Scholarships for International Students (plus some expert advice on application!)

A scholarship is probably THE most important criterion for coming to a university especially for an international student as it definitely was for me. Coming to UEA was an unexpected journey. Arduous and awesome, it was incredible and surprising. 

Scholarship recipients are often celebrated at UEA with flutes of champagnes and a fantastic coming together of other scholars. I was able to meet friends from around the world at this celebration at this event who eventually became my university family.

This is a quick HOW TO in momentous commemoration of lo and behold- MORE SCHOLARSHIPS!

I’ll give you a short glimpse of my journey- what I did and why it worked for me along with a close personal’s friend’s account who won the same award as me.

Finally, for the most important bit: We have some professional and important advice for you from UEA’s very own John Nelson who works with UEA as an admissions officer!

So, how did I get from crying ceaselessly about the scarcity of financial aid to champagne flute celebrating?

                 

                Well, I think for an Indian student the biggest myth we set ourselves up to believe is that our SSC and HSC (10^th and 12^th) or university grade results are the only ruling factor. I remember my class teacher right before my (10^th) board exams looked us straight in the eye and said “these results will determine who you are for the rest of your life”. That, thankfully, is not true. Here in the United Kingdom, a massive factor is the scholarship essay. I personally got a meagre (if you’re from India you know) and parental dissatisfaction causing 76 percent in the tenth. Although I climbed up ten more percentile in the 12^th, I was quite certain that these results were unacceptably abominable. Please bear in mind that the results ARE important especially if you’re applying for undergrad since by eighteen our CVs are rarely as stellar as we want them to be. But really the essay is a chance to show the university WHO you are and WHY you deserve a scholarship. For this bit, don’t be afraid to brag a little.

DON’T LIE. I think a lot of people try to fabricate another personality on paper which almost always sounds vacant. If you’re writing about someone who isn’t you, trained personnel who’ve read thousands of essays can always tell.

BE DEGREE RELEVANT. I was very creative with my answers, a liberty I could take because I was applying for creative writing. But try to be relevant to your degree. Although there is no harm in creatively illustrating why you deserve that Math or Biochemistry scholarship, don’t take your readers for granted. Please don’t make clever jokes or write in a dense way that makes you inaccessible.

I don’t really want to make my section about all the how-to bits since that will come later anyway.

But my secret top tip?

Think about your greatest achievements and visualise yourself when you accomplished them and come from that invigorating and positive perspective wherein you feel great about yourself. Come from a place of victory (but not arrogance) and be true to that sense of self-belief.

Please remember, you don’t have to write like Khaled Hosseini to be moving, it’s not just about the words; it’s about what you’ve attempted to say about yourself that matters.

The other side of the coin: Structure Succeeds.

Nandini Harihar, now a final year Meteorology and Oceanography who has just bagged a First in her dissertation has a completely different set of guidelines for your inspiration.

Her key to success was doing incredible amounts of research. To begin with, she says, give yourself at least two weeks to do your essay (or answer the scholarship questions as depending on the scholarship itself). Do not, she presses on, leave it for the last minute since shoddy and hastened work is the least attractive of answers.

In the first week, she carefully researched everything pertaining to do the university. By the end of first week, she knew the ins and outs of what UEA really wants from its students and what they have to offer. This, she argues, even helped herself gain clarity in identifying what she really wanted. Her research confirmed her suspicion that UEA really was the university that she saw herself in. She didn’t just look into the rankings and the student satisfaction. The modules they offered and the faculty that taught the modules were what really drove her to want the scholarship. She researched and wrote extensively about the same. The rest of the first week she spent planning her answers. She was articulate, succinct and made sure that her essay’s structural integrity was strengthened enough to hold her content.

 

Her top hot tip is:

 

Don’t take the university or readers for granted and as an international student, make sure you research what the university’s preferred writing style is and proof read your draft basically until you memorise it and can’t take it anymore!

 

THE UEA EXPERT SECTION:

 

John Nelson has agreed to brief us on what a good essay sounds like!

Read the questions carefully!

The departure of your scholarship journey depends on you being able to tell that there is indeed a difference between the two questions. Read them carefully and don’t provide the same information in both answers.

Don’t tell us just about UEA

If you want to tell us why you like UEA, that’s amazing and that’s relevant but try avoiding overdoing that description since it only diminishes the word count and those reading the essay already know much more about UEA. So when writing about your UEA, write it in a way that’s relevant to you.

Stand Out; But don’t take too many liberties

It’s great if your answers are connected to the other and please try and stand out and be creative. But don’t be too playful with your essay. Getting a scholarship is serious business and it’s important for the readers to know you value it seriously.

Be Personal

Again, don’t be too personal. But showing a bit of personality is a great way to stand out. Be true to yourself but don’t make sections of your essay uncomfortable to read for an outsider.

PLEASE PROOFREAD!

UEA does take into consideration that English may not be everyone’s preferred or first language and so there isn’t a stringent need for grammatical perfection. We definitely make space for students who may not have a good grasp of English. But it is important for your essay to be structured and that it does not contain any typos or other obvious grammatical errors. That makes you look inattentive so please avoid that.

 Take Care to think about your essay:

John Nelson’s final word was that “we really like to see a person has taken care to write this essay” so take your time and plan your essay. Be attentive and really pay “create something that reflects you as a person”

SO there you have it! In the face of new, exciting times wherein UEA is offering India specific scholarships a How-To manual.

A scholarship is achievable and UEA is looking forward to your answers.

Good luck for all your essays!

-Shaivya Ramani, Indian International Ambassador.