Hello everyone! Today’s post is dedicated to the success story of one of our followers, who entered the master’s program with free tuition at the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland (FH Burgenland), in Austria. The story is presented in the first person.
“FH Burgenland is one of the leading universities in Austria and has a great variety of fields of study. I applied to this university spontaneously, because I had initially planned to apply to another university in Austria, but I got rejected. This experience pushed me to search for other opportunities and that’s how I came across FH Burgenland. My first impression of the website of the university was definitely positive because I could easily find answers to all my questions. Apart from some general information, you can get information about courses, international mobility, and the curriculum for the upcoming academic year. My choice fell on a specialization “European studies – Management of the EU projects” because I am genuinely interested in this sphere. The huge advantage for me is that the education in this field is conducted in English. This course is completely free of charge, but a refundable student fee must be paid. Scholarships for personal expenses and living expenses are not provided, but it is possible to apply for social support in certain circumstances during your studies.
I only had two days before the deadline, and I had to gather all the necessary documents during this period of time. An important thing to consider is the fact that I already had some documents prepared (for example a CV), so it is better to pay attention to individual needs and be prepared for the university application in advance.
Here are the documents required for the application:
– Bachelor’s degree (if not graduated yet, a certificate from the university with the date of graduation);
– high school diploma;
– transcripts;
– English language proficiency certificate at the C1 level (in my case, an IELTS certificate);
– Letter of motivation (if desired). I would recommend writing it in order to maximize the chances.
– CV;
– Main documents (passport, photo).
All documents must be uploaded to the profile, which can be opened by following the instructions on the website.
Then, you will get contacted through the mail specified, so don’t forget to check it.
The next step is the interview. This step can be considered an exam, which lasts 20-30 minutes, and consists of three parts:
1- a five-minute presentation about previous education, experience, additional qualifications, reasons for applying to a degree program, and any other topics that the applicant considers important.
2- a mini-research and five-minute presentation on a current topic about the European Union.
3- general knowledge about the European Union with a focus on the topic that was chosen for presentation 2.
Presentations should be sent two days before the interview for review. During my interview, the interviewers decided to move directly to the second and third parts of the presentation. Probably there was enough information about me and my academic achievements in the presentation and other documents, so I would advise other candidates to write about themselves in detail in the motivation letter, CV, and in Presentation 1. Furthermore, I prepared three questions related to the university and studies. This seems important to me because this is a way for you to show your desire and interest. The interviewers are always ready to answer.
After the interview, there is usually a long waiting period for candidates, but not in this case. Just two hours later I received a letter with an offer, and I was happy to accept it.”