Education Abroad - Blog Article

So it’s the final year of your school, you have your test scores in place, your essay prepared, and your résumé done. You open the college websites, check out their requirements and find an instant match. You develop a liking to them. So you move to the application page and come up to the fees section. All your dreams shamble down like a house of cards, when you read the fee amount. You reread it just to be sure that you’re not dreaming. However, it is indeed the truth.
This is an issue faced by numerous bright students, who did everything right and dory in their academic life but failed at one key element: applying for scholarships. Funding a college education in America is expensive. Since the currency is dollars, you have to remain well prepared with the right sources of funding for sailing smoothly. Fortunately, starting early and applying at all the right places can get you the money you need, to fuel your dream. Let’s focus on how can you get funds for college education, both based on need and merits.
Put your Research-Cap On
The value of rupee is dropping by the day and that makes American education costlier. If you wish to avail any scholarship at all, you need to step up and dedicate a bulk of your attention in hunting down scholarships. Check out the university websites, which will have scholarships for international students. However, a cautionary warning here: do not be discouraged by the plethora of scholarships ..... Read More >>

So it’s the final year of your school, you have your test scores in place, your essay prepared, and your résumé done. You open the college websites, check out their requirements and find an instant match. You develop a liking to them. So you move to the application page and come up to the fees section. All your dreams shamble down like a house of cards, when you read the fee amount. You reread it just to be sure that you’re not dreaming. However, it is indeed the truth.
This is an issue faced by numerous bright students, who did everything right and dory in their academic life but failed at one key element: applying for scholarships. Funding a college education in America is expensive. Since the currency is dollars, you have to remain well prepared with the right sources of funding for sailing smoothly. Fortunately, starting early and applying at all the right places can get you the money you need, to fuel your dream. Let’s focus on how can you get funds for college education, both based on need and merits.
Put your Research-Cap On
The value of rupee is dropping by the day and that makes American education costlier. If you wish to avail any scholarship at all, you need to step up and dedicate a bulk of your attention in hunting down scholarships. Check out the university websites, which will have scholarships for international students. However, a cautionary warning here: do not be discouraged by the plethora of scholarships given by the colleges to the American students while only a few to international candidates. Learn to accept reality and work through it. Fewer scholarships mean steep competition. You have to use your tact and smart skills to track more places where you could receive scholarship.
Scholarships given to Indian students are both need-based and merit-based. It would be prudent to have a formidable academic track record along with curriculum activities. In such a scenario, recommendation comes handy. Approach your teachers, principal or your mentor for a letter of recommendation.
In the same heartbeat, you have to keep on searching for any or every chance of gaining a scholarship. You’ll be bombarded with several options. It is your college-readiness that will enable you to sift through such info and use what is relevant. Research as much as you can. It cannot be said enough.
What Type of Scholarships awaits you?
Now that you have started your research, you have to be smart enough to know what kind of scholarships are you looking for. Likewise, the types could be broken down into broadly three kinds of sources:
• Universities
• Indian Government
• Philanthropists
 
 
Hit LIKE for Scholarships
If the heading is not clear enough, we are talking about the social network. Every American university you are planning on applying, has a dominant social media presence. ‘LIKE’ their page on Facebook, ‘FOLLOW’ their page on Twitter or ‘CONNECT’ with their LinkedIn page to stay updated with their latest offerings. You will always get by few posts, which deals with Scholarships. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks have dedicated services to notify you about any recent updates by your dream college. Always sign up for such notifications. Never miss any opportunity.
Another awesome place to find news about scholarships is Quora.com. At Quora, you can post questions regarding your funding and wait patiently until somebody reverts. In fact, at Quora, you can search for ‘college funding’ to gain info on several old threads that have discussed the topic. Again, you got to have patience and searching skills to narrow your search and find what kind of funding you are looking at.
Always have your Credentials Ready and Properly Arranged
Since you are applying for financial aids, you always need to have your proper credentials. Create a checklist and keep crossing off!
• You must first properly verify whether you are even eligible for the scholarship. Eligibility includes test scores, curriculum, skills, age and financial position.
• You should respect the deadlines of application. Scholarships have a high volatility rate, meaning that those who apply as early as possible take them away. If you are waiting until the last deadline date, maybe you do not really need the scholarship at all.
• Choose your referees (tutors or academicians likely to highlight your qualities) carefully, after in-depth consideration. Universities often ask you to name two or more referees for the scholarship post for which you are applying.
Need-Blind Factor
You’d be surprised to know that certain universities take in candidates, even if they are not able to pay the course fees. Harvard, for example, does not expect a student to pay if their family’s taxed income is less than $65000. Isn’t that cool? Well yes, indeed. However, calculation of EFC or Expected Family Contribution plays a vital part in such a process. Your EFC is calculated based on your family’s taxed income, your family’s assets and benefits forwarded by the government. Other factors include your family size and the number of members expected to attend the school, in a given year. The lower your EFC, the higher would be the financial aid.

A well-written Scholarship Essay
The scholarship administrators can be really persuaded to grant you your financial aid if you can type in the right kind of essay. There are several tricks to get the essay right. Again, you need to research and research to find the perfect words, sentences and structures to employ in your essay. However, never drift out of topic. Design you essay such that it hits the right tones and themes. Understand fully what the essay demands off you and try to answer it likewise. Ask your friends, teachers and mentors to proofread for you for errors and further inputs.

Applying for funding could become truly tiresome. Giving up is not an option. You must remember that finding a scholarship to reduce a part of your tuition fee is still doable! You just have to work hard enough to find out where these opportunities lie. Be sure to apply early. It is but the early bird that catches the worm.