Sureties

If you're ever thinking of signing for a scholarship with a bond, you'll need two sureties. Check the approximate criteria here, from the MOH website. Varies between different scholarship boards but you might want to think about who could qualify and would agree to be your surety, given the possible consequences if you ever renege on your bond.

Choosing between A*STAR and DSTA

For people interested in a career in science and engineering, these are the two scholarships they are most likely to apply for. Chances are, if you can get one, you can get the other. It was a tough choice, really, since they both looked so good and offered exciting career paths.

For me, what really tipped the balance in my favor was the fact that A*STAR scholars are encouraged to do a PhD. I decided that since I really wanted to do a PhD, I might as well choose A*STAR. I liked the way they structured the PhD programme for their scholars. Counting from the time you sign the contract to the time you finish serving your bond, its 3 years for undergraduate degree + 1 year research attachment at an A*STAR institute + 5 years PhD + 2 years working at an A*STAR research institute + 3 years where you can choose from 4 career tracks. Quoting a piece of advice someone gave me at a (non-A*STAR) scholarship fair: "If you don't do a PhD straight after your bachelor's degree, you may not do it after you start working and get promoted". (Disclaimer: I didn't say it, nor do I think that applies to everyone.)

The choice to choose between 4 career paths two years into the 5-year-bond after my PhD was also attractive. There are four tracks to choose from: Research, Academic, Management, and Industry. So even if I decided I didn’t want to do research anymore then, I could still have a position where I could do something useful. By then, my thoughts on my career progression should be pretty set.

While I was on attachment at A*STAR. I decided I could see myself working there in the future. The strength in the biological sciences was also a factor - what if I wanted to crossover to bio next time? Even for bio haters, don't rule this out. Quite a lot of people start out in physics and ended up in bio at the postgraduate level - I know at least one such person personally.

In DSTA, its not so clear cut about whether their scholars end up getting a PhD or not. That said, I think DSTA is an awesome place to go if you’re not completely sure if you want to do a PhD, but like science and engineering! And they do really cool stuff too. You can always graduate and work first before deciding if you want to stick to DSTA or go do a PhD.

Singapore Scholarship Listings

I'm posting this as a response to a question on the tagboard (@worried), and to any who may be interested. If you want to know what scholarships are available in Singapore, who provides them, how much money they give, international/PR/citizen only, bond period, etc.:

http://student.brightsparks.com.sg/scholarshipproviderlist.php

The link above takes you to a search form on BrightSparks where you can do a rather detailed search of the scholarships available in Singapore. Most of the information there is pretty accurate, but I still recommend that you use it only as a starting point. Once you narrow down your search, go to the websites of the actual scholarship providers, attend scholarship fairs and whatnot, and talk to the people from the organization themselves. They will be able to provide you with a more comprehensive picture.

Questions you will almost certainly see in every scholarship interview

This list was drawn from my personal experience of applying for so many scholarships, and other things which had interviews. Also listed what I gleaned from other people who went for interviews.

