Steven Trapani’s Tips on Applying for a Study Abroad Scholarship

Steven Trapani, an upcoming KCP Fall 2014 student, has some fantastic ideas when it comes to applying for scholarships. Thanks, Steven!

I will be attending KCP International this coming Fall term. Below are some ideas for those of you who are interested in applying for scholarships. I personally applied for all that I found.

• If you know you are studying abroad, apply first and get accepted to a program. My choice was KCP. Many scholarship apps require that you have an acceptance letter.
• Make an appointment with your study abroad center. They can help you in many ways depending on what you are looking for in a program. I needed a program that would accept my financial aid and loans. CCIS has different study abroad options and as you know I chose Japan. When I looked to see the cost and reviews, I decided KCP was the one for me.
• I applied early to KCP. I knew I wanted to apply for a scholarship and all scholarship apps have due dates.  Do your homework and look online to find scholarships, or go to your University Study Abroad Office. You can also look online at other universities’ scholarship choices. They may have something different than your own university’s offerings.

Scholarship options:

1. Boren Scholarship is very competitive. I decided I was applying for all scholarship. https://www.borenawards.org
2. The bridging Scholarship http://www.aatj.org/studyabroad/scholarships.html
3. PSECU International Education Scholarship https://www.thepafoundation.org/ 
4. Gilman Scholarship http://www.iie.org/programs/gilman-scholarship-program
5. CCIS Scholarship http://www.ccisabroad.org/scholarship_info.htm
6. Chancellor John C. Cavanaugh International Education Award  https://aaua.org/awards-program/

The above options are just a few of the scholarships that I personally applied for. (btw, I live in Pennsylvania.) Once you do some looking around you may find many that I have not listed.

You really need to click on the links and read the entire site content to see if you meet the criteria for the scholarship.

 

 

Many of the scholarships require:

1. Transcripts
2. References ( 2)
3. Applications
4. Essays
5. Purpose of study
6. Due dates (believe me they are strict with due dates.)
7. Some scholarships require a certain GPA, and that you are receiving a state grant. This is why it is very important to click on the links and read everything.

I am still waiting to hear from the many scholarships that I applied for. Whatever the outcome is, I know that I tried!

Please don’t hesitate to ask your Study Abroad Office or KCP. I’m sure that any question you have can be answered. Remember, starting early is the key. Not only are you doing your college work, but applying for scholarships is almost as time-consuming as your college work. Divide and organize your time and everything can be done.

I can’t express enough about searching on your computer for international or study abroad scholarships. I searched for at least 4 months. Keep in mind a scholarship offered in the past may not always be offered every year. It all depends on the funding.

If you become a scholarship recipient, you may need to do some type of a service after your study abroad experience. This should all be explained in the web sites of the individual scholarships.