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What's a scholarship and how do I get one?

by Amit Wadhwa

SCHOLARSHIPS!

The best way to finance your studies

Lesson Summary

What Is a Scholarship? There's a scholarship for YOU What Do You Need to Do? How Can You Go About Getting a Scholarship? Some sample Scholarships

What IS a Scholarship?
A Scholarship is defined as a financial award for a student scholar for the purpose of furthering their education. Education can be expensive. Very expensive. If you're rich, you shouldn't have a problem paying for college. If you want to work while studying, you should be ok. If you feel like borrowing money to pay for university, that's fine. But there's a better way.

Schools, institutes and companies want to give you money.

Yes, that's right. Scholarships attached to successful students can raise a school's reputation, create productive representatives of institutes, and help nurture future ideal employees for top companies. That's why scholarships exist, and they're out there for you to take advantage, so don't be shy - apply.

There's a Scholarship for YOU!

If you're thinking, "I'm not special, why would anybody give me money?", you're wrong. There's a scholarship out there just for you, you just have to find it. If you have good marks, if you volunteer, if you help out in yourcommunity, if you participate in extracurricular activities, even if you have a disability- you're eligible for something. Take a look at these stats from Scholarship Canada. Of the 7,363 individual scholarships listed in the 2004 ScholarshipsCanada.com Entrance Awards directory there are: 17 that require some kind of agricultural involvement

262 that require athletic involvement 631 that require some sort of extracurricular activity 615 that require some sort of leadership role 1115 that require school or community service 80 that require the student to have a general disability

So you see, anybody can get a scholarship. It's a relatively simple way of getting money

What Do You Need To Do?

To get a good scholarship, you should start early and focus even while you're in high school. Here are a few things that will look great on your application and can help you secure a good scholarship:

Study, and study hard. The better your grades are, and the higher your academic standing is, the better chances you have of getting a scholarship. Get involved. Join a sports team, get a role in a school play, or become part of a choir. Anything that can show your skillstime management, communication, teamwork, creativity, etc. This will help you a lot when you apply, since showing off your skills is quite important. Be a leader. Create your own school club, or gather friends and organize a volunteer session in an animal shelter. There are countless ways to show initiative and prove you can be a leader of tomorrow, which will look great on your application. Whatever you do, make sure you don't spend your time sitting on your couch and watching TV.

Make your time count by doing meaningful activities that can help you improve your skills and demonstrate the fact that you can make a difference in the world if you get a scholarship and a solid education.

How Can You Go About Getting a Scholarship?

All you have to do is apply!

These are the steps you should take to find and apply for scholarships: Do your research. Use this LearnHub community and other websites to look for scholarships that interest you. Analyze yourself. Figure out whether you fit in with academic-based scholarships, leadership ones, or maybe agriculture ones. Write down your strengths and what makes you special and find out which scholarship fits you best. Work on your applications. Start early and watch the deadlines. Be sure to fill in the entire applications. Scholarship applications can require you to fill out information forms, questions about yourself, essays, portfolios, and more. There's a lot of work involved, but luckily there are also a lot of online resources to help you. You can find some great tips here. Send your applications in and hope for the best. Good luck!

Some Sample Scholarships You Should Look At

The best scholarship we at LearnHub know of is well, the LearnHub Dream Scholarship of course! You can get $2000 just by being a part of LearnHub, and it'll also help you get into great schools. Isn't that amazing? Here are some examples of other well-known scholarships you might have heard of: National Merit Scholarship, a US academic merit scholarship. Canada Millennium Scholarship, a similar Canadian Scholarship. Commonwealth Scholarships, a scholarship program in Commonwealth countries including the UK, Canada, India and more

World Bank Scholarship Program, for graduate studies in subjects that can contribute to economic development. Gates and Rhodes scholarships. These are awarded to students going into top schools, like Oxford or Cambridge. Other schools have their own scholarship programs.

Check out the Scholarships Community for More Information!

Don't forget to check out our scholarship community for more information!

Swiss government offers scholarships to Indian students

Posted 5 months ago The Swiss government is awarding various scholarships to Indian students through the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS): university scholarships (Swiss universities and Federal Institute of Technology). The Swiss government offers this scholarship to graduate students irrespective from the field with the opportunity to pursue postgraduate studies or research work in Switzerland at a public funded university or recognised institution. Scholarships are offered for a nine-month academic year. Scholarships for postgraduate or Masters programmes lasting up to two years (third or fourth semesters) may be extended depending on results from the first year. The amount of the scholarship is CHF 1,920 for postgraduate students. The scholarship amount is meant to cover student's living expenses. Indian scholarship-holders will receive a flight allowance for a return ticket back to India at end of their stay in Switzerland. Scholarship holder who remain in Switzerland for more than months after completion of the scholarship, including those who continue their studies in Switzerland, who joined any professional activity or finish their training in a third country, forfeit their claim to a return fare. REQUIREMENTS: Candidates must have passed a university degree (Undergraduate/Postgraduate) at the time of commencement of the scholarship. Below the age of 35 years and must have sound knowledge in the language of instruction (French, German, Italian or English). The scholarship can not be combined with other scholarship or award.

