Silvia Maresca

Why did you decide to apply to City?

City’s Journalism course is well known for being one of the best in the UK in terms of the quality of teaching and for the amount of proper professional practice it gives students throughout the three years of the BA. For this reason, it made perfect sense for me to have City as my first choice when applying through UCAS.

What were the most important resources for you in helping you to make a decision?

As I was based in Italy at the time I applied, I couldn’t attend an Open Day. Nonetheless, I did my research on the university by consulting the university prospectus (which got mailed to my home address), as well as the website and all the videos that were on the City Youtube channel at that time. I also found it really helpful talking to two current BA Journalism students from Italy who were at City at that time. I could ask them any questions I had on the application process as well as the course.

What was your favourite thing about studying at City?

I really love my course. The location was great; as a newbie to London, I appreciated the fact that City is central yet in a quiet neighbourhood. The possibility to add a study abroad to my course was a great draw for me when applying – I ended up doing this and loving it. I spent one year studying abroad at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, and before returning to Europe I undertook a one-month internship in a journalism newsroom in New York City.

Have you had the opportunity to do any other internships or work experience during your course?

I have had the opportunity to do a range of internships and work experience since the start of my course (at places like journalism.co.uk, the Evening Standard Magazine, the Sunday Times STYLE, Stylist Magazine, Talk Radio). In 2015, I also attended the International Journalism Festival in Perugia and was part of their press office.

What kind of things were you involved in outside your course?

I was a Student Ambassador since the start of my first year; in my second year, I was a CityBuddy; and I have been part of student media at City. I was also a reporter for the City-based local news site, St John Street News.

What would be your top tips for our applicants?

• Speak to current students (if they also happen to be from your home country, that would be even better)
• Keep up to date with British and international news and current affairs (reading the papers, watching news on TV, follow other journalists and news organisations on twitter and checking their websites)
• Set up a twitter account and maybe even start a blog
• Get familiar with the course structure (I believe it is never too early to start thinking about things such as which electives you might want to do).