Questions you will likely see
1. Why do you want to apply for this scholarship?
2. What makes you a deserving candidate?
3. How do you think your interests align with the job scope required of you as a scholar?
4. Why should we give you the scholarship?
5. What books, newspaper publications do you read? Tell me what was on the newspaper front page today! Do you read the news on current affairs and politics, or just the life section? (I love the Urban section of the Straits Times, by the way.) Remember that your interviewers were once your age!
6. If you got all the scholarships you applied for, which one will you choose?
7. Tell me about NUS High School. How come you're not going to NUS? I thought NUS High students go there by default! (Almost every stranger with no NUS High connections has asked me this. I'm sure many of you have been on the receiving end of such questions also.)
8. Do you feel you have been given more opportunities than your peers in mainstream schools due to the brand name of 'NUS High School'? Does it mean you are actually not that good, just that you got lucky for going to NUS High?
9. Why do you want to go study in X overseas university? Aren't Singapore universities very good?
10. If you applied for PSC and DSTA - the job description of the PSC and DSTA scholar is very different. Why did you apply for both? Which one do you really want? Or are you just trying your luck? (a.k.a Why did you apply for one which makes you do management and another one which makes you do science?)
11. Tell me about your weaknesses?
12. How did you overcome them?
13. Tell me about your social life. What do you do in your free time? Hobbies? Do you have a lot of friends? How about close friends whom you can share all your secrets with, not just 'regular' friends to chat to?
14. Why do you want to major in Y subject? What made you like it? Why do you see yourself studying it for the next four years?
15. What questions do you have for me? (You can ask about their appraisal system, for one).
16. Why did you ask about your appraisal system? Are you money minded or motivated by other means?
17. Did you ever intern at our organization? If yes, how did you find the experience? If not, why not? How can you say this is the organization for you if you haven't even experiences it for yourself yet? 'I was busy with other activities ... I plan to take an internship at your organization now/ once I have the time.'
18. A lot of people like to go to UK or US to study. Do you want to go to somewhere like China, Taiwan, Korea, Switzerland to study instead? We want diversity as well.
19. What are you doing now that your high school is over? If you have a job, even a part time one, that's good. If you are bumming around, say something like 'Oh, I'm studying for university so I can be familiar with my subjects when I actually go', or 'I'm learning how to drive!' or 'I'm looking for jobs now! Actively hunting everyday, going for interviews...'. Don't like, really bum and play computer games or watch movies all day long haha. I doubt they would be impressed, unless you're representing Singapore in the World Cyber Games. Be prepared to defend your reason for bumming if you bum.
19. Tell me about your research projects. What did you do? How did you pick your topic? What did you learn? Planning to continue?
20. Anything interesting you did that you want to share with us?
21. What will you do if you don't get this scholarship? Turn into a banshee? Get depression? Be determined to work harder than ever in University?
22. What is your impression of our organization? Some interviews might decide to throw questions about specific facts of the organization, like what big project have they recently completed, or what big event is they are doing next. Watch out for these!
23. I never went for it, but everyone says PSC likes to ask about current affairs. So does Defence Merit Scholarship. People who did do for them said they ask a lot about you personal opinion on politics, so prepare for this if you're interested.
24. For guys: How's NS? How's OCS? (They tend to ask questions about NS, but ask a guy about what type and what style).
25. Convince us that you really want the scholarship, and are not taking it just to go overseas. We've seen people reject our offers before, after going through all the selection rounds.
26. How much revenue does our company earn a year?
27. How long have you been preparing for this interview? Some of your answers sound rehearsed. 'Of course I prepared, I'm interested in this scholarship and I really want to get it. Naturally I put in some effort to show my interest. Besides, I've long been checking your website for updates! Blah... Blah...'
28. Do you think scholars have a moral obligation to serve their bond out or its okay to break the bond as long as they pay back the stipulated sum?
29. Did you ever have to work with someone you found irritating? How did you deal with it?
30. Do you view getting a scholarship as prestigious? How important was prestige to you when considering scholarships and colleges to apply to?

More unexpected questions include:
1. What do you see our company in the next ten years?
2. If you were the CEO of this company, what changes will you make?
3. Anything you dislike about our company?
4. And some totally offbeat questions, just to catch you off guard: Should dustbins be square of round? Why?
5. "Any questions for the board?"
'Yes. How many scholars does this organization hope to eventually get? The number of scholars they have increases each year as you offer more scholarships. Is there going to be a cap on the scholars taken once you reach the desired number of people to perform the job optimally?'
"Well, what do you think, from your knowledge?'
(Questions thrown back at you).
6. Can you cook? To check if you have life skills, are a mugger, or just can't be bothered ;)

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.

What a rejection letter from NUS Scholarship looks like

Office of Admissions

Dear XXXXX,

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS AY2010/11

Thank you for applying to the NUS undergraduate scholarships. Each year, we receive applications from highly talented applications, making the selection process extremely difficult for the selection committee. Due to this very keen competition, we regret to inform you that we are not able to offer any scholarships to you. Our decision is not in anyway a statement on your achievements.