5 most common ways to fund your study abroad dreams

by Pritika Ghura

In an attempt to give value to your CV and get a global exposure, studying abroad is very popular among Indian students. However, the most important factor is that how will they meet their expenses. Experts say that annual cost for universities varies for each university type, the programmes, duration and country. The total cost of education ranges from $25,000 to $100,000. These include the cost of tuition, living and other miscellaneous expenses per year. In order to help you fund your studying abroad, we enumerate a number of funding measures. 1) Bank loans: You can take a loan form nationalised banks of your home country. There are many private banks which also offer student loans to students to study abroad - up to 20 lakh - against a collateral at a rate of approximately 11-12%. 2) Scholarships: Another option to get a discount on your tuition fees. However, there are very competitive and are based on merit. Some popular ones are the Inlaks Foundation, ITC Ltd., Agha Khan Foundation, etc. The amount in some scholarships in the US could vary between $500 and full tuition fees. 3) Family funds: Your own or your family savings is another source of funds for your studying abroad venture. This is one of the most reliable sources. Besides this, there are private organisations in India that provide support for studies abroad. Businesses, foundations and religious groups might have funds available. 4) Trust loans: You can also apply for trust loans, which have a much lower rate of interest, between 2 and 4%. Some of the most well-known trusts are J N Tata Endowment, K C Mahindra Trust, Mariwala and R D Sethna Scholarship Fund. 5) Assistantships: If you're meritorious and studying in a foreign university, you can get financial support in the form of teaching and research assistantships. he school will probably require you to pass the Test of Spoken English ( TSE) to qualify for a teaching assistantship. Hope these funding sources help you in realising your dreams of studying abroad. However, as per a report in Deccan Herald, what matters most here is the long-term return on investment as they say; in terms of the time, money and effort spent, in securing a degree from a reputed university and becoming a global resource.

USA offers best education with plenty of Scholarships

by Caroline Clement

USA is one of the most sought after study destination among all students across the globe. Every year a good number of students fly to USA to study undergraduate and post graduate programmes. USA is very famous destination to study abroad among Indian students too. Every year large number of students visit USA to pursue their higher education. Last year around 7 lakh international students visited USA, out of which over 70,000 were Indian students. The most important factor that attracts a large number of Indian students to study in USAis world-class institutes of higher education.
The reputation of the American Universities coupled with broad curriculum offered at these institutions is valued by students and employers too. There is one more reason that attracts a large number of students to study there is a varied list of courses to offer: range from conventional courses like science, finance, or very creative courses like fine arts, animation and multimedia. Indian students constitute the largest group among all International students in USA. Majority of Indian students opt for Bachelor degrees in engineering, commerce, science, computers and business and Masters in business, finance and management. However, studying abroad often require financial assistance for extra expenses. Students can opt for scholarships, financial aid, international student loans and study abroad loans. USA offer number of scholarships to international students. As per one of the most recent report produced by NAFSA: The Association of International Educators estimated that $ 7.2333 billion was received by over 6,70,000 international students studying in the USA.

