In her third year, Minjia Zhu went on exchange to the Universityof Nottingham UK where, by chance, she chose the optional module OperationsResearch. This guided eventually her future postgraduate and career choices.The module kindled her interest in computer science and helped her become aResearch Assistant to her module convener.

Like all students Minjia felt anxious towards the end of herthird year because she had doubts about her future. After a lot of discussionwith her tutors about her postgraduate plans and future employmentopportunities, she decided to study Business Analytics and Data Science.Although at that time the field of Big Data was far less popular than today, underguidance from her teacher Minjia recognised the looming significance of BigData.

Minjia’s dissertation supervisor was Dr Chee Kian Leung, andEconomics tutor with a background in computer science. At the Dr Leung’s suggestionshe wrote a dissertation about data science. Also, volunteering to help the Globalisationand Economic Policy Research Centre-China gave her the chance to meet somefamous economists, one of whom agreed to write her a reference letter.

With her excellent academic performance, dissertation andunique reference letter, Minjia secured offers from many world-classuniversities including the University of Chicago, the London School ofEconomics and Political Science, and the National University of Singapore. Aftersome serious deliberation Minjia chose the Computer Science & Public Policyprogramme offered by the University of Chicago because it allowed her toexplore who two main interests.

During her two years at the University of Chicago, Minjiahad several internships in China and overseas. She even received an offer ofwork from the World Bank. Her original plan was to return to China afterworking overseas for a few years, but after taking personal matters intoconsideration she finally decided to return to Hangzhou to work at NetEase. Sowe got the chance to meet her and this is what she shared with us:

UNNC helped my personal development

UNNC has helped me a lot in mypersonal development. The first is the tutorial system. The tutors of UNNC,whether they are personal tutors, essay supervisors or seminar tutors, givestudents lots of suggestions and they always do their best. In traditionalChinese universities teacher-student relations are not so close. Teachers inUNNC are always there for you – to help you and give you advice and guidance Infact, my performance in the college entrance examination was not particularlygood, but at UNNC I don’t feel I am second to those who performed better thanme in the Gaokao. UNNC also offers students a lot of scholarship opportunities,such as the Principal’s scholarship, which also helps with students’ motivation.

Advice for students at UNNC

UNNC encourages a way of thinkingthat is of great benefit to students’ development. The IELTS, GMAT and GREexams are also important, but it should not be the focus of the study as the all-roundability is of priority when you are applying for post-graduate study. Thiscategory of scores is just a threshold. In career development, you must defineyour goals. If you do not know your interests, you can explore them extensivelyand eventually you will find the right direction.

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