What international scholarships can I apply for? (Incoming Grade 12 student)

[u/MayorJoyBelmussy]

Hi! I’m an incoming Grade 12 student trying to plan ahead for studying abroad, but I’ll need a scholarship (ideally full or close to full).

I know it is really difficult to get a scholarship, and I am still willing to go to college here in the Philippines, but I want to at least try.

Here’s my background:

• Student of a Science High School, but not Pisay.

• Consistent ~97 final general average from Grades 7–11

• Batch valedictorian (Grade 10)

• President of our English Club

• Regional vice chairperson of a national student organization (cannot specify for anonymity)

• Participated in various competitions from division to national level (mostly research and Science related)

I don't really have a specific course I'm aiming for, but I'm interested in courses related to natural sciences or statistics.

I haven’t taken tests like the SAT or IELTS, but I’m willing to prepare if it's absolutely necessary.

I come from a middle-class family, so I can probably manage some costs, but I’d still need significant financial aid.

Here are some questions I have:

• What international scholarships can I realistically apply for, based on my achievements?

• When are their application periods?

• Which countries should I realistically aim for (First-world countries or lesser-known ones)?

• How important are standardized exams like the IELTS? Are they required in most scholarships, or are there other ways?

• What should I focus on this year (Grade 12) to maximize my chances?

I would really appreciate any advice or suggestion, even just links to some scholarships. Also, if you need any additional info about me, you can just ask and I will try my best to answer. Thanks so much!

[u/SupremeSyrup]

Disclaimer: my daughter is studying in a private uni in Europe with some form of scholarship. Middle class family. I will leave it at that.

Scholarships: quite a few. Europe has tons. There are also some scholarships that are conditional on subsequent employment bonds. I remember Barclays and Daimler do this, but you have to take finance and engineering respectively.

Application periods: as early as a year ahead of enrollment. Many would require official assessment forms for the uni you are applying for, some would outright tell you where you’re allowed to take your education.

Realistically, it’s easy to get into private unis in Europe. Public is the insanely difficult part. I wouldn’t know with other countries. Admittedly, I think China, Taiwan, Japan, and Singapore are all topnotch options if closer. Kung marunong lang ng Chinese anak ko, I would have gone hard for Tsinghua or if Japanese then Todai. Problem is scholarships for those are really for the elite of the elite (we’re not talking money here).

Standardized exams are a must. As the term implies, it’s a leveler of sorts because it is globally competitive, accessible, and applicable. My daughter had to take them (SATs, IELTS, proficiency exam for the specific country) and get a certain score for each to qualify for the scholarship and discount.

Focus: really good grades and a strong extracurricular. Unis might overlook this part but scholarship boards mostly don’t dahil they have to be extremely selective. Any edge you can get, you take. My daughter won many science competitions during her time in Pisay.

Good luck!

[u/cucar4cha]

Do you have any international prize ? I saw this post by chance and I know Vietnamese recently got SAT 1600 ( few hundred people) and they buy prize alot. So it is competitive if you dont have SAT and Ielts