All type of scholarship and financial aid for international students are highly competitive and require a good academic record. You will find a number of scholarships for international students. Scholarship is a financial award based on merit, including outstanding academic performances, special talent is sports or performing arts. Financial aid is a "need-based" grant based on the student's financial need. All the students who apply for the financial aids need to submit some documents such as family income, assets, and other factors. Below is the list of scholarship for Indian students: 1. AAUW Educational Foundation International Fellowships: Fellowships will be awarded to graduate female foreign students of outstanding ability who can be expected to give effective leadership in their fields 2. ADAMHA National Research Service Awards: PhD in areas of biomedical & behavioral research within one of the three institutes. 3. Agency for Health Care Research and Quality: PGrants for Dissertation Research. For students of social, medical, management or health sciences. 4. American Foundation for Aging Research: Fellowship Awards for undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. students of biology, cancer, biochemistry, or biophysics in the aging research. 5. American Institute for Economic Research: Fellowships for college seniors applying to graduate programs leading to a Ph.D. for research in the institution. 6. American Institute of Indian Studies Fellowship Program: Graduates specializing in Indian aspects of academic discipline and for study in India. 7. American Society for Microbiology: Fellowships in the microbiological sciences for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students. 8. American Society of Civil Engineers: Administering various scholarships for undergraduates and graduates who study or conduct research in civil engineering. 9. Audio Engineering Society Educational Foundation: Scholarships for graduate studies in audio engineering. 10. Elizabeth Greenshield Foundation: Grants for young artists working in the following areas: painting, drawing, print making, sculpture. 11. Entomological Society of America: Scholarships for undergraduate students majoring in entomology, biology, zoology, or a related science 12. Explorers Club: Grants for undergraduate students for research in the natural science under the supervision of a qualified scientist. 13. Geological Society of America: Grants for graduate students to support masters and doctoral thesis research in geological science. 14. Georgia College & State University: International student scholarships are offered to international students each Fall and Spring semester. 15. Institute of Food Technologists: Scholarships and fellowships for undergraduates and graduates who major or conduct research in the area of food science. 16. P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship Fund: Grants for women from other countries for graduate study in the United States and Canada.

8 Steps to choose a foreign university

by Pritika Ghura Planning to study abroad? It is time to take a step back and think wisely what you aim to achieve and where will you get maximum

return on your investment. In an attempt to help you chose the best university and course for you, Learnhub talks to experts and jots down ways to ensure that you get the best education abroad.

Check out the Steps to choose a foreign university

1) What're your Career goals: The first and most important step is to find out is what you want to achieve when you go abroad. You should have an honest chat with yourself or your counsellors to know which universities best match your academic potential rather than applying to those you desire, just because everyone likes to go there. 2) Decide your programme: You should know which area or field interests you and then accordingly you can decide on which programme you want to pursue from abroad. Once decided, you can scout brochures, pamphlets, websites to study its curriculum and explore the kind of jobs you can do after you pursue that course. 3) Choose a university: Once your mind is made up on which programme you want to pursue, you should decide which university will best meet your aspirations. From the rankings, find universities that do good research in your area of interest and offer grants. 4) Get your queries resolved: If you have any query, get in touch with the admission officer, faculty and if need be alumni who pursued that course- to find out did that programme help them to achieve what they desired. 5) Consider geographical factors: Industries concentrated in particular states tend to hire heavily from the universities around them. Hardware firm, Dell, based in Austin, Texas, hires a lot of engineers and MBAs from universities located in and around Texas. 6) Identify your dream & safe colleges: While shortlisting colleges to apply, keep in mind to shortlist not only some dream colleges (which rank in top 10 but tough to get admission), but also some safe colleges. These safe colleges may not rank high but assure good programme, student life and placements. 7) Aim for scholarship: Once decided on which colleges to send your application, try your best to find about what scholarships they're offering, its eligibility and how to obtain it. Then try your best to get that. 8) Perform well: Now that you have made up your mind on which universities to apply, aim for a good GPA/CGPA, good GMAT/ GRE/ SAT/ IELTS / TOEFL score, strong personal statement or Statement of Purpose and a short and crisp resume.

http://web.worldbank.org/ http://www.csfp-online.org/ http://www.education.nic.in/

JJ/WBGS Program

In 1987, the World Bank, with funding from the Government of Japan, established the World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program for graduate studies in subjects related to economic development. Each year, the Program awards scholarships to individuals from World Bank member countries to undertake graduate studies at renowned universities throughout member countries of the Bank. Now in its 25th year, the Regular Program has awarded 3,503 scholarships, selected from 63,397 applicants. In addition, 1,380 scholarships have been awarded in the various JJ/WBGSP Partnership Programs for a total of 4,883. Since the inception of the Program, the Government of Japan has provided over 193.16 million dollars to the Scholarship Program. The Program's objective is to help create an international community of highly trained professionals working in the field of economic and social development. The World Bank and the Government of Japan require the scholars to return to their home countries on completion of their study Programs and apply their enhanced knowledge and skills to contribute to the development process in their respective regions and communities. Starting in 1992, a number of Partnership Programs have been launched, largely to respond to the need for graduate study Programs which combine academic rigor with specialized training in the practical aspects of policy-making. The objective of these Programs is to prepare the participants for effective policy-making roles in their home countries and regions. The World Bank administers the Program through the World Bank Institute (WBI). Policy guidance for the Program is provided by a Steering Committee comprised of three Executive Directors and five senior managers of the Bank. A Secretariat for day-to-day administration is maintained within WBI.