{"id":12308,"date":"2022-12-09T10:48:50","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T10:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/student-voices\/?p=12308"},"modified":"2024-07-01T10:20:15","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T09:20:15","slug":"top-tips-for-securing-a-departmental-scholarship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/student-voices\/2022\/12\/09\/top-tips-for-securing-a-departmental-scholarship\/","title":{"rendered":"My top tips for securing a departmental scholarship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As an international student, my journey has been both challenging and rewarding. I was especially pleased when I received my Management School Masters International Academic Excellence Scholarship<\/a>. The purpose of this post is to share my personal experience around getting a departmental scholarship and to share my top tips on securing one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a departmental scholarship?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you missed your chance to apply for a fully-funded scholarship or weren’t awarded one, don’t worry! You may still be able to apply for a departmental or school scholarship. What exactly are these? Many of the departments or schools at the University of York have scholarships for their own students. For example, my department (which was York Management School, now known as the School for Business and Society<\/a>) advertised several management related scholarships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My departmental scholarship journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Pratik
Me outside our department building<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I applied for the fully-funded scholarship<\/a> during the second round and unfortunately didn’t get it. However, I didn’t give up, as managing your finances as an international student can be quite challenging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I first heard about the departmental scholarships via the University’s social media. As a result, I applied for two of them, which were open to all international students. I was asked to answer five questions about my academic, professional, and personal development. Because I had already done research, I had a head start when developing my application. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several things that I think helped me to develop a ‘stand out’ application. I developed meaningful relationships with distinguished alumni from my course and received feedback from them, which helped me gather compelling evidence for my application. I also attended the University’s events and was able to connect with the International Support team to learn more about the University. In my home country, I also received national recognition for my content creation work, which really helped me stand out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, I was myself throughout the writing process, as I think being authentic is crucial to getting accepted. I believe there isn’t a structure to follow. If that were the case everyone would receive scholarships. You should also keep in mind that these scholarships are highly competitive, so thorough research is expected of you. It wasn’t long before my efforts were rewarded, when I received an email notifying me of my scholarship acceptance. This e-mail gave me goosebumps, and I shed a tear while reading it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My top tips for prospective students:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Being authentic – being real<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n