Leap Scholar Review: Five Offers, Two Confused Course Choices, and a 40 Percent Scholarship I Didn't Expect

I genuinely couldn't decide between staying in tech or moving into business, so I ended up applying to both. Here's my Leap Scholar review, in my own words, on getting into all five UK universities I applied to and landing a scholarship that turned out to be far bigger than I expected.

Q1. Tell me a bit about yourself.

I'm Snigdha Sindhuja, and I'm from Vijayawada. I'm currently studying MS in International Business at the University of Birmingham's Dubai campus.

Q2. How did you first hear about Leap Scholar?

I saw them through advertisements on social media, mostly Instagram and a few other platforms. That's how I ended up connecting with the team.

Q3. How long is your course, and where are you at with it now?

It's a one-year course, and it's actually about to wrap up next month.

Q4. How did Leap Scholar actually help you through this journey?

When I first started thinking about doing my master's, I genuinely wasn't sure which country or which institute to go with. Once I connected with the Leap Scholar team, my counselor, Akshita Shetty, helped me a lot with filtering down the courses I actually wanted and choosing universities with the right ranking, along with detailed course information so I could find exactly what fit me. Initially, I wanted to apply to both Ireland and the UK, but by the time I got into the process, most of the Irish universities I wanted had already closed applications. So I applied to five UK universities instead, and I got offer letters from all five. I eventually chose the University of Birmingham. My counselor helped me the whole way, choosing universities, sending SOPs, and applying to the actual courses.

Q5. How did your parents react to you going abroad?

My original plan was actually to work in the corporate sector for a year or two first and then think about a master's. But my dad felt strongly that this was the right time to finish my studies completely before joining the corporate world, so he encouraged me to go straight for it right after my bachelor's. I didn't work at all before starting my master's, I went directly from my bachelor's into this program.

Q6. How did the shortlisting, SOP, and visa process actually go?

My bachelor's was in computer science, with a specialization in cybersecurity, but I was also genuinely interested in business. I was confused for a while, honestly, so I ended up applying to both cybersecurity-focused programs and business-focused ones. My counselor helped me work through that confusion; she asked what my actual goals were and what I wanted to do and helped me figure out which course genuinely fit me better. She pulled together detailed course information for each option and helped me compare universities based on ranking, financial factors, and location, which made finalizing everything much easier.

Q7. Did you write your own SOP?

No, actually, I didn't write it myself. I only needed one SOP, and my counselor helped write it entirely. She gave me a questionnaire; I filled in all my personal and academic details, and she prepared the complete SOP from there.

Q8. Did you get any scholarships?

Yes, and it turned out better than I expected. University of Birmingham typically offers international students a scholarship of 25 to 30 percent. But last year happened to be the university's 125th anniversary, so as part of that celebration, all international students received a 40 percent scholarship instead.

Q9. Would you recommend Leap Scholar to your friends?

Definitely, yes. I've already recommended quite a few of my friends, and most of them have gone through Leap Scholar too. It's genuinely useful, and I'll keep recommending it to anyone who asks.

From being torn between cybersecurity and business to landing offers from every single UK university she applied to, this journey is a reminder that not having your course figured out from day one doesn't have to slow you down, especially with the right guidance sorting through the confusion. For anyone caught between two very different fields, this Leap Scholar review is definitely worth a close read.