Scholarships (1 Viewer)

[GaDaMIt]

I'm currently in year 11 but the sudden thought of scholarships came to me and scared me. So basically I have two questions.. figured this was the best place to ask..

what sort of things do you have to put down to apply for a scholarship?

how much of a difference does it make on the cost of the course?

 

[stryder_au]

There are many scholarships that you can apply for and they're all looking for different things. There are scholarships awarded based on financial criteria, academic criteria, or extra-curricular criteria.

For example, the University of New South Wales Co-op Scholarship Program selects scholars "largely on the basis of their personal skills, leadership otential and motivation, as well as their non-academic achievements."

And for your second question, I'd think an extra few grand a year would make a huge difference.

 

[tennille]

I'm currently in year 11 but the sudden thought of scholarships came to me and scared me. So basically I have two questions.. figured this was the best place to ask..

what sort of things do you have to put down to apply for a scholarship?

how much of a difference does it make on the cost of the course?

Scholarships can aid in the purchasing of textbooks (which can be quite expensive). It really depends on how much you receive. I've heard of people who received $15,000, which can also aid in HECS payments (If you are willing to do partial upfront payment).

 

[flamearrows]

Scholarships, eh? I'll talk to my university [UNSW]:

Scholarships here are divided into a few distinct categories. Firstly, there's the prestige scholarships. These are generally based on very high marks.

Scientia - this pays $10000 a year and requires you to keep an average of 80% or higher. You can do any degree except for Medicine. UAI required: 99.90

Malcolm Chaiken - this pays $15000 a year. There's only three awarded per year, in Commerce/Science, Commerce & Engineering/Commerce. As you'd expect with such a large payment, this scholarship requires stupid high marks (the guy I know on it from last year achieved 99.90 and came first in E1 Mafs) and there's also an interview process.

Then there's the scholarships for the needy... These include the Commonwealth learning scholarships, as well as ones geared towards particular groups - e.g. there's a few law scholarships reserved for Aboriginal people.

Then there's medicine scholarships - the bonded rural scholarship pays $23000 a year, but requires you to go back to a rural area for at least seven years after you finish your degree. There's also the rural scholarship scheme, which pays $10000, but you must come from a rural area. There's also plenty of miscellaneous scholarships in there; none based purely on academic achievement. I think they really want to discourage people from doing medicine for the sake of it.

Then, there's the scholarships all in their own category... the Co-op scholarships are industry-bonded, pay $13500 a year and require you to achieve decent marks (credit average) and work certain periods of the year. There's some particularly tasty ones in there; especially Commerce (finance), which is five years and includes honours. It's sponsored by some heavy duty investment banks, so if your idea of fun is earning six figures and working 80 hours a week then this might be for you.

That pretty much sums it up. Study hard, try to be a good person and all the cal and you'll probably get one. As far as mitigating course costs is concerned, my scholarship (scientia) is the only way I can afford to come to university. So go figure.