After your interview with us, you have been considered to be awarded one of our NUS scholarships. However, the demand for scholarships in AY2010/11 is very high and thus, highly competitive. Please be assured that we have considered your application carefully and thoroughly. In our evaluation, while you are clearly highly talented, we are not able to offer you any scholarships as some candidates have demonstrated exceptional talent. Nonetheless, with continuing efforts, we trust that you can do well in university as well.

Though you may not have been able to secure our scholarships, we will certainly look forward to admitting you to NUS.

We with you all the best in future endeavors.

With best wishes,

YYYYYYY
Director
Office of Admissions
National University of Singapore

***

To apply for the NUS Scholarship, you go to this page and find the link. Be careful which scholarship you apply for, since some are specific to Singaporeans OR foreigners. There's a form you need to fill up, and a section for one referee to fill in also. You need to mail in scanned copies of your testimonials and what nots. Everything you mail in must be under 5MB in size, which was very annoying since my files were big.

DSTA Undergraduate Scholarship

If you are nominated to apply for the DSTA Scholarship early, you must submit your application before the mid-December early cycle deadline in 2009. Once you’ve filled up the form on the Brightsparks Portal, which I've wrote about extensively in earlier posts, you should mail to the scholarship office all your transcripts, certificates, etc.

If you applied early, you will be called for interviews around early January. If you submit after the early cycle closing dateline, even on 01 January 2010, you will be called in March as you are considered a regular deadline applicant. DSTA gives around 50-70 people per year, depending on the quality of applicants and yield rate (% of successful applicants who accept the scholarship). About 75% of scholars do electrical and electronic engineering; the other 25% study the sciences and other fields of engineering. If you want to do Physics, you will be called to DSO to work, that much I can say. As you can see, DSTA is heavy on the physical sciences, so that's where many of the Math, Physics, and Chemistry people apply to.

There are three rounds of selection, all conducted at the headquarters. Dress like you are going to work but don't overdo it. Guys try to get of of army uniform if possible and change but I guess they will understand if you can't book out in time.

First round is with some department heads who will give some general questions about yourself – you’ve seen it all before. Read the DSTA Horizons publication if you can get hold if it; its a journal on what DSTA has achieved in technology. You need to take some sort of personality and motivating test there, it's a very long set of questions about what motivates you. Just answer honestly, as in, honestly, since psychometric tests tend to repeat questions to make sure unscrupulous candidates are not faking their personality. Can't remember if you need to write an essay; it was required for the JC Scholarship, topics will be a bit like filling up the scholarship application form, along the lines of what you want to be a defence scientist. You've seen it all before also. If you want examples of how you could possible write your essay, go read the DSTA scholars featured in the annual Brightsparks magazine. If you’ve applied for the scholarship for, even the Junior College one, the scholarship officers will have to reset your account for you to repeat the test.

Second round – the assessment center, is the interesting and stressful one. The assessment center will last at least half a day. Basically, they put you in a mock situation where you are an employee of DSTA. You’ll be put into some scenarios to test how you react and interact with people in real life. I think they give out same few topics every year. Watch your words and behavior, and don’t worry if you can’t finish doing everything you are given; most people find the time very tight. Just do a good job on what you can, answer what you feel is right. Remember to check the DSTA website about what research they are doing, and read up about the organizational culture in DSTA if possible, weeks ahead and the night before. That’s all I’m going to say.

Third round. By the time you’ve got here, you’ll get to fill in the G50 form. It’s a form for people going into government service. You'll need two referees for them to contact to check your background. Don’t get complacent though, you still get some people kicked out in the third round. The Chief Defence Scientist was the person who chaired my interview, but I think you might get any one of the board members. You'll get some questions based on what you wrote in your application form, and might be asked to talk a bit about yourself and your goals for your future. You get time to ask him about one question.

What else can I say? I think the selection process can be quite stressful, but not as stressful as the PSC interviews, from what I can tell. Oh, and they offer food to candidates while waiting for your turn with ther interviewer, though no one seemed to be eating - all too stressed perhaps? And demonstrate you know when it is appropriate to keep secrets. Defence Science and Technology Agency, see? No use having some wonderful strategy if the enemy knows all about it.

