▍August–September

▍IELTS prep

I'd put my English at around intermediate. From past language tests, I also found that the most effective training for me is grinding through practice tests: building a feel for it through constant practice, while improving my accuracy by going over my mistakes (but my way of preparing might not work for you 🥺)

So apart from settling on IELTS at the start, getting a feel for the question types, and practicing speaking English day to day to get used to the test, I spent the rest of the time going straight through the Cambridge IELTS past papers

I worked through books 12–15 by hand, every day. But since I usually didn't get off work until after 19.30, time was very limited, so on workdays I basically finished one test every 2 days and on days off one test a day, which came to roughly one book a week (including corrections)

In the last week before the test, I used the computer-based mock tests in the 雅思哥 app to do book 16, mainly to get used to the computer interface. Do not skip this! With handwritten practice I could hold steady at around 7 overall, but on the computer-based tests I just couldn't get into it and my scores were terrible..... Still, I was glad I'd left time to practice the computer format, so the real test wasn't a disaster 😂

▨ Final score: Overall 7. Here's what I practiced with day to day

▨ Listening 7.5: Cambridge past papers, watching every new video from the YouTube vloggers I follow (favorites: Jenn Im, Lillian Chiu, Michelle Choi 🧚‍♀️), and the podcast IELTS Speaking for Success

▨ Reading 8.5: Cambridge past papers

▨ Writing 6: Cambridge past papers, plus a 10-lesson package on the online tutoring platform Amazing Talker where a teacher marked my essays (super useful! A lot of the writing methods taught in Taiwan make no sense to native speakers; working with a foreign teacher really trains your writing "logic." BTW, if you pick a British tutor you can practice the British accent too)

▨ Speaking 6: Cambridge past papers and the podcast IELTS Speaking for Success

Basically, I set the DL for all my application prep at before October, so once each school's system opened I could submit right away with no stress. And with the UK's "first come, first reviewed" system, that's a huge advantage: my offers came way, way, waaay sooner than I expected!