Hello! My name is Kylie, I was born in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) but grew up in Brunei since the age of four where I was able to complete the IB (international baccalaureate) diploma. I have now moved to the United Kingdom (UK), where I am attending the University of Bristol for a Bachelor in Law.

Educational Background

In the beginning, I was actually on course to take A levels at a public school in Brunei until I was able to get a scholarship at an international school to start IB. Unfortunately, because I had already started A levels, I missed out on the first term in IB (which was four months), causing me to be completely thrown off as I had missed the basics of each subject. This really made the rest of the course more stressful than others might have had it as I never properly caught up. Having to balance the new work being taught, catching up across those six subjects, and adjusting to the new school environment was difficult in itself as I felt I wasn’t fitting in and so struggled with that social aspect as well.

I have always wanted to do law. Both my parents are lawyers, so I’m not really sure how much that played into getting me where I am today, but I have always preferred the more humanities-based subjects. As soon as I was able to narrow my subjects down, I made that law-subjects shift, and for my higher-level subjects in IB, I took psychology, economics, and English Literature.

Applying to Universities

Many laws, maybe even half the world’s laws, are based on Commonwealth law, which is English law. Most countries in Southeast Asia base their legal systems on this law, so by studying in the UK, you have the opportunity to move and practice law in more countries.

For me, I knew it was really important to go to a good university, mostly because law is honestly less skill than you may think, and is a much more general degree, so that meant that the university I was to go to mattered more because the name of the uni is essentially what makes your degree worth it. As a result, I only applied to Russell Group universities in the UK (the Russell Group is an association of 24 top UK universities that focus on research and teaching) and didn’t really bother with anything less because it wouldn’t have been good for me. If I were to not get into any of those unis, the plan was to then apply to Australia.

In the UK, I applied to Oxford, UCL, Bristol, Birmingham, and Cardiff, which are all known for their law. I only wanted to go to a uni that was in the top 10 in the UK, which included only Oxford, UCL, and Bristol. If I didn’t get into Bristo,l I then would have applied to Australia. While it is a shame I wasn’t given an offer for Oxford, I’m actually really glad that I’m at Bristol, mostly because I have spoken to other students at Oxford, and apparently, it’s much busier, and there is much more writing and essays done within the course.

My Application - Extracurriculars, Results & Internship

During IB, I did an internship at a law firm over the summer. I think I spent one and a half months there, and while it was a very tiring way to spend my summer, I felt I needed to get that work experience. Most unis want to see that you actually want to be a lawyer or even a doctor, and that you are willing to work for that lifestyle and you know realistically that it is hard work and takes a long amount of hours.

IB also does, in a way, equip you for uni applications, which helped as well, I feel. Within the course, you are forced to do community services and other activities and extracurriculars you are interested in with guidance and support from the school and your teachers. I had learned French and how to play the guitar, along with volleyball and netball for physical education.

Oxford, UCL, Bristol, and Cardiff were on the higher end for entry requirements; they fell under 36-40 IB points, whereas Birmingham was only 24. The highest you can get in IB is 45, and for Bristol, it was 38 and higher, for which I got a 36. However, I was still lucky enough to get an offer from them.

Thankfully, my school had a university guidance counselor who was really on it. There were around 60-70 people in my cohort, and she helped every single one of us. She encouraged everyone to apply through UCAS (a platform that manages applications for courses at UK universities) even if they didn’t plan on going to the UK, so they had broader options. She would also meet up with each person individually at least twice outside our group meet-ups to go through their applications, ensuring we knew what was important to have. For students applying to higher-end schools such as Oxford, she made sure we would find and do things like my internships to add as they have more specific wants from students. Because I wanted to apply to Oxford, I was fortunate that she met with me around five times as my application needed more attention. She really gave a lot of her time and attention to how I presented myself, and I feel she did such a great job and is one of the reasons I was able to get into Bristol.

Scholarships & Finances

I did consider and looked at the type of scholarships they offered, however, most of the scholarships were offered to home students, and the ones that were for international students had very specific requirements, whether it be ethnic requirements, household incomes, or even the specific course you need to be doing.

The fees are fairly high, the University of Bristol is a really, really good school, and so I pay 23,900 pounds a year, which is the fixed cost across all courses. Bristol is actually quite an expensive city to live in, COVID a lot of people moved from London to Bristol as it is quieter but still gives you that city feel, and so because of that the majority of the city is filled with students' accommodation can also be really high compared to other cities in the UK such as say Birmingham.

