Getting Rid of Financial Aid Worry to Achieve Study Abroad Dream

Brief of me

I intended to take study abroad courseworks since I got accepted into UCSD in Fall 2021 as a transferred student. Having early preparation was imperative for me because I was cognizant of facing financial challenges to make this dream come true. I planned to take a study abroad trip in summer 2022, so I often checked the study abroad website to read about the coming programs offered. I jumped to the virtual study abroad office so many times to ask about the application process and cost for various programs. Programs were quite limited during the pandemic but some were able to be run under high-quality protective precaution plans. After deliberating about tuition, location, and associated classes, I decided to go with a global seminar program because the financial burden is lower. It is also good to have a short-term experience for my first trip abroad.

Scholarship Hunting

However, the biggest worry I encounter is finance and I believe I am not alone when I say this. Thus, searching and noting down the deadlines of all scholarships or funds was my sole focus in Winter break. Even though writing is not my strength, I love writing about my passion, my thoughts of how meaningful study abroad is for me (because I was like waiting for this million years), why I would love to take class abroad, and how beneficial the class abroad will be for my academic career. You want to bring all of yourself or to scream out loud your dream in the essay to incite the evaluating committee’s emotion and attention to your passion. One piece of helpful advice for scholarship applications is understanding and considering carefully the criteria of each type of scholarship. Because I did not want to waste time on applications that I had low chances to get, I invested all effort and time in three main scholarships which were OASIS global seminar, Denno Kathleen, and FEA. Fortunately, I received the offers of all these three in about March 2022. Together with summer federal and UCSD grants, they covered all my program costs and I still have a bit left for other expenses. I also applied for one general application that is used for about over ten scholarships but the likelihood of getting them was quite low because this set of scholarships was also uncovered for students who participated in UCEAP and EAP programs. Nevertheless, it is still convenient and efficient to apply for a bunch of scholarships in one application.

At the beginning of June, I received an offer of the Office General Award scholarship and this helped a lot in relieving my financial pressure. So, the total scholarship funded my program cost and ticket. Each scholarship will require recipients to commit to some activities that aim to disseminate study abroad programs and deliver messages of benefits of study abroad to the next UCSD students. Basically, they want us to make weekly blog posts or videos posted to Youtube channels and I am sure that you would love to memorize this unique and special experience. The last personal advice that will be useful is checking with your study abroad advisor and honestly sharing with them your financial aid struggle, they will guide you through what scholarships are available and tips for achieving it. There are many workshops that you can attend to get to know more about scholarship writing tips, application deadline, the differences among study abroad programs, etc. Some campus resources like writing hub, Oasis writing tutor, and study abroad writing advisor will give significant support to scholarship writing success as well. Hence, do not hesitate to contact those sources and be brave to plan for your dream. Plan will make your dream doable and achievable. 

Yes, do your best and never give up.

Being aware of my transient study period at UCSD, I made a thorough plan ahead for this momentous decision to actualize my study abroad passion. The process of this is stressful but also worthy and exciting for me. Walking through all procedures of application and financial preparation cultivated me with skills of searching and filtering information along with shaping myself to be diligent and determined on my path. This is my first trip abroad and I can’t wait to see how authentic Scotland and the University of Edinburgh are in the next few weeks.