Studying abroad has always been my dream since primary school. After all these years, I have never given it up. After completing my undergraduate studies, I decided it's time to accomplish this childhood dream of mine. Coming out from a not so wealthy family, the biggest challenge would be getting funding for my studies. Here, I would share a few experiences of mine in getting scholarships.
Fulbright Award
Fulbright program was founded by Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946 and it's one of the most prestigious award in the U.S.. I was stoked to be selected as one of the principle Fulbright candidates. There are few types of grants available for Malaysians. One of them is Fulbright Malaysian Graduate studies and Research Program. This program allows students to pursue either a Master's or PhD degree at one of the top universities in the United States of America. Information on this program can be obtained from MACEE (Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange). After submitting the application forms along with other documents required, next thing to do is to pray. If you are shortlisted for the interview, do invest some time to prepare for it.
What to expect in the interview:
The questions are rather straight-forward. They are generally about you and are based on the contents of your application so you must be able to expand them. Take time to review your personal statement and statement of proposed activity as you will asked about your intended course/research, your previous research experience, your interest, your future plan and etc. Do speak with enthusiasm and show your determination to contribute to our countries' future development using the knowledge you learnt from the U.S. as one of the objectives of this Fulbright program is to encourage technology transfer. Lastly practice, practice and practice, it will definitely boost your confidence.
Fulbright program has its pros and cons depending on each individual. If you wish to pursue a Master's or PhD level, you can apply for this program even if you haven't got admitted to any universities as Institute of International Education (IIE) in New York will be in charge of selecting and submitting all scholars' applications to universities. Therefore, a scholar can only suggest for the universities selection, IIE is the one who decide which universities are suitable for you. The Fulbright doesn't guarantee full financial support, usually it will only provide partial funding and scholar has to secure counterpart funding from the grad school. The whole application process is troublesome as everything must goes through IIE. Lastly, all the scholars will be granted a J-1 visa so they are obliged to return to home country upon completion of studies. Eventually, I decided to turn this offer down but I feel truly honored to be one of the recipients.
Australian Endeavour Award
The Endeavour Awards is the Australian Government’s internationally competitive, merit‐based scholarship program providing opportunities for international students to undertake study, research and professional development in Australia. I'm honored to be one of the Endeavor scholars. It will provide me full financial support throughout my stay in Oz.
The Khazanah Scholarship
Although I wasn't selected for Khazanah scholarship program, I found the experience extremely worthwhile. I only managed to make it through stage 2.
Stage 1
IQ assessment
There are 5 categories: abstract logical reasoning, understanding logical Process, spatial reasoning, social context, numerical reasoning. They were quite easy, just be fast and accurate
Stage 2
Part 1 individual assessment
This is an interview session. In this session, the most important thing to do is to talk, talk, talk. They are looking for a leader so if you are planning to do a research degree, remember to tell how you and your research product can benefit the corporation because they are looking for a leader not a researcher.
Part 2 Group assessment
All the shortlisters were assigned into 4 groups and were given different topics. We were given 15 min to prepare for the presentation. The only resource given was a laptop but do not be afraid to ask for help from the staff there. At the end of the presentation, each member was asked questions and this was when the evaluation began. Next, each of us was given a piece of paper to list down the actions we would take to improve our presentation if we were given another chance. At last, every one was given a piece paper to write down the name of a group member that one thought should be eliminated with reasons stated.
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