Once the interviews start, expect the next ones to come very soon, like within two weeks of each other, or faster. When the final interview concludes, the notification of success comes quickly. If you didn’t hear back from them after three weeks or more – sorry, you probably didn’t get it. They will eventually mail you a letter informing you of your status, regardless of the outcome. Its the same as with the universities, a small, thin envelope for rejects and a large one for admits.

If you want to do a Ph.D, you must apply again for a Ph.D award, or apply for a graduate school and ask DSTA to put your bond on hold until you return to serve when you have your Ph.D. Whether you get to do a Ph.D. will also depend on whether the department you are working in wants a Ph.D holder or not - check with DSTA on the minutes of this one.

Once you get the scholarship, you only have a couple of weeks to think through what you really want for the next ten years of your life, before you are obliged to sign the contract. Sponsorship for studies is for four years. Most scholars take 3 years to do their Bachelor's and 1 to do their Masters. Attachment during one of your summers included.

If you missed applying during your undergraduate years and went to a local university, you can apply for the DSTA Academic Exchange scholarship to go on an exchange programme overseas. There will be 3 years bond for this. I saw quite a few candidates going for this programme at my interview.

A*STAR Scholarship - Filling in the form

Go to the A*STAR Scholarship portal to sign up for an account.

Fill in all the necessary components:

FULL NAME AND ADDRESS

Self explanatory

PERSONAL DETAILS

Self explanatory

How did you get to know about the A*STAR Scholarship?: A*STAR website; school; A*STAR scholar, etc

FAMILY DETAILS

Self explanatory

Combined Household Annual Income (S$): XXXX

Type of dwelling: YYYY

INTENDED UNIVERSITY ADMISSION

There's a list of preferred schools, though you may apply for others not on the list.

PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS MADE TO OTHER AGENCIES

They all ask this question. On hindsight, it’s better to apply for scholarships where you could conceivably transfer the same or similar set of skills around. For example, apply for DSTA and A*STAR, not DSTA and PSC, or people will ask you why you applied for one scholarship that is related to management and another scholarship related to science and technology. Which one do you really want?

SCHOLARSHIP/ GRANT AWARDED

Nanyang Girls’ High School Scholarship, from Nanyang Girls’ High School, on 31 December 2004. No outstanding bond period.

LANGUAGE

Include languages you can speak and your proficiency. I’m unsure if speaking a dialect counts as a ‘language’.

PRIZES AND AWARDS

Self explanatory. There’s only space to put 10 awards here.

CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Self-explanatory

CAREER ASPIRATIONS

I plan to read Mathematics or Physics at University but also to explore other science related options. As research is very interdisciplinary, I’ll first build up experience in different scientific fields. Since A*STAR has so many different branches, working in A*STAR would give me the chance to explore a few of these other fields. This would put me in good stead to conduct research and foresee potential applications from the viewpoint of an engineer, mathematician, or scientist. As many people collaborating on a problem can add dimension to it, being an A*STAR scholar would be perfect for me to build both lasting work and personal relationships. I want to work on projects relating to emerging technologies because that is where most breakthroughs may be made. My goal is to eventually head my own research team when I have learnt the ropes, as I believe in leading by example.

ESSAY/ QUESTION

In less than 1500 words, briefly describe why you want to pursue the proposed field of study and how your participation in past research/ intellectual activities demonstrates your passion for R & D.

Everyone in NUS High should have had done at least 2 research projects, so you probably will have something to write here that directly relates to what they are looking for. The essay was a modification from what I wrote for my Princeton (I got waitlisted) essay. Essentially, I recycled some of my essays (with relevant changes) which I did up for my earlier UK and US applications. One, because there were a limited number of things to write about (I’m 18!); two, because my responses to the questions were relatively similar; and three, because I’ll go crazy if I had to think of new things to write for every single application I made =)

I plan to read Mathematics or Physics in College. I’ve liked Mathematics ever since I was in primary school, so it’s always been an option. I’m not even sure why I like it; perhaps it’s the logic which appeals to me.

My interest in Physics started in a more unconventional way.

