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Applications open for prospective students to sign up to ‘Get Talking’ mentoring scheme

‘Get Talking’ supports students who have applied to study at Birkbeck this autumn by offering them the opportunity to meet with alumni and find out more about College life.

Birkbeck’s ‘Get Talking’ scheme offers prospective students the chance to learn more about what it’s truly like to study at Birkbeck before enrolling. The scheme pairs former students and prospective students, matching them by their chosen course where possible, and gives them the opportunity to discuss Birkbeck in a one-to-one informal meeting.

Topics of conversation include how to achieve a work/life balance, what opportunities are available at Birkbeck, Birkbeck Futures (the College’s careers support services), accessing the library, and what to do in Bloomsbury. The mentee also has the chance to ask their mentor any questions. The programme usually helps solidify the mentee’s decision to study at Birkbeck, with 75% of participants going on to enrol.

This year marks the tenth year the programme has been running. Over the last ten years, some 250 alumni mentors have met with over 600 prospective students. Last year saw 51 partnerships, with all conversations taking place online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Marina Martinez, BA French with International Law and Foundation Year student took part in the scheme last year. She said of the scheme: “I got involved with the Get Talking programme because I was a bit worried about moving to the UK from Spain and studying in my second language in a different education system. I was paired with a mentor who was also from Spain, and she shared some really useful advice as well as reassuring me I’d be able to balance studying and working full-time. I would recommend the Get Talking programme because it gave me a real insight into what studying at Birkbeck would be like before I landed in the UK.”

Usually, students meet their mentors in-person, but Get Talking will be running online from April until August this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there may be scope for face-to-face meetings to take place in July and August, subject to government guidelines.

For prospective students who have applied to study at Birkbeck this autumn and wish to take part in ‘Get Talking’, please fill in the application form. For more information about the programme, email study@bbk.ac.uk. 

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