Education is one of the bedrock of any society and one of the easiest ways to get out of poverty, especially for people living in countries that are not doing well economically. Finding Masters Scholarships to Study Abroad tops different search engines today. Getting quality education is one of the hardest things to accomplish, as they are extremely expensive to come by, due to the human and material resources involved in actualizing it.
However, a special type of assistantship called scholarships has over the years reduced the burden of students a lot, as they have over the years helped millions of students achieve their dreams by helping them to pave their way through schools without having to pay through their nose.
What is a scholarship?
According to the Cambridge dictionary, a scholarship is an amount of money given by a college, school, university, or other organization to pay for the studies of a person with great ability but little money to carter for his/her education.
Scholarships are extremely flexible, they allow students to apply and study regardless of their background, family, or financial capacity and capabilities.
Grants and Scholarships
Most people often mistake these two as the same thing, although they are similar in their direction, they are very different in approach. Both scholarships and grants are types of gift aid, which means that students do not need to pay the money back. But grants are usually need-based, and often go to young people who cannot afford the cost of their studies. In contrast, most scholarships are awarded based on academic, athletic, artistic ability, or any other extra curriculum skill that is valued and appreciated by some organizations.
Difference between Scholarship and Student Loans
Grants are not the only alternative to scholarships, we also have financial aid called student loans. Unlike grants and scholarships, student loans are a form of financial aid that needs to be paid back, sometimes with interest. Student loans help the students.
In developed countries, most people are still paying back their student loans, years after they’ve finished school and sometimes it’s way more than they took in the first place.
How to find a Masters’s Scholarship?
A master degree program is one of the hottest degrees in the world market, as it can help you get a better job, help you move further in your organization, expose you to quite several things you don’t know at your undergraduate level, and most importantly, makes you a form of authority in your discipline.
However, getting a degree is not easy, especially if the dream is to study abroad. Masters programs abroad are quite expensive, that is why most students prefer to look for master’s degree scholarships abroad, to reduce their cost, or better still, bear the cost of their whole program.
But how do you start searching for a master’s degree scholarship?
The best place to look out for scholarships are your favorite school’s websites, normally schools do have their specific type of scholarship opportunities and place them on their site for everybody to see. If you don’t find anything on the school’s site, you can always contact the representative of the school, send a mail or chat, and see if they can help you in any way possible.
The next step after looking for the scholarship that meets your criteria is to look for financial aid in other places on the internet. But it’s not always easy to find reliable information and some of the information on the internet are outdated, as most bodies offering financial aids do change their conditions from time to time, so make sure that you are equipped with the right information before starting your journey.
What Documents Do You Need?
Admission requirements for a master’s degree abroad can vary from program to program, but luckily there are some similarities whether you want to study in America, Europe, or even Asia. The purpose of an application fee receipt, photos, and ID copies is pretty obvious. The University needs to be able to recognize you and accept your application. However, other common requirements may determine if you will get accepted or not to the degree you are applying to.
This is major because there are a lot of elements that can influence the decision of the universities, which don’t appear in the list of admission requirements.
Below are some of the major documents needed in this category:
Copies of diplomas from your previous studies: The school will require you to upload the original copy of your undergraduate degree, your transcript and some will even require you to upload the school certificate to be sure that you graduated from the said institution. The major reason for uploading a transcript is to know your GPA and decide if you will be admitted or not for the particular course.
Proof of Language Proficiency: When applying for a degree abroad, chances are that you will study in English, for this reason, major schools require you to take an exam that will prove that you are indeed proficient in the English language and as such can survive in both the school and the society at large.
Some of the most popular examinations to prove proficiency are TOEFL, IELTS, C1 Advanced, etc. when they determine a specific score, it means that they expect you to have the score. The higher the score, the more convinced that you have mastered the English language.
Statement of Intent: Many students are encouraged to write a statement of intent and relate why they wanted to study the course, the importance of the course, and the impact the course will have on the larger society when they do return to their country after their graduation. Although some schools won’t require you to write this statement it’s better to be prepared for it.
Reference Letters: Reference letters are letters that must be written by scholars of repute, in which they will state your uniqueness, vouch for your character and attest to your willingness to study the course you have chosen in their school. Most schools usually prefer you choosing a PhD holder for your reference, so their recommendation will hold ground.
In Conclusion, a master’s s scholarship is very popular right now, but it takes dedication, grit, and perseverance to be able to look out for the one that fits you, gathers all the documentation that’s needed, and of course fulfill a requirement re requirements required of you.