Common Myths About Merit Based Scholarships
Myth #1 : You can get a merit based scholarships only if you have good grades
Fact
Most scholarships are competitive and assess you based on your statement of purpose for scholarships. It is not always true that a merit based scholarship is granted to you based on good academic performance. If you have fairly good grades with extracurricular achievements, you still have ample opportunity to apply for merit based scholarships. This includes students who are good at sports, art, music and other industries.
Myth #2: Most merit based scholarships are offered to minority students
Fact
If you are a bright student who belongs to an underrepresented section of the society, you are considered for this scholarship based on your need for financial assistance. However, the criteria is not limited to that and also includes your academic performance. Merit based scholarships are competitive, this means that you will be assessed first, based on your grades and then your need for financial assistance and your background (unless stated otherwise).
Myth #3: Merit based scholarship only provide partial funding against tuition fees
Fact
There are many merit based scholarships you can apply for with specific requirements that offer fully funded scholarships. This may include a number of things such as the country you are applying from, the community you belong to, the destination you want to study in etc.
Now that you understand the commonly misunderstood facts on merit based scholarships, let’s find the best scholarships based on merit for you.
Merit Based Scholarships Offered By International Governments:
Endeavour Postgraduate Leadership Award: Australia
Many institutions in Australia offer this scholarship to international students to help them pursue their Masters or Phd in Australia. If you want to pursue a full time research or taught course in Australia, you are eligible to apply for this scholarship.
Who Is Eligible For This Scholarship?
You are eligible to apply if you are from America, Asia, Carribean, Europe, Middleeast or the Pacific.
What Is The Value Of This Scholarship?
All Endeavour scholars pursuing long or short term courses are eligible for an award worth a minimum of AUD 3,000 and a maximum of AUD 36,000. Depending on your academic records, you are also eligible for a travel allowance of upto $3,000 and $4,500 under special circumstances. Moreover, you will also be provided with an establishment allowance of $2,000 and $4,000 depending on the duration of your course and the quality of application submitted. This scholarship will also cover your health insurance for the full duration of your stay in Australia.
You Eligible For This Scholarship?
You are eligible for this scholarship only if you don’t hold a dual citizenship in any country. Additionally, only candidates from outside Australia are eligible to apply. This means that you should not be a citizen of Australia nor should you be a permanent resident of Australia.
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships
This scholarship was established and made available to attract world-class doctoral students to study in Canada. With an aim to turn Canada into a Global Centre for Excellence in Research (both taught and research based). The scholarship is only available to PhD students.
Everyone is eligible for the Vanier Scholarship including Canadian citizens, Canadian residents and international students. To receive the Vanier merit based scholarships, you must only be nominated by one Canadian institution from the list of participating universities.
You can be nominated for this scholarship under a full time joint course, however the funds will only cover the PhD portion of the combined course.
You are eligible to apply only if you have completed your doctoral studies in no more than 20 months before applying for the application. Additionally, you are also eligible if you have not spent time pursuing a Master’s.
You must provide evidence of achieving first class average marks in your previous studies or equivalent. Lastly, you must not hold a previous doctoral level scholarship from NSERC, SSHRC or CIHR.
Don’t know what a NSERC Scholarship is? Read about the scholarship which is available for every level of your study.
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship scholars are eligible for a $50,000 for three years. This can be used against your tuition fees, living expenses, travel and incidental expenses.
Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships For Foreign Students: Switzerland
Awarded by the Swiss Confederation to promote international exchange between Switzerland and 180 other countries. The scholarship has been made available for international students from all backgrounds and is valid for any postgraduate field of study or course.
There are two types of scholarships available under the Swiss Excellence Scholarships for Foriegn Students, these are:
Research Scholarships for research graduates who hold a Master’s degree and are planning to complete their research or doctoral studies in Switzerland. Only students who are nominated by mentors from Swiss Cantonal universities or the two federal institutions of technology will be considered for the scholarship. This also includes mentors from universities of applied sciences.
Art Scholarships for students who wish to pursue their initial degree of Master’s in Switzerland. The scholarships are available for students at Swiss Conservatory or any Swiss Universities of Art.
Apart from the above requirements, candidates will be assessed based on their profile. This includes past experiences, academic records, achievements and quality of work.
Eiffel Scholarships in France
The scholarship is established and funded by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The aim of the is to attract the brightest minds from all over the world to study at the French Higher Education Institutions. The scholarship was built for the purpose of producing leaders and decision makers, especially from developing countries.
The Program of Excellence offers awards for four broad fields of studies i.e., Political Science, Law, Management and Economics, Masters level Engineering and Sciences at Doctoral levels of study.
The scholarship covers the following levels of studies:
- Master’s Program,
- Engineering Training or Taught Program
- A Joint Doctoral Program in association with a partner association board.
To be eligible for this scholarship, you need to be foreign national and not a citizen of France. To be eligible for a Master’s scholarship, you should not be above 25 years of age. For PhD candidates, you must not be above 30 years of age. Your application will not be considered if you have applied for this scholarship previously and have been rejected. Moreover, this should be your first time applying. You must make sure about meeting the French/English language requirements wherever applicable for international students.
A monthly allowance of €1,181 that includes a monthly allowance of €1,031 and a stipend of €150. This is for the Master’s programs.
For Doctoral programs, students are eligible for a monthly allowance of €1,400.
Apart from a monetary reward, the grant includes international air travel, travel expenses in France, health insurance and costs for cultural activities.
Thanks for reading our blog on Myths About Merit Based Scholarships And Where To Apply?
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I have done Bachelor’s in Culinary Arts from India and completed my graduation in the year 2022 .I am 22 years old. After graduation, I have done 1 year paid internship from USA .Now, I would like to take occupational experience and learn culinary skills and also do masters in Culinary arts.How can I find the college n best course / country where I can persue studying further