Scholarships Outside the United States

I’ve received a couple of comments lately from students attending college, or wanting to,  outside the United States.

I wish I could help them, and other students, but I only know about the educational systems in the United States.  But each country has their own way of doing things, and how American students find and receive scholarships may not work for others.

However, much of the advice I offer can be used by any student, in any country. The job falls to the student though, just as it does here in the United States. It is the student’s responsibility to qualify for available scholarships, locate the scholarships, and apply correctly for the scholarships.

Most of the scholarships I list are open for students in the United States, however, some of them are open to others. The “Dream Deferred Scholarship Contest” is one example. It is open to students in the United States as well as those in the Mideast.

Everyone is welcome to read my blog. However, understand it is aimed at American students although the advice and suggestions can be used by any student.

I’m not sure how easy it is to obtain a free college education in other countries. However,  I  hope all students, regardless of their location, will continue to search and apply for scholarships to assist them in their educational quest.

Global Interest Scholarship

The 1951 poem, “What Happens to a Dream Deferred?” by Langston Hughes is credited with helping propel the United States civil rights movement. In 2008 it can help two students receive money to help pay for their higher education.

The contest, sponsored by HAMSA (Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliances) . The top five American and five Mideast students monetary awards totalling $10,000.

Students must write an essay and answer one of three questions on the HAMSA website, here. Complete rules can be found here. This contest pays money directly to the student and any student under the age of 25 is eligible.

This year’s judges are listed on the website as well as the winning essays from 2006 and 2007.

Students don’t have much time let for this one, the deadline is March 30. The poem that propelled the contest is:

What is a Dream Deferred?Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.Or does it explode?-Langston Hughes, 1951

 

Scholarship Essay Contest

Here is another scholarship contest open to all students in high school. They must be enrolled in high school, or in taking equivalent courses if being home-schooled.

It requires a 1500-3000 word essay and has an April 1, 2008 deadline. The essay needs to be about a school account, and amusing. It must also contain at least 60 SAT words, with an accompanying list of words used with their definitions. One example of the type of story they are looking for can be found at their website, here.

It is the Word Nerd high school essay contest. Sponsored by Word Nerds, and Penguin, the publisher of the book, Confessions of a Word Nerd .
Complete information can be found at their website, here. The book contains a list of 1500 SAT vocabulary words students may use in their essays.

The book should be available at your school or town library. I If it’s not available, a single copy can be purchased here. Remember, it will take up to two weeks to receive the book.

In addition to adding to their scholarship fund, there is a $500 prize for the winning award, students will improve their vocabulary and their writing skills. In addition, students in the lower level classes, who don’t win this year, will be able to compete next year.

The winning essayist will receive $500 scholarship prize. A set of modern classics, published by Penguin publishing, co-sponsor of the scholarship contest, will also be awarded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Apply for little Scholarships, Why Not Just the Full-Ride?

“Why should I apply for a lot of little scholarships, when I can apply for one to give me a full ride”?

Have you wondered about that? After all there are “full-ride” scholarships. If you have one of those, do you really need the smaller scholarships?

First, unless you’ve been awarded a ‘full-ride’ scholarship, you have no way of knowing you will receive one. If you haven’t applied for all of the smaller scholarships you qualified to receive you may find yourself scrambling to locate college funds.

Second, “full-ride” may not pay for all  your school expenses. Often, the large scholarships cover tuition and fees for four years, but not books, room and board, or other expenses. This is where other scholarships help. Any educational expense not covered by your “full-ride” scholarship can generally be taken care of by other, smaller scholarships. For example, some students find it helpful to purchase all of their supplies at the college book store because those costs can be paid from the student’s account. Shopping off campus means the student must have real money to pay for their items. A ‘full-ride’ scholarship may not cover those purchases.

Third, just because you are awarded a scholarship, doesn’t mean you have the money in your hot little hands. Generally, the money isn’t disbursed until after you’ve enrolled in college, they want to make sure you are attending college after all. Also, most of the scholarship money isn’t given directly to you the student, it’s placed in an account for you at the college. So, if you do find yourself with more than enough scholarship money to pay for your education you can “return” and “not accept” any scholarships you don’t need. They can then be awarded to another student.

Don’t forget, many of the scholarships you receive before your junior year of high school will often be paid in money to you. That money, of course, can be used for any educational expense.

So, go on, apply for all of the scholarships you qualify to receive. If you get a ‘full-ride’ scholarship, great, you’ll be ahead and can focus on your education.

Are you Afraid to Apply for Scholarships?

Recently a young man told me he hadn’t applied for any other scholarships because he was scared. He’d already received one nice scholarship, but still he was afraid to apply for others.

He explained he was afraid of being turned down. He was afraid of being told “no”. This is not an uncommon thought, students often hesitate to apply for scholarships for fear of the word “no”.

It may sound silly for a student to be afraid. After all, nothing bad will happen. No one will come to the student’s house and beat him up. No one will take an ad out in the paper announcing a student didn’t receive a scholarship. Nothing happens except a student doesn’t receive a particular scholarship. But, to a student the fear stops some from applying for college funds.

There are several reasons students fear scholarship applications. They may have succeeded at everything they’ve attempted to date, and don’t want a scholarship to be the first things they didn’t receive. They may think there will be too much competition which lessens their chances. They may think they don’t qualify for a scholarship and are afraid scholarship committees will look down on them for applying.

Are you one of those students? Are you afraid to apply for a scholarship? Here’s the thing, you won’t receive scholarships if you don’t apply. Let’s look at each fear.

* Fearing the first “no” – First “no”, really? You’ve never been told “no” before? No, what you’re really afraid of is failure, you’ve never failed and you have no intention of starting now. But, not receiving a scholarship is not failure. It simply means they didn’t have enough funds for every student who qualified and they had to make a choice. Not applying for a scholarship qualify to receive is failure. Go ahead, complete those scholarship applications, you might be the one to receive them. In that case you’ve double succeeded.

* Fearing the competition – Do you think too many students will be applying, which will limit your chances? Sure, many scholarship committees receive a large number of applications. There’s no reason to believe yours can’t shine as much as any other. You can’t get the scholarship if you don’t apply. Think about this, there are probably hundreds of other students thinking the competition is too tough and not entering. When you apply for a scholarship, you’ve already beat all of them. Remember, scholarship committees don’t know about you if you don’t tell them. Apply for every scholarship you qualify to receive.

*Afraid of their image – Afraid “they” will think less of you? Who are “they”? Scholarship committee? They admire the students who apply for their scholarships, it is often a difficult decision for them. They aren’t going to think less of any student who doesn’t receive their award. Are “they” people around you, people you know? They aren’t going to think less of you for not receiving a particular scholarship. If anything, their opinion of them will rise because you took the chance and applied for all the scholarships you qualified to receive.

Don’t let fear separate you from thousands of dollars. Apply for every scholarship you qualify to receive.