What is the Right Time to Apply for a Scholarship?

Getting a scholarship is the easiest way to reduce the financial burden which a foreign degree might bring with it. the total expense of studying abroad might cost more than you expected because the living expenses differ each month. Plus, getting a scholarship also means you need to take a loan for a smaller amount. Scholarships can be of many types. Some scholarships are need-based while others are merit-based scholarships. There are some scholarships which are country-focused and given especially to the citizen of a particular country.

The process of applying for scholarships differs from one to another. So, when do you need to apply for a scholarship? It depends on what kind of scholarship it is.  

There are scholarships offered by colleges where you don’t need to apply separately. Your admission application is taken into account and if your scores and profile meet the required criteria you are automatically eligible for the scholarship. For these kinds of scholarships, you need to ask your college's admission cell for more information. You don’t need to apply separately so you don't have to worry about any extra deadline. Everything is taken care of by the college itself. 

The other type of scholarship is independent scholarship. These could be offered by organizations, corporations etc. When you need to apply for these scholarships depends on the deadline for each scholarship. You will have to keep note of the deadlines of each of these scholarships. These could be a year before your college session starts to a couple of months from the beginning of the academic session.  Most of the time scholarships are offered as a loan. A student loan with either zero per cent interest rate or very little. These scholarships help you cope with high tuition fees and the cost of living in a foreign country. There are several factors that affect the chances of getting a scholarship.

When are Most Scholarships Available?

Scholarships offering committees and bodies do a thorough background verification and profile test of the applicants from around the world. In some cases, they may also conduct an interview with the applicant to learn about his/her achievements or personal conditions in detail before reaching to a conclusion. For this reason, the applications for most scholarships are dropped in the month of June of the preceding year of your college application. Some scholarships also drop their applications in August and the deadline falls in November. The results of awards are announced between January to March of the year of college application. To sum up, all scholarship applications are usually made before the beginning of the session.

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