Student case study · Sweden
Anjali, from Janakpur to Malmö
MSc Interaction Design, August 2025 intake
An architecture graduate with no design portfolio. We rebuilt it in 10 weeks, and the portfolio got her the place.
- Portfolio
- Career change
- After bachelor's
- Starting point
- B.Arch, 69%
- English
- IELTS Academic 7.0
- Study gap
- 1 year after her bachelor's, freelance drafting
- Paid for by
- Parents' business income and savings
- First call to visa
- 244 days
Where Anjali started
Anjali studied architecture and wanted to move into interaction design: designing how people use apps and services. She'd heard Swedish design master's were among the best and assumed her architecture portfolio would carry her.
What we found
Design programmes in Sweden judge the portfolio first. Hers showed finished drawings, not how she thought: no research, no sketches, no user testing.
We didn't write her portfolio; nobody should. We set a 10-week plan: 3 small projects that showed her process, a format the programme asked for, and two rounds of feedback from a designer we know. Her architecture background became an advantage once it showed how she studies people in spaces.
Step by step, with dates
25 Sep 2024
First counselling. Portfolio reviewed against the programme's criteria.
Oct to Dec 2024
10-week portfolio plan: 3 process-led projects, two feedback rounds.
13 Jan 2025
Application with portfolio and letter of intent.
21 Mar 2025
Admitted in Malmö.
10 Apr 2025
NOC; first instalment paid.
15 Apr 2025
Residence permit applied for.
27 May 2025
Permit granted, 244 days after the first call.
16 Aug 2025
Flies to Copenhagen and takes the train to Malmö.
The result
Anjali is in her second year, working on a project with a Malmö health-tech company. Her permit was granted before the June 2026 work-hour change; she works about 15 hours a week anyway, to protect her studio time.
In Anjali's words
I thought my marks would matter. In design, the portfolio is the application.
If your profile looks like this
- 1
For design master's, start the portfolio 3 months before the deadline and show your process, not just results.
- 2
A career change works when you show what carries over. Architecture became her edge.
- 3
Check each programme's portfolio format before you build it. See the Sweden process.
