How To Get Full-Ride Scholarships! (Even if You're an International Student)
Are you a domestic or international student that wants to get a full-ride scholarship to a university in the states? Find out how you can today!
It’s What We All Want
The idea of being able to go to college without paying any tuition is a dream many of us have. It would make everything so much easier, especially with the crazy amounts of money universities are charging (especially in the United States). In this edition of College Craft we’ll be answering the question: How Can I Get a Full-Ride Scholarship? You’ll find that this process can be broken up into 4 steps which, if followed, could lead to a huge scholarship opportunity!
Step #1: Research, Research, RESEARCH
Many students make the mistake of applying to universities solely because of prestige, looks, “name recognition”, or the suggestion of a friend. This is a huge error! The first question you should ask yourself when deciding if you’ll apply to a particular university is: “If I Got the Scholarships That I Qualify For, Would I be Able to Afford Attending?”. You can find this information on a school’s website. The same is true for full-ride scholarships. You have to find universities that offer them, and apply to those universities. It is oftentimes smaller, local, and less-known colleges that grant these opportunities to international students! Take 2-3 hours and scour the internet for colleges that give full-ride scholarships. Once you have a large list, eliminate the ones you don’t like and apply to the ones that remain!
Step #2: Apply
Once you have your list of universities that offer full-ride scholarships, your next step is to actually apply to those schools and get accepted. It’s a huge advantage if you apply early, because it’s common for high-value scholarships to be reserved for those who apply early action or early decision. Once you’ve been accepted into the university, you can follow the next step.
Step #3: Apply for the Scholarship
Yes, you do also also have to apply to the scholarship itself. Full-ride scholarships usually require an essay, an interview of some kind, or a resume. Make sure that you have carefully read the requirements of the scholarship before applying to it, as it is very important that you follow the exact prompt outlined by the university for your essay. Often, colleges are real picky when it comes to the requirements for their full-ride scholarship. There’s instances where they’ll ask you to submit your resume in a particular format and they even sometimes detail the size of the font that you should use for your resume. Once you’ve carefully read all the scholarship application details and applied to the scholarship, you can follow our next step.
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Step #4: Prepare
What am I preparing for? Well, most full-ride scholarships are highly selective and require the university to see if you’re a perfect fit to receive this award. A common way that they do this is by requiring an interview! A university official (or a panel of them) will hop on a zoom meeting (or an in-person meeting, if required) and ask you questions to get to know you better, and to judge if you’re a good fit to receive the scholarship. If you’re an introvert, don’t worry! Universities usually make sure that the people conducting the interviews are extraordinarily friendly! When I applied to external scholarships, I never had a negative experience with a scholarship interviewer, they were all fantastic. Most of the time, colleges send a list of topics that the interviewer will revolve their questions around. Read it thoroughly! We cannot stress this enough! The interview is what makes or breaks a full-ride scholarship application, so make sure you’re prepared!
Before We Go, Some Misconceptions
There are a few misconceptions that people have regarding the infamous “Full-Ride Scholarships”. Here are a few.
Getting a Full-Ride Scholarship Means Not Paying Anything
This is actually incorrect. Many of the people who receive “full-ride” scholarships are only relieved of the tuition costs of the university. Even though they don’t have to pay any tuition costs they still have to pay for room & board, books, fees, health insurance, and visa costs. Don’t let this discourage you! These costs are usually not even a fraction of what tuition is! If you can manage to rid yourself of tuition costs, that will usually mean that you only have to pay 25% of what the average student at that university will pay (that’s a lot less).
Every University Offers Full-Ride Scholarships
No, not all universities offer these kinds of scholarships. If you are an international student applying to universities in the U.S. this is especially true for you. Most U.S. universities favor students that are from the states to receive their “full-ride” scholarships” (if they offer any at all). However, many international students do end up receiving full-ride scholarships. How? Because they follow the steps we gave you!
You Need Full-Ride Scholarships to Afford College in the U.S.
Full-Rides are only one kind of scholarship that universities offer. You can often find other scholarships that will easily allow you to afford your total costs.
It’s Easy To Get Full-Ride Scholarships
It is very difficult to get such scholarships. But, if you follow this guide, it’ll be a lot easier for you!
Conclusion
We just gave you everything that you need to receive a full-ride scholarship. We’ve probably used the word “full-ride” around 30 times in this article alone. Let us know if you’ve enjoyed receiving this 100% free information directly to your inbox! If you have a friend, sibling, or relative that is also applying to college (or has a kid that’s applying to college) share this article with them so that they too can have a successful applicant!
Also, we realize that organizing the schools that you’re applying to is ridiculously difficult! That’s why we’ve created a Complete College Application Tracker (click) for you to have all your applications in one place (it even automatically calculates your financial aid and scholarships)! Check it out! Thank you for reading, and we’ll see you next week!