Physics was my worst subject when I entered NUS High School. I had lots of problems doing the questions, and I wasn’t alone. It was the general consensus that Physics was the hardest subject in school then, which automatically made me desire to do well in it. Challenges always excite this spark in me which make me want to take them on.

So, I studied very hard for Physics. However, despite my best efforts, I invariably performed worst in it. Although I knew that performance on an exam is related to how well you know the material and not how much you study, it was still very discouraging to see bad results for something I put a lot of effort into. The worst came when I failed an exam so badly that I got less than 25% even after moderation. I’ll never forget the shock and horror of that moment. Never had I failed anything in school until then.

I almost dropped the subject. That was my darkest moment. The memory of it haunted me for the next semester every time I had to do anything related to Physics. It was extremely difficult to even start doing a homework assignment, and ended up procrastinating after writing one equation. I wasn’t being lazy – I just didn’t dare to do it.

Fortunately, we started learning Calculus in Math class, so I could understand some of the Physics concepts better after lots of revision and studying. I improved a little, enough for my school to invite me for Physics Olympiad Training during JC1.

I looked at the invitation with mixed feelings. My desire to join the training warred with my fear of not being able to cope. That semester had been a very hard one for me, where I had spent about every day worrying about Physics.

I deliberated for a long time. I consulted with my parents, seniors, and teachers, who all said I had to make the choice myself. My teacher was encouraging but wasn’t about to give me false hope. He said “Your seniors all didn’t know if it would be worth it. You have a chance of representing the school – but whether you can get a medal remains to be seen.”

Ultimately, I waited until the last moment before the response deadline to accept.

Luckily, the trainer invited was an exceptional teacher. Young and energetic, he was infused with enthusiasm about Physics. He was a very talented man and needed only a whiteboard and marker for his lessons – he had the concepts and problems all in his head. The homework he handed out was so difficult that many of us couldn’t do it, and some dropped out. But I didn’t. There’s a saying that anybody who tries their luck at something has a chance, but to not participate at all would definitely destroy this chance.

The turning point came a few weeks before the start of the Singapore Physics Olympiad. I decided that I was just going to push ahead with everything I had and fight to the end. I had come so far already, and now it was too late to give up. I had sacrificed too much, put in too much effort.

I did well in the theoretical test, but the practical sealed my victory. When I got the questions, I didn’t hesitate, but plunged straight into action, working methodically until time was up.

The results were released a month later. They revealed that I had become one of eight gold medalists in Singapore that year. I was surprised, maybe? Definitely I was pleased. But I didn’t jump up and down screaming with joy. For so long, I had been plagued with bad results for physics that the unexpected victory seemed a little surreal.

My experience in the Singapore Physics Olympiad showed me how fascinating Physics was. The more I studied it, the more my interest grew. I decided then that I wanted to study Physics in University because I love the subject and wanted to delve deeper into it. Also, Physics has many emerging new fields which are current hot spots of research; I see a lot of future for in this field. Another bonus is that Physics is the key to most of the scientific disciplines, and someone who understands it would be able to pick up concepts in other scientific fields quickly. I believe this will serve me well since science is constantly evolving and scientists have to be able to understand new concepts quickly to keep up with the pace of technology.

By then, I knew I was interested in science, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted it as my career. I decided to sign up for the Youth Research Programme at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, as I had heard the experience there is a good gauge to tell if you are interested in research. It turned out that I really enjoyed myself there. My mentor was very professional and knew how to balance between guiding the student and letting them explore on their own, and all the scientists were friendly and enthusiastic about their work. That made me decide that the A*STAR scholarship would be a good fit for me. But since I am more interested in the Physical Sciences, I decided to sign up for another attachment at the Data Storage Institute to explore other options offered by A*STAR.

My Advanced Research Project on “Design and Fabrication of Microfluidic Devices and Optimization of separation of two different beads in the detection area”, conducted under the Science Research Programme, was graded excellent. Another project was on organic chemistry, titled “Synthesis of Novel N-Heterocyclic and Fluorene-consisting Small Molecules as Fluorescent Probes”. The synthesis method was patented by my mentor. I also took an internship last year at the Defence Science Organization to work on Electromagnetic Compatibility and Interference.

