In a country where studying in public universities is affordable to students from all financial backgrounds, paying hundreds and thousands of dollars for a college degree may not seem pragmatic. That is why earning scholarships and financial aid may be more crucial than one can think. So, here is another issue of the "Applying to universities overseas" series, dedicated to the financial aspects of college admission and ways to ace them.
The essay factor
The essay section is usually considered the heart of an application and rightfully so. Although the admission committee gets an objective understanding of the candidates from the academic scores and ECAs (extracurricular activities), they do not say anything about their personalities. But it is the essays that enable the authorities to winnow out the unfortunate ones from the people they believe to be the right fit.
The same influence prevails in getting selected for scholarships and financial aid. Most colleges want the 'common app essay' which is to be written on a prompt chosen from seven options and within a 650-word limit. In addition to that, many colleges require supplementary essays for scholarships where there need to be certain characteristics nudging the applicant more toward the goal. In the case of the University of Toronto, the number of essays required by the authorities depends on the subject of choice. However, the acceptance to scholarship requires four essays, mainly focusing on ECAs.
"The storytelling ability of a candidate is very important. The essay needs to reflect who you are," said Farhan Kamrul Khan, a full-ride undergraduate scholar at New York University Abu Dhabi.
Colleges require essays to be filled with personal and intricate details. The dexterity that transforms such information into words cannot be ignored. The topics or prompts for scholarship essays usually vary from one another but what should remain omnipresent is a good and interesting story. Applicants need to work on their writing, read books, and practice so that their essays can do justice to their own stories.
"Your essay cannot be detached from the rest of the application. Select the prompt that expresses your life's most significant story," advised Intiser Rajoan Parash, studying at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, securing financial aid.
College applications are like an orchestra where every component has to go together. So, the essay has to strongly reflect the applicant's determination and target being parallel with the academics, ECAs and, work experiences. Even the world's best essay in a different themed application would be of no use.
In order to get more ideas about this, it is recommended to search for previous years' essays that have helped secure scholarships and even look into the type of essays accepted by particular colleges. Moreover, essays need to be reviewed before being submitted because it is important to take the readers' opinions so that the essay becomes more interesting.
"The objective of the essays is to ensure your personality shines out. The admission committee should be able to imagine a person while reading the essay," shared Mathira Kawser, full-ride Lester B. Pearson scholar at the University of Toronto.
An essay is the only way by which applicants can plead their cases in their own unique ways. Academics and ECAs may be some criteria in becoming a scholar or securing financial aid, what is also important is to be one's true self and standing out in the crowd. The college should be able to comprehend the mentality, thought process, character, and other attributes after reading the essay.
The impact of Early Decision
Some universities provide Early Decision (ED) applications to give the applicants a chance to show how serious they are about studying in that college. An applicant can apply to only one college through ED. This almost doubles the chances of being admitted and earning scholarships than applying normally or Regular Decision. However, ED is binding; if you are accepted, you are committed to attending that college. Only one college can be selected for ED application.
"If you have a clear idea about the college you want to go to and where you will most likely to get in, then you should definitely go for ED," Parash pointed out. "It cannot be stressed enough; how important this is."
Many applicants waste their EDs on top-tier colleges without considering the likelihood of acceptance. So, in the case of financial aid and scholarships, the proper utilisation of ED can push a candidate way into the lead.
Specialised scholarships
In addition to scholarships for the US, UK, Canada and other scholarships from colleges of the west, there are certain scholarship opportunities like the ICCR Scholarship offered by the Embassy of India.
The ICCR Scholarship creates opportunities for 18-year-old or older students who want to pursue undergraduate or postgraduate studies in India. Having a passport is compulsory to complete the application for the scholarship.
"ICCR scholarship usually focuses more on academics than ECAs. But recently the scholarship process has included common app essay prompts to be completed in 500 words," said ICCR scholar Atiab Jobayer, currently studying at the National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli.
The scholarship primarily filtered applicants via an English Proficiency Test (EPT), an interview with the embassy and lastly, internal selection by the college themselves. Applicants have a choice of selecting their priority lists of colleges which are considered upon selection.
What not to do
"Starting at the eleventh hour is a poor idea. Researching about universities and scholarship opportunities takes time, so start the application process as early as possible," added Mathira. "Problem with online transactions for application fees is a common issue, so informing your bank about the required transactions beforehand might be helpful."
The Lester B. Pearson Scholarship at the University of Toronto required Mathira to be nominated by her school. Students usually have to spend a reasonable time convincing the school authorities to themselves over others which takes up the time of the overall application time. Considering the time and effort it takes to research the college, build up a theme, create a coherent student profile and acquire recommendation letters from the teachers, the scholarship applicants should start their applications much earlier than planned. Moreover, submitting the application fees can be an issue for technical difficulties, transaction limits, and other issues that take days to solve.
Lastly, lying about ECAs usually do more harm than good. When the college finds an application with an increasing number of irrelevant and insignificant ECAs just prior to the application deadline, the whole application usually gets discarded. It is always strongly advised to stay honest.
It is true that admission to foreign colleges is not as accessible as the ones in Bangladesh. There will be instances when a worthy candidate misses out on an opportunity for lacking in some facets of the scholarship and financial aid application process. So, make sure to complete the entire application checklist. Doing so, be it distance or dollars, nothing can stand between you and your dream campus.
The writer is a student at IBA (DU).
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