Scholarship comes from the word Scholar; the one who excels academically or in a particular subject of expertise. Scholarship is the source of fund that helps to maintain and support the education of a scholar.
A scholarship can be offered at any level or any year and in any school. But let’s address the elephant in the room; a very curious that every parent is that how much will they save if their child is offered a scholarship. Nowadays, scholarships are common and we all know someone who has a scholarship. Back in the day, getting a scholarship as a high school student was a moment of pride for the one who received it. With time and demographical changes, scholarships have become common and sometimes also given away based on knowing someone influential. However, there is also a reality that scholarships tend to be offered mainly in independent schools and large private schools offer only primary school scholarships.
Let us discuss a few factual questions that create curiosity within parents and students.
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How to Apply?
If your school offers a scholarship you can directly go on their website and apply for one. If however, you cannot find any information on the website you must contact the school directly and inquiry about the enrolment. Some schools also have their testing and interviewing processes. For this, the school might also charge a certain fee.
Who gets a Scholarship?
Well, this is where the actual reality lies. With most high schools, theirstudent scholarship is funded by donors and organisations, who may be remotely being involved with the selection process. This becomes an open door for multiple selection bias. Not necessary they are biased but they could succumb to parental pressure under the pretext of a transfer to a competitor school. This could be one of the reasons so to understand and know who gets a scholarship is a question best left unanswered. However, a scholarship is deserved by a student who excels academically and cannot afford to pursue further studies.
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Is it Worth Applying?
Yes, it is worth applying. Unless you can afford the education you wish your child pursues. However, you must keep in mind that there is a certain fee that needs to be paid for the application for a scholarship and you should not be heartbroken if you do not make it. Also, keeping in mind the scholarship criteria is a must. You must be well educated about your child’s weakness and strengthens. An unnecessary burden on your child will only make it tougher for them. Nowadays schools have become unbending about scholarships and apart from excellence in a certain subject they look at the overall academic performance and extra skill sets too.
This should answer most of your how’s and what’s. But a frank fact is that to be able to achieve a scholarship one needs to be dedicated and be flexible to meet the criteria of a Scholarship.