Experience in conducting research has taught me that inspiration can come from the most unexpected places. Once, I saw a man arguing with the airport counter officer about the weight of his luggage. He had to pay extra because it had exceeded the airline’s weight restrictions and he wasn’t pleased at all! That got me thinking that many people had probably experienced similar difficulties.

I wondered if there was a way to solve this problem. When I heard about the CREATE2010 Engineering Challenge, inviting people to come up with a creation to improve people’s lives feasibly, I knew I had found the right vehicle for my ideas. They posted periodic updates on Facebook about fascinating engineering ideas to improve people’s lives. Some ideas were not currently feasible, but all were very exciting!

My research began. It’s pretty odd how inspiration can come along. I was thinking about my parents’ tales about their troublesome travels in the days before bags on wheels became widespread, when it hit me! I came up with a Weighing Wheel, a device which enables luggage or anything on wheels to be weighed easily with a built-in balance scale.

I got a friend to join me. We made it to the top five teams out of 175 applications after first a round of selection by the judges, then a second round of public voting.

I wanted to do well, so we brainstormed and decided that we would structure our presentation like we were a real company pitching sales to an audience. I also set up a genuine website, www.theweighingwheel.blogspot.com, so anyone interested could scrutinize the design.

The eight judges were most impressed by the practicality of the idea. The emcee said he would like to buy such a luggage! Two of the judges suggested we should seriously consider starting a real company to sell it.

And that’s what I plan to do. Use what I’ve learnt to create products and conduct research to improve people’s lives. I believe A*STAR’s goals are in line with mine, and this is why I have decided to apply for the NSS(BS).

Would you like to be considered for the MBBS-PhD Scholarship?

No.

Yes if you want to study medicine but don’t intend to practice as a doctor.

EDUCATION (OTHERS)

Here is where you key in your SAT and TOEFL results. Even if you don’t plan to study in the US you must still take the SAT as A*STAR requires you to score more than 2100 for the SAT I and more than 1400 for the SAT II before you receive the award.

EDUCATION DETAILS (PRE-UNIVERSITY)

Secondary school (or High School Equivalent)

Etc.. .etc

Junior College (or Pre-University Equivalent)

Etc… etc

DECLARATION

Questions about whether you have legal or financial troubles, physical or mental problems, and whether you have applied for an A*STAR Scholarship before.

UPLOADS:

It seems that A*STAR now wants two referees to write letter on why they think you deserve the scholarship. Also upload a photograph of yourself.

DOCUMENTS TO SUBMIT

Same as ST Engineering. In addition you must submit certified true copies of letters of offer from the colleges you've been admitted to.

ST Engineering Scholarship

As the name suggests, ST Engineering is mainly about engineering, but they welcome people interested in economics, business, etc, too, subject to approval by the company.

To apply for the ST Engineering Scholarship, you can either download the form from their website, or more advisably go to Brightsparks and submit the form from there.

***

PERSONAL PARTICULARS
Self explanatory

GCE ‘O’ LEVEL OR EQUIVALENT
School name: NUS High School of Mathematics and Science
Country: Singapore
Stream: N.A.
Start Date: 01 Jan 2006
Examination date: 31 Dec 2007
Aggregate L1R5/ CAP/ GPA Score: 4.53
Type of School certificate: IP School Examination

Subject Taken
English Language: 4.25
Higher Chinese: 3.75
Higher Chinese O’Level: B3
Chinese O’Level: A1
Mathematics: 5.00
Chemistry: 5.00
Biology: 4.50
Physics: 4.62
Geography: 4.25
Fine Art: 4.00

GCE ‘A’ LEVEL, IB, ACT, DIPLOMA OR EQUIVALENT

School name: NUS High School of Mathematics and Science
Country: Singapore
Start Date: 01 Jan 2008
Examination date: 26 Nov 2009 (Day my batch graduated)
Aggregate L1R5/ CAP/ GPA Score: 4.7
Type of School certificate: NUS High School

Subject Taken
Format: (subject, major CAP, honors CAP)
Mathematics, 5.0, 5.0
Biology, 4.6, 4.7
Chemistry, 4.8, 4.8
Physics 4.8, 5.0
English Language, 4.2
Mother Tongue, 3.8
Mathematics, 5.0
Biology, 4.6
Chemistry, 4.9
Physics, 4.8
Humanities and the Arts, 4.1

EDUCATION RECORDS (TOEFL, SAT 1 & 2, GMAT & GRE)
Leave those you didn’t take blank, system will automatically record as 0.

