What scholarship organizations look for

I applied for seven scholarships in total, 5 which would sponsor me for overseas studies and 2 for local universities. The reason I applied for so many was that I wanted to open up all options, as I couldn’t be sure what I would get. I had an inclination towards science and engineering, but I wanted to keep my options open. Also, the thought of committing my life to one organization for the next ten years or more was a little intimidating. I had heard stories of people hating being bonded to an organization, even though they thought that they would like it when they signed on, and I didn’t want that to happen to me.

I meant, I had just graduated from high school, and the only subjects which I could say I knew a fair amount about were Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, and Chinese. Not to mention that I had almost no experience of working life and the longest I had been on an internship was about four months. It was like: What do I know about what engineers do? What’s the life of a policy maker really like? A diplomat’s? A doctor’s? A lawyer’s? A pharmacist’s? There are things which you can only truly know by experiencing for yourself. Asking someone else in the field is only a poor substitute. Most scholarship applicants will just have to pick an organization which they think would be good for them, at the age of eighteen, and hope that that mindset remains for the next ten years at least, after going through college and experiencing a lot more about life outside of school.

Of the five government scholarships I applied for, A*STAR and DSTA invited me to the final rounds. ST Engineering and the Defence Merit Scholarship (DMS) called me for the first interviews. DMS, PSC and NUS eventually sent me rejection letters, and I assume ST Engineering rejected me because I haven't heard back from them. If PSC rejected you but you put teaching as one of your choices, you might be called for a MOE Teaching Scholarship interview.

All the scholarships have the same basic criteria: good grades and extra-curriculars. So why did two of them invite me for the final rounds? And why did the other three reject me? The answer is the interest you have shown. I did two attachments with A*STAR, which I felt was probably the strongest indication of interest in the organization. Apparently, the interview board concurred with me. Which brings me to another point: Internships are important. Of the five overseas scholarships I applied for, only A*STAR and DSTA, which I had done internships at before, accepted me. Its' a lot easier to convince the interviewers that you can see yourself working in the organization if you've been an intern there before. It really helps, you get a lot of inside information you won't find anywhere on the internet or in the papers, and you get to see for yourself if you can spend at least six more years working there. I have heard cases of scholars breaking bonds after doing the compulsory summer attachment during their undergraduate years because they decided they hated the work in their organization, since they had never tried anything similar to that before, and made a mistake.

If you accept a scholarship from a place you have never worked in before, do try to take an internship there BEFORE you leave for your studies, so you can still reject the scholarship with the (relatively) small S$1000 penalty without really 'breaking" your bond if you hate it there. Yes, scholarships will first have you sign a preliminary contract saying you want to be their scholar, but you only sign the ultimate, binding contract a few weeks before you depart for your studies, so you still have a few months to test things out to make sure you aren't making a horrible mistake. You are not considered a 'bond-breaker' per se if you break the preliminary one, but if you break after you sign the final contract... goodnight!

When I went for interview for the Defence Merit Scholarship, they tried to ask me whether I was more research orientated or policy oriented. They wanted a straight answer, but I couldn’t give them one. I was out of the interview room much faster than the other candidates. Usually candidates for the DMS are asked questions about current affairs (a bit like the PSC interview, I suppose) but they didn’t even ask me any questions on current affairs at all. I guess it was all for both our own good, since the interviewers don’t want someone whose not suitable for the job. You get the feeling that they have done interviews so many times; they can just look at a candidate, ask a few questions, and determine if they would be the right person, or you would at least like the job when you start working proper.

My interview with NTU went pretty well. I was offered the ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship. At that point I had not been for any other scholarship interviews yet, so NTU was definitely still open to me. But my interview with NUS went quite badly. I had been offered the A*STAR scholarship the day before and had pretty much decided on it by then, so when asked if I wanted to study locally or overseas... well, what did you expect me to do, lie?

Finally, I accepted the A*STAR scholarship, after weighing the pros, cons, and consequences.

***
Thus, I feel you should only apply for a scholarship if you are sure that you want the job you will have to do, and if your credentials support this fact. For me, most of my achievements were in academia, research, scientific-based competitions, or music.

Otherwise, there’s probably no point even trying. In fact, it might even affect your chances at those which look at you seriously as all the scholarship boards want a candidate which has a high chance of taking up their offer. (I'm not the one who said this, a lot of people said so before me). If you apply for a lot of scholarships, they might be worried that you will accept another organization, and be more hesitant about offering you. Or they will think you don't know what you want. The best you can do I guess is to make an educated guess on what you like. As one teacher once told me, “At the end of the day, no one knows if their choice will be worth it. Just make your decision now, and stick to it.”

One question almost all of the scholarship boards asked was ‘If you get all the scholarships, which one would you choose?’ Reply honestly, and don’t you even think about faking, since they will know. And if you happen to be a master at deception, ask yourself if you want to live a lie for the next ten years.

Thus I reach my conclusion: What do scholarship organizations really look for? Beyond the grades, the CCAs, your personality?

Suitability.

Yes, that is the key word. They want someone who would fit the job requirements once they start working there proper. Your areas of interest must match the job description. Otherwise, no matter how good you are, you will not be accepted, even if you have an awesome interview and brilliant CV. But if the organization is really for you, just go for it, even if you think other candidates might be better than you. This is a long term decision, I and believe if you really think the scholarship is for you, your interest will still shine through amidst others who may be better but applied for it on a whim.