Student case study · Norway
Sushant, from Dharan to Trondheim
MSc Renewable Energy, August 2025 intake
Two years on a hydropower project in Nepal made his application. He applied 6 days before Norway's 1 December deadline.
- Work experience
- Early deadline
- After bachelor's
- Starting point
- BE Electrical, 72%
- English
- IELTS Academic 7.0
- Study gap
- 2 years after his bachelor's, hydropower site engineer
- Paid for by
- His own savings, family savings and an education loan
- First call to visa
- 291 days
Where Sushant started
Sushant had worked for 2 years as a site engineer on a hydropower project in eastern Nepal. He wanted a renewable energy master's, and had planned to apply in March like most European deadlines.
What we found
Norwegian deadlines come early: his first-choice programme closed on 1 December. We moved his whole plan forward 3 months, booked IELTS for October, and drafted his statement around the turbines and transmission work he'd done.
We also gave the family the full cost up front: tuition plus NOK living funds, paid before the permit. They agreed it with a loan they could manage, before he applied.
Step by step, with dates
2 Sep 2024
First counselling. Deadline found to be 1 December; plan moved forward.
10 Oct 2024
IELTS: 7.0.
25 Nov 2024
Applications submitted, 6 days before the deadline.
8 Apr 2025
Admitted in Trondheim.
2 May 2025
NOC; tuition paid; living funds deposited.
6 May 2025
Study permit applied for online.
20 Jun 2025
Permit granted, 291 days after the first call.
2 Aug 2025
Flies to Trondheim.
The result
Sushant is in his second year and doing his thesis on small hydropower grid stability, with data from the project he worked on in Nepal. He works 15 to 20 hours a week in a supermarket warehouse.
In Sushant's words
I thought my two years away from study would count against me. In Norway they were the reason I got in.
If your profile looks like this
- 1
Norway's deadlines are early, often 1 December. Check them a year ahead. See Norway process.
- 2
Work experience in your field is your strongest argument for a technical master's.
- 3
Agree the full cost with your family before you apply; Norway asks for tuition and living funds up front.
