There has been a recent surge in students aspiring to study abroad. The factors responsible for this recent phenomenon of a stellar rise in international university applications pertain to the healthcare infrastructure, stay back facilities provided, growth in the Indian economy and variety in the course offerings by the International Universities.
Despite such facilities, there rises one major constraint that does pull down the Indian aspirants and their parents is the financial burden. One must acknowledge that studying in most countries worldwide is not affordable unless the student and parents are aware of and benefit from the scholarships and financial aid facilities for international students in the targeted destination.
Most of the top International Universities provide scholarships based on the remarkable achievements along with academic performance consistency. This fact gets more evident on studying more available scholarship databases. Here you can have a quick look at six top scholarships for undergraduate studies:
1. Rhodes Scholarship – allows a monetary benefit of 15000 pounds annually for the first two years of study. The scholarship is offered by Oxford University with a possible judgement parameter of exemplary community service involvement.
2. Tata Scholarships for Cornell University allows a monetary benefit of complete tuition fees coverage and other financial needs during the study tenure. The scholarship is offered by Tata Education and Development Trust with a possible judgement parameter of offering admission to Cornell for UG Students.
3. Danforth Scholars Program allows a monetary benefit of either full tuition fees/ 50% tuition fees or a monthly stipend of 2500 US dollars depending on the financial need of the student’s course. The scholarship is offered by Washington University at St. Louis with a possible judgement parameter of assessing their passion for helping others.
4. Nanyang Scholarships allows a monetary benefit of entire tuition fees, 6500 Singapore Dollars as living allowance, 2000 Singapore Dollars as accommodation allowance 5000 Singapore dollars as travel allowance for the overseas program and 1750 Singapore Dollars as computer allowance. The scholarship is offered by Nanyang Technological University with a possible judgement parameter of assessing the Leadership potential, Academic Performance and Volunteering Experience.
5. Boston University Presidential Scholarship allows a monetary benefit of 25000 US Dollars per annum. The scholarship is offered by Boston University with a possible judgment parameter that the aspirant must have excellent academic achievements.
6. Karsh International Scholarship allows a monetary benefit of complete tuition fees. The scholarship is offered by Duke University with a possible judgement parameter based on academic performance.
The advisory from the International Education desk at Pratham Test Prep suggests that parents of wards in Class IX and onward should pay attention to a few areas, which include:
Academic consistency
Bagging extracurricular achievements
Contributing to the society
Involvement in projects based on technology, design, entrepreneurship or any other area of interest
Research orientation is of high value for students aiming to study pure sciences, economics, literature, psychology, sociology etc.
Collecting valuable internship experience
Participating in international and national level competitions, including Olympiads, hackathons, business idea contests, and many more
Preparation for national and international entrances
Excel in your passion area like dance, music, sketching, or any other.
If a personal mentor can handle each student for these purposes, it would become more feasible to look at these scholarships and many others with more intent. The mentorship is necessary for figuring the right resources and exceedingly for the student's time management, who already has too much on the plate.