In the first of our 2017 UNILINK Sports Student-Athlete introductions, we present Carla Salcedo; a soccer player from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island.
Carla will be moving to London this month to start classes in grad school and play college soccer at the University of Westminster. We asked her to share some her playing background and some of the process required in applying to play & study in the United Kingdom.
“My name is Carla Salcedo, I’m originally from Mexico but moved to the USA to play college soccer (football). I was first at Florida Institute of Technology a DII program before I transferred to Roger Williams University in Rhode Island which is a NCAA DIII college.
Playing in the USA as a student-athlete has been an amazing journey. At RWU we were twice conference champions and also reached the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
Now that I have graduated, I knew that I wanted to continue studying for a postgraduate degree as well as to continue playing soccer (football). In the USA however, student-athletes are only given four years of playing eligibility. This meant I would not be able to keep playing college soccer if I wanted to study at grad school.
A friend of mine told me about UNILINK Sports and how they offer opportunities to play soccer in the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain or The Netherlands. Studying in Europe has always been something that I wanted to do, so I contacted them to find out more.
There were so many different options available to me, but immediately I saw that the University of Westminster offered courses I was especially interested in (Building Information Management MSc). London is one of my favourite cities in the world, and with the campus located in the very centre, I know this was the one for me.
UNILINK Sports helped me to start my university application online, and the process was extremely easy. Peter (from UNILINK Sports) was always available to assist me throughout the whole process and UNILINK Sport’s direct contacts with admissions meant I only had to forward him my application documents (such as transcripts and certificates) and everything would be fast tracked. The whole process was very smooth!
UNILINK Sports also gave me additional accommodation options to what the university offered. I wasn’t that keen on living in university dorms again and was able to secure a place in these cool private student residences instead. I will now be living with other students but in a more relaxed environment in a very cool part of town known as Shorditch.
I am only a week away from my move to London, and I am very exited to start my masters program and play college soccer again. Another bonus is that I can play for a club team during the season as well as my university!
I am looking forward to start this new journey.
Carla.”
If you would like more information about how to study for a masters degree and play college soccer in the United Kingdom, visit our website www.unilinksports.com or email: student_athlete@unilinksports.com