College is the coolest time ever because people will literally pay you to live and learn in another country. As I prepare for my second study abroad, I can’t help but feel fortunate that my trip is fully funded. I thought that I would take this opportunity to give you guys some tips on applying for scholarships so that you too can spend an entire four months gaining career experience and learning about another culture (and eating great food!).
1. Know when to go: Because I’m heading oversees during fall semester rather than summer or intercession (aka those the two weeks before or after a semester begins/ends), I am able to apply my traditional scholarships to my study abroad program. Right there is $9,000! Check with your university financial aid office if you normal scholarships can be applied to a study abroad program. Depending on your current scholarship situation, that could be all that you need.
Check with your Office of Financial Aid
2. Prepare Early: One scholarship that I received (in the amount of $4,000!!) was from my university, and I applied for it more than a year before my program started. I hadn’t even applied for my program yet! By paying attention to university deadlines I was able to get my application in and was lucky to be a recipient. If you want to study abroad fully funded I recommend starting researching and applying for scholarships about a year, but definitely 6-8 months, before your program begins.
3. Choose your program wisely: My study abroad program costs about $30,000 before airfare and personal expenses. That’s nuts. That’s about 7 semesters at my home university. But, my program has several different scholarships that I was able to apply for (even more if you’re racially diverse/first gen college student) plus they will match my pell grant. That doesn’t take a huge amount off of my program cost, but every bit counts.
4. Apply even if you’re not a good candidate: My largest scholarship (a $15,500 fellowship!!!!!!) is designed for graduate students doing independent research, but because my program includes an independent research element, I went ahead and applied for the fellowship and got it! If the application is open put your name in the hat. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. -Wane Gretzky" -Michael Scott. Apply!
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. -Wane Gretzky" -Michael Scott
5. Know what the scholarship wants: When applying for any scholarship, read up about the donors behind it and what it is intended for. Research grant? Highlight how you’ll be researching. Cultural experience scholarship? Talk about how the country that you’ll be visiting is different from your own and what you expect to learn. Scholarship from a backpack company? Tell them how they and their product can help you get the most out of your experience. What ever you do, just don’t turn in the same essay or personal statement for every application. That’s a sure way to make sure that your application is bland and boring.
Lots of words here, but these are my general tips for applying for study abroad grants, scholarships, and fellowships. Got any other tips? Can you one-up my funding amount? HMU in the comments section.
