How To Get A Scholarship Abroad

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The data reported by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in 2015-2016 stated

that the number of international students who studied at United States colleges and universities is

one million students for the first time. It increased about 7 percent from last year, and most

students pursue their study through scholarship. Pursuing study abroad through scholarship is the

main target of people in every country. By studying abroad, participants not only earn money but

they also will get new friend, new education method, and new perspective as well. Nonetheless,

getting a scholarship abroad is not as easy as it seems. Basically, the scholarship organization is

seeking a qualified candidate, such as a person who has strong leadership skill, a person who is

active in social activities, an individual is able to speak English, an individual is able to adapt

new environment and others. Hence, applicants should consider some steps in order to get

scholarship abroad.

First of all, applicants should research the purposes, the rules, and criteria of the

organization that provides scholarship. They must not only concerns about the program study,

but also they have to look deeply on the values of the organization. Gialando (2016) states that

applicants should deal with the organization goals and values. This kind of knowledge will help

applicants when they write the motivation letter and during the interview. For instance, when I

applied Fulbright Scholarship to study in the U.S. the first thing that I did at the time before

writing a letter of interest was read, and re-read the values of the sponsor. This makes it easy to

connect my interest with organizational objectives. Basically, the organization wants to give

scholarships to the candidate who could accelerate the achievement of their goals. Therefore, by

knowing organization values or purposes it helps applicants when applicants write a motivation

letter.

As the part of preparing the application form, applicants should work hard on getting a

good letter of recommendation. The recommendation letter may come from the academic advisor

or professional. Dalimore (2017) mentioned that a letter of recommendation from professional or

academic advisor is deeply important due to several reasons. First, it will strengthen our

statement. For instance, I wrote in my motivation letter that I am highly interested in social

activities both in and outside of campus. Then, my advisor mentioned in his letter

recommendation that I able to finish all of projects in his class and achieve high GPA at the last

semester. Also, the second reasons, my advisor described that I am able to adapt leadership while

studying in the class by helping others students or arranging the materials of courses. His

statements are necessary in showing the accuracy of my statement. In the end, by looking at the

letter of recommendation, the reviewers are going to believe that this is the right candidate to be

given a scholarship.

Furthermore, the candidate must be able to double check the whole application in order to

correct grammar mistakes, and incorrect words. It shows to the interviewers that the applicants

well prepared and ready to get the scholarship. For instance, generally, many writers are errors in

writing such as a misspelling, and grammatical errors. It seems small, but it brings great

influence to those, especially the reviewers. They will assume that a small mistake is inevitable

and how about another mistake, such as put wrong name, etc. But if candidates are able to avoid

small mistakes in writing, the reviewers are going to say that the candidate is very thorough. So,

reading and correcting mistakes are strongly important in preparing the application of the

scholarship.

Finally, applicants should contact the alumni of the program in order to know their

experiences in preparing application form or joining the interview. This kind of actions is really

helpful for the applicants, so they may know some tips on how to fill out the application form,

what the questions about, and how to close the interview session. As Wisconsin School of

Business, University of Wisconsin (2018) “Students who have returned from study abroad can be

an invaluable resource as you firm up your plans.” (para 3) In detail, in the middle of 2015, I

have applied a scholarship to study in Poland named Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program. At

the time, I did not have enough information about my host institution, how the process to get the

scholarship is, and how to live in Poland as an international student. I was unable to find it on the

internet, so that I called my friend who studies as the graduate student from Warsaw University

of Life Science, Poland to figure out all of my concerns. After conducting the interview, and

sharing information with him, I was able to fill out my application easily, I got confident to

connect my interest to the goals of my host institution in my motivation letter and I feel

comfortable to answer the question by interviewer correctly. Even though, at the end, I was on

waiting list of the scholarship. For this reason, it is strongly important to realize for a person who

wants apply for a scholarship overseas they should contact alumni. It is a valuable step in

preparing the application; fill out forms, interview and etc.

In the final analysis, an applicant should consider that getting a scholarship abroad required a lot

of preparation. Such as, search about the organization goals, fill out the application form, re-read

or double check the entire form, and ask alumni as well. By considering those things, no matter

who you are, and where are you from, as long as you have prepared enough, study abroad

through scholarship is not a difficult case.