How To Apply For Scholarships In Foreign Universities
Lucky you! Today, we are going to cover one of the most asked questions (if not the most) about studying abroad by interested foreign students.
Scholarships and grants were developed to assist students through their educational expenses.
Due to the alarming rise of student loss which most students spend their entire working life paying, most governments decided that there was a need to provide a means for students to study without being tangled up in loans and debts.
Some scholarships were also developed by certain universities, certain countries and some governments to attract international students and increase the prestige of the university.
Since this scheme, most international students have often sought a way to reduce educational costs by applying for one or two such loans.
Therefore today, we are going to cover How To Apply For these Scholarships In Foreign Universities and additional information you should know while applying!
But, before we rush into knowing how to apply I believe it is important that we first know the different types of scholarship options open for international students like yourself, so when you do know how to apply, you are also well-armed with the type of scholarship that fits your need and goes on to apply.
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Different Types Of Scholarships:
These are the different categories of scholarships that a student may apply for depending on his need and eligibility for that particular category.
1. Female Based Scholarships:
The most major organisation, including Google, have created tailored scholarships for women from different countries to support the need for women to acquire as much education as their male counterparts.
Believe it or not, there are some countries where gender education is still an ongoing raging battle, places where women are not allowed to go past a particular class limit, this had led to a long and bitter fight concerning gender equality in all things including education.
Most higher education institutions are scrambling to balance the scales between male and female populations because most universities that don’t are getting based for not being gender-neutral.
Therefore, a lot of institutes and scholarship funds offer more and more women-only scholarships to show that they support the gender equality movement.
Different types of scholarships for women exist. Aside from the typical scholarships based on the applicant’s location and academic interests, there are also scholarships for single mothers and scholarships for women who were victims of abuse.
2. Athletic Scholarships:
Athletic scholarships are awarded to students who join a school’s athletic team, be it in baseball, swimming, football, or basketball.
This is a highly sought after scholarship and very few exist.
This scholarship is often developed by universities who want to improve their athletic standing or those who already have an athletic standing and wish to recruit highly skilled athletes as students to keep topping the chart.
While the majority of athletic scholarships are for popular sports like the ones in the NCAA, there are also athletic scholarships for other pursuits like cheerleading.
3. Scholarships for Students with Learning Disabilities;
Certain resources like Lime Network have dedicated their entire scholarship project towards assisting disabled students, both visible and invisible.
Learning with a disability is difficult, in fact, sometimes people who develop a disability or encounter a devastating accident usually are hampered from returning to school either due to sudden financial plummet or other reasons.
But some organisations like lime network refuse to let such gifted students waste away without fulfilling thief dreams of acquiring higher education, therefore the existence of this scholarship.
It is usually granted by organizations with a focus on learning disabilities, so their criteria are also influenced by what they support.
Some organizations award scholarships to anyone with a learning disability, while others focus exclusively on visible disabilities.
4. STEM Scholarships
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) scholarships can be considered a sub-type of scholarships by major and because of the sudden and fast-rising
demand for STEM professionals worldwide, there was a need to sponsor students in this category and most universities rush to admit the most gifted students into their schools
STEM scholarships are also available for graduate students pursuing their master’s or doctorate degrees.
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5. Academic Scholarships:
This is the most popular type of scholarship and it might as well be the oldest in the category of scholarship grants.
These academic scholarships are created to reward majorly three types of students; postsecondary school students who are seeking entrance to a university with
outstanding high school grades, students already enrolled in a university continuously exhibiting high academic intellect and postgraduate students with excellent credentials.
This is developed to reward such students for their hard work in the academic sector.
There are many types of scholarships given for academic excellence. Some are based on overall GPA, others are based on SAT, and some are based on your admissions exam score.
Almost every school offers an academic scholarship of some sort, especially to seniors who graduate as valedictorians or salutatorians of their class.
Most high brow scholarships like Chevening are often highly competitive academic scholarships. This is mainly a merit-based scholarship.
6. Full Tuition Scholarships
This is usually a dream scholarship for students. However, quite rare as most universities and other organisations are unwilling to cater for the full cost of a student’s academic year.
A fully funded scholarship is an all-expense paid ride to college, and full-ride scholarships are specific to a school, but there are a few organizations that don’t restrict the use of funds to any specific school.
These scholarships are usually based on academic performance, though some may factor in the student’s financial needs as well. Some private full-ride scholarships have a caveat, like a commitment to work for the company for two years.
7. Needs-based Scholarship
This is another popular scholarship category.
Needs-based scholarships are developed for financially stunted students; that is students that come from low-income families and cannot afford the financial commitment that higher education always required.
Before you are granted this scholarship, while applying, you must be able to show evidence of financial need.
Some organizations will accept supporting documents like your parent’s income tax return, while others may go further by conducting a background check or house visit.
8. Scholarships for Minorities or Scholarships based on Ethnicity
This is a young but fast-growing scholarship category. This is granted in the recognition of minority groups in that particular country or institute and sometimes, it is mostly a government-granted scholarship.
Although some schools provide scholarships for minorities to improve their student diversity. For these types of scholarships, there’s no specific nationality required as long as you belong to the defined minority groups in your school’s country.
Now we have covered the most major and commonly granted scholarships out that that nine out of ten, are usually granted by the institution you want to apply to, or the government in the country you want to apply to.
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Common Requirements While Applying For Foreign Scholarships:
These are not all, because some universities and scholarship organisations might demand you present more, all, less or some of these documents, but most often than not, the following are usually demanded:
- Registration Or Application Form
- Letter Of Motivation Or Personal Essay
- Letter Of Recommendation
- Letter Of Acceptance From An Academic Institution
- Proof Of Low Income, Official Financial Statements (if you are applying for a needs-based scholarship or your financial statements may be demanded to verify that you can indeed sponsor yourself.)
- Proof Of Extraordinary Academic Or Athletic Achievement (this is based on the type of scholarship you are applying for.)
How To Apply For Scholarships In Foreign Universities:
1. Research:
Check out different scholarships by different organisations, and confirm the scholarships that you are best fit for/ interested in. The more scholarships you can discover and apply for, the better for you.
2. Get Prepared;
Once you’ve found a study abroad scholarship for which you can apply, start preparing your documents. If you have a visa, make sure it is not expired, if you are going to a country that demands your visa.
3. Get Your Documents Ready;
This is an important stage because it involves both the registration and the prospective receiving of the scholarship.
A proper readying of documents involves you to;
- Register for the scholarship, usually by completing an online application form.
- Check your inbox to make sure you’ve received the confirmation email.
- Write a personal statement or essay. Make sure you cover the key demands of the personal statement given to you by that organisation or university.
- Get official proof of your academic, athletic, or artistic achievements.
- Get official proof of your low income or nationality.
- Proofread all documents for errors and send them to the scholarship provider.
- Submit the acceptance letter from the university (or an official document from the university proving you’ve been accepted). You won’t receive the scholarship without confirming that you will begin your studies.
- Wait for the results. If selected, follow the next process as demanded by the scholarship provider.
Conclusion:
I hope this helped!
God’s Speed!