When I was 3, I remember telling my dad, “Papa, I wish to be a doctor when I am bigger”. With the roll of time and as things changed for me in my little world, doctor was but the last thing that I had in mind. Now a play artist and sometime a writer, with possibly each day changing, my wants of a career too altered. With a grin on his face and maybe an uncertainty for the future, he always promised me that I would get what I want.
Not to take away from the fact that, not many are lucky enough, studies in a world where every minute a doctor or engineer is born, is certainly not a cake’s walk! More than often we do hear meritorious students in and around us complaining that just because their family tree was not enrooted over Pandora’s chest, they were dispossessed of their rights to higher education in reputed universities across the globe. It is certainly a big thing today to dream big and an even a higher challenge to pursue it if you are trodden by luck in monetary terms.
However, from time immemorial, this problem of people falling prey to the shackles of a meagre pocket has persisted and so have the ways of overcoming! Student education scholarships are what breathe an air of assurance in this otherwise chocking atmosphere of education today. In India, the condition is presumably gore with over 40% of the population below of the poverty line (BPL), studying in Oxford or Cambridge is a fairy tale, only with a not-so happy ending! In the wake of the current situation several scholarships and other free fellowships have sprung up and the Fulbright-Nehru scholarship for diploma and doctoral research is one of the most sought after ones. With easy to apply procedure and other positive attributes, there are enough reasons for us to believe that not just the Richie-Richs of the practical world, but also an average person has the rights to dream big!
The Nehru-Fulbright scholarship; important details-
Back in the year 1946 when the world was still a somewhat simpler place to live in, the foresight and efforts of one man, the then senator in the United States, Mr William Fulbright went on for the structuration of this international fellowship for student exchange. Its Indian tie up, called by the name the Nehru-Fulbright fellowship is without a doubt a great initiative that makes sure that if you are deserving, you get your rewards. Students who are presently working on their future and studying for their respective Ph.Ds. in their respective fields have a larger option in this scholarship program. The students should have at least registered for their Ph.D. in an Indian university and that registration should be done at least one year earlier to the date of the application for this programme. The age limit for this programme is 45 years or younger. Students of this programme are given several kinds of benefits starting from monthly stipends, sickness program and all other things so that they don’t have any problem there. Students can apply for this programme through an application form or maybe with the help of some confidential reference. That depends upon the student itself. Applicants can be of any discipline as such may it be public administration, education, agricultural science, government, religion or any other topics such as literature or other contemporary issues, the details of which can be known by following the below given link. http://www.usief.org.in/FIC-Fulbright-Nehru-Doctoral-and-Professional-Research-Fellowships.aspx . Apart from this programme students have also a choice of various different kinds of programmes starting from the IFUW International Award for science technology, GREECE Scholarship programme for history and archaeology to the University of Melbourne and several other ones which specialises in many different fields. The list of which can be known in http://www.studyguideindia.com/Scholarship/International/ .
Tips to search and apply overseas and other important details-
Now all of us know that applying for a college in the country is a lot simpler than applying for any international university (although back home, things are getting way more complicated than they used to be a decade back), there are always a few things that you must keep in mind while aiming for any reputed university over the seas.
– Set your aim straight and path even straighter: Knowing what to study is the most important thing. As children (except a few of us, because we still do same), we do shift gears from one career option to the other, which in that setting seems forgivable however, while applying in any foreign institution, you must be crystal clear about your goals. The best part of the education system in most country, obviously except India (and I am pretty unabashed in telling so) is that they give you a range of subjects to choose from. You can be a doctor with a major in English literature or a microbiologist with a simultaneous degree in journalism and nobody would object to that!
– Pull your sleeves up and know it all about all universities offering your desired course: this is a simple step and doesn’t need any synopsis. Make no shortcuts and research well. Internet, personal e-mails (trust me, people out there are far more responsive and do reply back!) etc. do whatever you please and unclothe the facts.
РHelp your finances with grants: although we are talking in general about international free ships, most universities in addition to recognizing common scholarship or aptitude tests (SAT, TOEFL are some) also provide personal grants to the cr̬me de la cr̬me of the lot. Make sure you apply to these and prepare for it (Oh! Come on! Does this even need any citation?)
– Make new friends or revive the old: no, I am certainly not advertising Facebook here (although as you read you would find strong implications), what I mean is that knowing people who are ex-students or better still studying, always gives you an upper hand.
– Ensure all government procedures are taken care of: now this is the last thing you would like to get yourself involved into. So, make sure your passport is renewed (newly made if the case is such) and all other formalities taken care of. Last moment hassles only cause you sleepless nights, tons of rounds to government bureaucrats (and we all know the situation in India) and thousands of money wasted (of course in giving the Babus their chai-paani).
You must always remember that in today’s time, being talented is not all. It requires the synchronized functioning of both your mind and strategizing abilities to hail you to success, or in this case in your favourite university. With such great scholarships in line and more to come up in the near future, it would soon be a reality to study abroad than a vain fairy tale!