Accommodation and Housing in Bristol

In my first year, I decided to apply for student accommodation because it was a new city, and I didn’t really know where the best place to live would be. I would recommend getting student accommodation in your first year because I’ve found that it’s a really good way to meet people and make connections withinthe campus as you are living with the other students. However, because of the large number of students at Bristol, they do it by lottery. The way it works is by applying to nine different places, then you get randomly assigned. I actually didn’t even get any of the ones I had in mind and ended up going to a place I had never heard of. I have noticed that they put the international students more toward the middle of the city because home students know their way around, so it’s easier to move around and find your way which has been helpful.

It can be overwhelming looking for accommodation in Bristol, only because there is a housing crisis. Most students actually start looking for accommodation around October (our lease ends in June), so as soon as your first semester starts everyone is looking for people to share a housing space with hopes of it being cheaper with more options to choose from. Because of this I actually locked down an accommodation with my group of friends in December 2024 already, and even though it is still six months before our lease ends, I feel like we were still late and missed the better and cheaper places which just means we need to be ahead of it at the end of this year.

Social & Cultural Adjustments

As an international student, I feel it’s really important to find people around you who give you that sense of family and familiarity. Especially because, if you move to the UK, you’ll find that for them, hanging out or spending time together would be going to a pub, or parting. While of course there are people who may not be involved in that and don’t go out as much, the majority of them do have that level of social life. This was a pretty large cultural adjustment and shock because Brunei is a dry country (alcohol cannot be legally purchased or sold), and so I really wasn't used to going out most nights, which made it pretty hard to connect with others the way I wanted to.

When I first moved, I found it quite disorientating because it felt like literally everything was different. From the accents to the buildings, it all felt so foreign. What impacted me the most I think was the difference in food and groceries. I would look at the shelves and not recognize a single brand and then would need to cook with them which made me feel more not at home. While at the start it does feel exciting and new, as time goes on it gets more difficult. Because of this, I think finding people who can relate to you in this way is an important way to feel connected to your own cultural identity. Even though Brunei is so small, there are a lot of universities that have those societies that keep you rooted and closer to home, which I’ve found really comforting.

International Student Life

I’m very involved with church, so I became quite close with the Christian society here at Bristol. We spend a lot of time together and have activities with each other as well. We also have joined other sports clubs like volleyball, and even football -especially because Brits are very passionate about football, I thought it would be good to know the game and socialize with those other students. I do go out now and again, but I’ve found that living overseas, a lot of my time goes to taking care of food, doing laundry, and going grocery shopping, which actually uses up more free time than you may think.

With that, I’m lucky because my parents did raise me independently; they always knew I’d leave the house eventually, so I grew up learning how to cook and take care of myself by doing laundry and washing dishes. This definitely gave me a solid idea of what it would be like living alone, which I was fortunate to have because now I didn’t really struggle in those aspects of Uni.

One of the things I have found more difficult was things like banking and opening up a bank account here. I never had a debit card growing up so I didn’t have any idea of how it worked and how to create a student account. Especially because a lot of the banks here stopped offering an international student account and have made it a very difficult process as they want you to prove that you are reliable to have your own account and make sure you are legally in the country, so it became daunting to do by myself. Another thing that came as a shock was having to find housing for next year. It was my first time living alone, and now, suddenly two months in, I needed to find a new home. It was actually quite crazy because suddenl,y I was calling agencies to book viewings and put payments down, which really made me realize how much I’ve learned and grown within the past year and few months of being here.

About Bristol

Bristol is a very liberal city, they are one of the only green cities in the UK; it is all about sustainability and celebrating different cultures. It really is diverse here, and I’ve found that there is a decent-sized Asian community here as well, which makes it a really good city if you’re an international student.

Bristol has hundreds of societies, you’ll find the most shocking activities like surfing, and even horse riding which was really bizarre at first because there are no oceans near here and I don’t even think I’ve ever seen horses or stables as well. They fund these societies really really well and travel out whenever needed for say surfing or horse riding. As I mentioned earlier there are different cultural societies, and most countries have their own as well. You do need to pay a fee for them, but they can be truly worth it. They have swimming pools, multiple fields and courts, and everything is well equipped for students, and they make it as easy for you as possible.

Advice

The best advice I think I can give is to put yourself out there your first week. Most people find their friends within that first week as they get to know people so while it can be scary to push yourself especially because you are still so new to the place and are putting yourself out of your comfort zone, I think it is really important to make those connections and prepare yourself for different people and experiences because that’s what the entirety of university is going to be like. A big part of uni is this, introducing yourself to random people you see in lectures, and joining clubs and societies it’s also important to remember that everyone is in the same boat as you, everyone is confused, and trying to meet people, so be the first one to initiate, and if you feel after that club isn’t your thing, or you don’t have a connection with some people, you can always top.