Scholarships/ Loans

Scholarships
There are many resources available to students to search for scholarships, and there are also many services that charge students for either access to their scholarship database or to conduct a scholarship search on students behalf.

If you have time, and the resources available to you, then most of the scholarship searches can all be found online for free. InternationalScholarships.com is one that offers a free scholarship search and there are many more out there. Take your time, do your homework and you will be able to find all the information you need.

Scholarship Scams
Scholarship scams are all over the place, and as an international student you are a prime target for people to scam you out of money. The general rule of thumb when it comes to scholarship scams are:

1. If you must pay money to get money, it might be a scam.
2. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
3. Spend the time, not the money.
4. Nobody can guarantee that you'll win a scholarship.
5. Legitimate scholarship foundations do not charge application fees.
6. If you're suspicious of an offer, it's usually with good reasons

Am I eligible for a Scholarship?
Eligibility depends on the scholarship. There is no general rule of thumb on whether you are eligible for a scholarship. All scholarships vary in their eligibility requirements, some ask for a certain TOEFL score, some ask that you are from a certain country, some ask for you to have a certain GPA. You will need to do your own research to see if you are eligible for a scholarship.

How do I apply for a Scholarship?
As with eligibility, there is not set rule on how to apply for scholarships. Some ask for a specially written piece of work, some ask for you to be pursuing a certain field and some just require you to complete an application form. If you find a scholarship that you think you may be eligible for, contact the award administrator of that award. All the scholarships found in the InternationalStudent.com Scholarship search contains contact details of the award administrator.