Tag: Top tips

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Career Support – what to do when you have no clue…

Photograph of Fionnuala… by Fionnuala / from London / BSc Mathematics and Statistics / 3rd Year (UG) 

With so many options open to you after studying a Maths degree, thinking about what career you might go into can be a very daunting experience. The ‘What are you going to do after uni?’ question has always been floating around, however, until I hit Honours years, I never felt under any pressure to have an answer. I had always thought about the options available to me and had spoken to countless people at careers fairs etc but still didn’t feel content with where I was at with regards to my career. Continue reading “Career Support – what to do when you have no clue…”

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How I secured a summer internship, and how the University helped…

Photograph of Katrina… by Katrina / from Northumberland / BSc Mathematics and Statistics / 3rd Year (UG)

After starting university, the once scary question of “what are you going to study at university and where are you going to study?” quickly becomes the even scarier question “so what are your plans after university?”. For many, including myself, starting university I didn’t exactly know what I wanted to do but what I did know was that studying maths gave so many opportunities upon graduating, which in fact can sometimes make it harder to choose! This is why I started to look for opportunities to explore and try different fields so I could start to rule things out!

I am going to go through a few of the different ways the University of Edinburgh helped me go from a confused 1st year, to a 2nd year with a spring week at JP Morgan, to a 3rd year with a place as a technology summer analyst at Morgan Stanley. Continue reading “How I secured a summer internship, and how the University helped…”

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Swap subject to maths? No problem…

Photo of JoJo… by JoJo / from China / MSc Statistics and Operational Research / PG (2021-22)

This is the subject that I want to talk about for quite a long time. At the time I’m writing this blog, it is already the second semester of my MSc studying Statistics and OR. The first semester was certainly hard and super intense, but we managed to surpass the phase, and here I am, trying to pull a blog out telling you what is it like to change subject from a different disciplinary to statistics. I do appreciate that this post may not target at all the audience, but I believe it is useful for students who are from different discipline who wants to come to do statistics.

We have many students who did not come from a statistics or mathematics background, so for those of you who are unsure about whether you should apply because you are afraid that your background may not be good enough, do apply. As long as you can get an offer from the admission, you will be doing just fine. Continue reading “Swap subject to maths? No problem…”

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Third Year and Full-Time Mathematics…

Photograph of Fionnuala… by Fionnuala / from London / BSc Mathematics and Statistics / 3rd Year (UG)

After two years of studying in Edinburgh, a global pandemic, not being able to make it to Spain for my year abroad and many more obstacles – I’ve finally completed the first Honours semester of my degree (minus a few exams in the next week!). Returning to Edinburgh in September after not living there for almost a year due to the pandemic was a very scary experience. Although I had lived there before, had friends on my course and societies to get back to, I couldn’t help but feel just as nervous as I was before I started in first year. These last few years have been a challenge for all of us but as I look back on the past semester, I can honestly say that I’ve really enjoyed third year so far. 

Continue reading “Third Year and Full-Time Mathematics…”

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Living on the tails: studying as a mature student…

Photograph of Azfarul… by Azfarul / from London, UK / MSc Statistics with Data Science / PG (2020-21)

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

In addition to “Sorry, I was on mute!”, this is what I heard most throughout 2020. After a decade of working, leaving behind a fascinating job during global uncertainty to pursue a Masters might have seemed like foolishness. Fast forward more than a year and – after what felt like drowning in hundreds of hours of coursework, endlessly playing and re-playing recorded lectures, dealing with the eerie silence of virtually-conducted examinations, and three intense months of industrially-liaised project work – I still find it difficult to believe how this time flew as it did.

Continue reading “Living on the tails: studying as a mature student…”

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20 Ways to be a Sustainable Student at Edinburgh Uni…

Photograph of Anna… by Anna / from Dundee / BSc Mathematics / 4th Year (UG)

With a new semester comes the opportunity to create sustainable habits and mindsets. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not perfect at this, but by slowly making small changes, I’ve managed to transform some of my choices into less wasteful ones. I thought I’d share some of these with you in case you’d like some ideas of how to live more sustainably!

Continue reading “20 Ways to be a Sustainable Student at Edinburgh Uni…”

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Expectation(Uni Life) ≠ Reality…

Photograph of Morgan… by Morgan / from Fraserburgh / MMath Mathematics / 3rd year (UG)

Hi, I’m Morgan and I’m a 3rd year Maths student at the University of Edinburgh. So far, I’ve really enjoyed my time at university; however we all know no tale is without its adversities. It’s perhaps a little cliché to say that “the transition from school to university is so difficult!” but that saying wouldn’t be repeated so frequently if it weren’t true (although my statistics lecturer may tell me that I’m a victim of observation bias…)

Continue reading “Expectation(Uni Life) ≠ Reality…”

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If I Could Talk to my First Year Self…

… by Rory / from Peebles / MMath Mathematics / 5th Year (UG)

I am about to enter my 5th and final year of an MMath degree, with the start of the semester only a couple of weeks away. I thought it might be interesting to cast my mind back to this time four years ago and examine how my approach and preparations for the semester have changed over the years. Hopefully this will be a useful reference for those just starting out and on a personal level I am curious to see what I’ve done differently and why. Continue reading “If I Could Talk to my First Year Self…”

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A Day in the Life of an MSc Student (during Covid-19)…

Mike sat at his desk holding up a glass… by Mike / from Greece / MSc Statistics with Data Science / PG (2020-21)

Hello there!

