Improve your IELTS score

After more than two years improving your own English, you can approach language-test preparation in an orderly way. Language test results are generally valid for two years, so it’s best to sit IELTS or a similar language test during the summer break after Year 3 ends — that way, your IELTS result will still be within its validity period when you start your master’s, so you won’t end up in the awkward position of having to resit the test just because you took it too early. Naturally, your English score is also a key factor in whether you can get into a prestigious university down the track.

Build a good relationship with your subject lecturers

UK master’s applications — and, in fact, master’s applications at most universities worldwide — require reference letters. If you make the effort to do well in certain subjects and actively engage with your lecturers to leave a good impression, they’ll be able to help you out with a strong reference when it counts.

Step up your internship experience

If you already had an internship in Year 2, but it may have been arranged through connections or wasn’t entirely satisfying, you can use that earlier internship experience to seriously look for a better company to intern at during the summer after Year 3 ends, which will significantly boost your resume and make it easier to catch the eye of future master’s admissions officers.

Enter competitions

If possible, entering some competitions during this period helps demonstrate your abilities in certain areas — the most common examples being mathematical modelling competitions, various entrepreneurship competitions and so on. You can enter individually or team up with friends, and any such award will add a definite highlight to your resume. (Your editor entered the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, MCM, back in the day!)

Find a reliable study-abroad agency

Of course, finding a reliable agency is also an important step towards a successful study-abroad application, especially since many Australian universities let you start applying with a five-semester transcript as soon as the first semester of Year 3 ends, and applying early naturally means locking in an offer from a prestigious university sooner.

Before choosing an agency, you should first have a chat with the consultant and compare across the industry — after all, the person actually serving you is the consultant you’re paired with, so having a reliable consultant matters more than anything else. Of course, students who want to save money can also try to DIY it, but if you’re planning to apply for an Australian master’s, don’t bother DIYing it — most agencies on the Australian side offer free applications with no service fee anyway, and agencies are still relatively more knowledgeable about the process, so why not let an old hand show you the ropes for free?

(On that note, your editor will quietly put myself forward here — go on, recommend me! I’ve personally handled over a thousand Australian applications, so you can absolutely count on me!)

Make the most of the September–October golden application window

The period right at the start of Year 4 is a critical golden window, partly because things aren’t too busy right at the start of the semester, and with your transcript from the first three years in hand, most UK and Australian universities will have applications open, and partly because most students’ final-year coursework — things like a capstone project, thesis or internship — tends to keep them fairly busy, so getting all your study-abroad application work done early avoids it dragging on until later, when the pressure of things like a thesis leaves you no time to focus on applications, let alone having to ask lecturers for references or even scramble to sit IELTS at that point. This is exactly why you should lay the groundwork back in Year 3.

Keep track of when each university’s applications open

On the Australian side, the vast majority of universities let you apply as normal once Year 4 starts, which is relatively convenient and doesn’t need any special attention.But every UK university has its own timing for opening online applications — most universities open during the September–October period, while a handful of top-tier universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College open a bit later, around November. It’s first come, first served, so timing your application to be early is extremely important in the UK, otherwise, once more applicants pile in, admissions either get stricter or you end up on the waiting list, which becomes a real hassle. Australia, by comparison, is much simpler — most universities will admit you as long as your GPA meets the requirement.

If there’s a bit of a gap between you and your dream university, make sure to keep a backup option

For example, some universities issue offers with a language condition, requiring an IELTS score of 7.0 to enrol, and if you’re only sitting on a 6.5 at this point, you should definitely keep a university where you already meet the language requirement as a backup, in case you keep grinding away at the language test right to the end and still can’t hit the score, missing your chance to enrol.Of course, some universities also issue offers with academic conditions requiring a particularly high Year 4 average that’s hard to reach, so you’ll need a backup university for that too.

You can always use Australia as a backup while chasing a top UK university

Everyone has a soft spot for prestigious universities, and Australia’s best — the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University — may not satisfy everyone’s needs. But because Australia has two intakes, in July and February, the February intake has always been the go-to fallback for students chasing a September-intake top UK university. Every year, there are students who miss out, either because their final Year 4 results don’t hit the mark, or because they can’t achieve an IELTS score such as four 7s, or an overall 7 with a 6.5 in one band. Not wanting to wait another year to start, they choose Australia’s February intake instead, starting their master’s as soon as possible rather than wasting a year.

Once you get an offer, check the deposit deadline carefully

Offers from Australian universities don’t come with any deposit requirement at all, but most UK universities do have one, meaning that once they issue your offer, they’ll ask whether you’re confirming your place. If you say yes, you’ll need to pay a deposit of around £1,000, which won’t be refunded if you end up not going, and if you miss the deadline, the offer is voided immediately and your place is handed over to someone on the waiting list.