If you want to study in the US or England, of course you will find that it’s complicated! After all, you are leaving the education system you are familiar with and trying to show that you deserve to attend university in a different country.
However, if you have the qualifications for the programs below, these are the best ways to attend an international university on a scholarship. For now, here is information on two opportunities at the master’s degree level, and one more at the undergraduate level!
See the attachments at the end of this article for full information on each of the first two scholarships — and remember, if you don’t yet fully qualify for these scholarships, there are things you can do over time to improve and apply as a qualified student which we will discuss in a future column.
1) Master’s degree scholarships – United States – Fulbright Junior Staff Development Program.
Funded by the United States government, the Fulbright Scholarship program is the best way for foreign students to get a master’s degree in the US, if they qualify. In 2011, Fulbright sent 10 Rwandans to the US to get master’s degrees.
These professionals include 5 English professors at various Rwandan univerisities, and 5 professionals from a variety of sectors who have great ideas for projects that will contribute to the development of Rwanda.
Key requirements include: good professional experience (at least 2 years), complete application and successful interview
TOEFL and GRE scores are also required.
For more information (and to see the application instructions for English professors): contact the US embassy library or public affairs section
Applications are due in March 2012. See a link to this year’s Call for Applications at the end of this page.
2) Master’s degree scholarships – England – Rwanda Cambridge Scholarship
A new opportunity offered by the University of Cambridge and the Ministry of Education for the first time in 2011, this scholarship is open to any Rwandan who meets its high standards.
The first group of applications were due in December 2011, so look for the next application to be due in late 2012, with students starting at Cambridge in mid-2013!
See the end of this page for the 2011 announcement.
3) Undergraduate scholarships – United States – Apply to universities in the US as a qualified student
In the US, it’s the individual universities that give scholarships, depending on their budgets and on how many scholarships they can afford.
This will be the focus of a full column in the future, but if you are an outstanding secondary school student, you should know that it is possible to apply to US universities as a regular candidate.
If the school agrees that you are qualified and accepts you, then they will give you a scholarship according to their policies – and at the best schools in the US, these scholarships are often guaranteed, even for international students.
To win admission and scholarships to the best US schools, you will need:
– great secondary school grades from S-3 to S-6 (ideally you should be in the top 3 of your class)
– great national exam results for A-levels
– excellent spoken and written English, backed up by a score of more than 600 on the TOEFL exam
– high SAT scores, if possible more than 1800 out of 2400
– a record of activities at school and in your community that shows that you will be a good community member in the US
In practice, it is difficult for even the best students to achieve all of this by the end of S-6, so you may want to apply for a transition year program, which will give you one more year of school and help you show you are a qualified candidate to apply to the US.
Currently, Bridge2Rwanda Scholars is the only program in the country offering this kind of program, but we are going to put as much of this program as possible on Igihe.com so that students all over Rwanda can begin to prepare to apply to the US even when they are still in secondary school!
So what are 3 universities in the US that currently say they will meet international students’ full financial need if they accept them? Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Dartmouth – but there are many more schools in this category, if you have the scores, grades and English to apply as a qualified candidate.
For more information on Bridge2Rwanda Scholars, please see:
http://en.igihe.com/spip.php?article1705
Want more information on this or another subject related to international education? Ask us a question in the comments section!
Contact the Bridge2Rwanda International Training Centre. We are located on the first floor of Telecom House, or you can write us at joris [at] bridge2rwanda.org.
http://www.cambridgetrusts.org/documents/en/Rwa/Rwanda_Cambridge_Scholarship_information_sheet_April_2011.pdf
Link for Fulbright 2012
http://www.google.com/search?q=Rwanda+Fulbright+2012&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari
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