My name is Mike, I am from the lovely country of Greece and currently am an MSc Statistics with Data Science student at The University of Edinburgh. In this post I will try to describe what my typical, more relaxed, work days as a PGT student look like.

Continue reading “A Day in the Life of an MSc Student (during Covid-19)…”

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The 5 Best Ways to Spend a Student Summer…

A photograph of Niamh… by Niamh / from Lincolnshire / BSc Mathematics / 4th Year (UG)

When everyone thinks about starting uni they think of the flat parties, the lectures, the exams and the new societies they’ll join come September. But what they don’t often consider is the panic that will inevitably set in around March/April time when you realise that university will finish soon for 3 whole months and you have absolutely no plan for your summer. That was definitely me during my first year of uni and I think it’s fair to say that most students aren’t aware of all the opportunities that are out there.

Here’s a list of, what I consider to be, the 5 best ways to spend the summers during university:

Continue reading “The 5 Best Ways to Spend a Student Summer…”

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Things to do in Self-Isolation…

… by Rachel / from Isle of Arran / BSc Mathematics / 1st Year (UG)

A lot of things have changed these past weeks and we’ve had to adjust to working from home and doing all our classes online. (For those of you struggling to work in your rooms I personally find I am more productive working in the hallway than on my bed). However, the harder adjustment is figuring out how to stay entertained and connected with our friends so I thought I would share some of the things my flatmates and I have been doing to make our days a little more interesting. Continue reading “Things to do in Self-Isolation…”

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My Weekly Workload in my First Semester…

… by Katrina / from Northumberland / BSc Mathematics / 1st Year (UG)

Before starting university, one of my main concerns was the workload being unmanageable. After around 3 months off for summer I wondered if I even remembered how to schedule my life and manage my time effectively. However, I soon found that the workload could be managed easily and was helped by having weekly deadlines. Continue reading “My Weekly Workload in my First Semester…”

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The Flat Hunt…

… by Benedicty / from Romford /
BSc Computer Science and Mathematics / 3rd Year (UG)

What I did right, the mistakes I made and what you can learn from it.

Finding a flat in first and second year was pretty much a piece of cake. Barely any work was put in and I always seemed to manage to find a flat that I liked.

Third year was where the trouble began, as I found myself in quite an awkward and unusual position. After complications with my year abroad, I had to find somewhere and someone to live with over the summer, before I went back up to Edinburgh for Year 3. Here are some things I learnt whilst attempting to secure my third-year home: Continue reading “The Flat Hunt…”

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Managing Dyslexia at University…

… by Harry / from Dalgety Bay / BSc Mathematics / 1st Year (UG)

As anyone who has dyslexia knows, the special circumstances given to you for having a learning disability is crucial for both the exams you sit and your overall learning. If you are like me, one of my biggest worries in coming to university was losing the special circumstances I get as I would not be able to finish any exam without them. Thankfully the University has an extremely simple system in order for you to obtain the support you need for your studies. Continue reading “Managing Dyslexia at University…”

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Time to Study! But where?…

… by Peter / from London / MA Economics and Mathematics / 2nd Year (UG)

Hey everyone! Studying Economics and Maths at the University of Edinburgh has been awesome. Meeting new people and making friends, trying new sports and joining societies which interest me: university has lived up to my expectations so far. But part of the package is studying for exams and the exam season really does catch you by surprise. So it’s time to study and I feel it would be useful to share my top locations to study. Continue reading “Time to Study! But where?…”

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Getting into Banking with a Maths Degree…

… by Rebecca / from Lincoln / BSc Mathematics [2nd Year Entry] / 2nd Year (UG)

As one of the highest-earning sectors for graduates, it’s no surprise that banking is a popular career choice. By ‘banking’, I mean investment banks (e.g. JPMorgan), asset managers (e.g. BlackRock) and more general banks (e.g. HSBC) etc. It can seem like a daunting industry that would be better suited to economics students, but banks hire maths graduates and are trying to become more diverse in every way, so it is a career you can have if you want it.

Since it is so competitive, to get a career in banking most people start preparing early on in their degree. After being at university for almost a year now, I’m starting to understand the timeline, so I have put together a guide of key things to do every year of your degree to help you get into banking:

Continue reading “Getting into Banking with a Maths Degree…”

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Finding Your Friends at University…

… by Susanne / from Amsterdam / BSc Computer Science and Mathematics / 3rd Year (UG)

Let me first introduce myself; my name is Susanne and I am currently a third-year Computer Science and Maths student at the University. I was born in Germany but have spent all of my youth in Amsterdam, so no, I unfortunately do not speak German. Growing up I never saw myself leaving the comfort of that rainy cold country until I started to look into the options for universities. The thought of not only moving out of my parent’s house but also moving to a completely new country where I knew no one frightened me but also excited me, as it gave me the opportunity to study at such a wonderful university in such a vibrant and cultured city. Continue reading “Finding Your Friends at University…”