SAT I
Date of sitting: 10 Oct 2009
Test Centre: St Francis Methodist School
Critical Reading: 670, Percentile 92
Writing, 770, Percentile 99
Mathematics 770, Percentile 98
Total: 2210

SAT II
Date of Sitting: 06 Jan 2009 (If you took the test on two separate dates just put the date of the first time you took them)
Test Centre: St Francis Methodist School
Chemistry: 800, Percentile 93
Physics: 800, Percentile 90
Math Level 2: 800, Percentile 89
Biology (M): 790, Percentile 95
Total: 3190

FAMILY PARTICULARS
Self explanatory

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
(Language, speak proficiency, read proficiency, write proficiency)
English, excellent, excellent, excellent
Chinese, good, good, good

INTENDED ADMISSION/ CURRENT UNIVERSITY INFORMATION
Latest/ Current Academic Level: NUS High School
Future course of study preferences: List five of them
Intended Commencement date: 01 Sep 2010 (just approximate if you are not sure)
Applications made to university: list details on the universities you have applied to.

APPLICATION FOR OTHER SCHOLARSHIPS/ GRANTS
(Scholarship/ Grant, Organization, Course, Outcome, Application date)
Detail everything, including University based scholarships and Singapore government scholarships for overseas studies.
Eg, NUS Undergraduate Scholarship; PSC Scholarship

CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Chinese Orchestra, Research, Music Ambassadors, Physics Interest Group, Community Service

ACHIEVEMENTS/ AWARDS/ PRIZES
List the most significant you can put in.

OTHER QUALIFICATION/ CERTIFICATION
As above.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
I listed unpaid and paid jobs here.
Not sure if tuition teacher, a popular job among fresh A-Level or High School graduates, counts if you solicited on your own without the help of tuition agency. Check it up yourself.

REFEREES
I asked two of my former teachers who taught me in year 5 and 6.

OTHER INFORMATION

About yourself:
I’m a pragmatic person. I know my limits and what I can achieve, but I am also a very determined person who can work with single minded focus to achieve my goals. I’m not afraid to try to achieve more ambitious goals if I think there is a chance of success, and I don’t give up easily. I believe these traits will serve me well if ST Engineering accepts me because engineers often encounter challenging problems which take a lot of time to solve. My first choice of study is Electrical Engineering as electrical engineers are needed in most engineering fields, as well as being a hot spot of research, so I believe this is where I will have the most scope in my work.

Other relevant information:
I wrote about the CREATE2010 Contest and what I did there.

Questions about your health, legal troubles (if any), and whether you have applied for the scholarship before.

ST ENGINEERING ADDITIONAL QUESTION

Your response to these questions below will help us understand your aspirations and motivations. You are requested to attach your completed response to this application form.No more than 200 words for each response.

(a) The goals you have set for yourself and how you plan to achieve them.
I hope to attend a premier US college. US is my dream location for my further studies as it is excellent in science and technology and I believe the exposure to a completely different lifestyle will help stretch my mind and learn how to think differently. Recently, I had an idea on the design of a wheel which could weigh the weight of luggage without an external scale. I entered it into the CREATE2010 Engineering Challenge, and became one of the top five finalists there. Inspiration doesn’t come very often, but I believe with work and knowledge in the Engineering field, I will have more ideas. ST Engineering would be a good option for me as the company works on many different fields of Engineering; I hope to get some exposure in many different fields to see what I truly enjoy. Long term goals for me include eventually leading my own team and leading my own research team to work on projects to benefit humanity.

(b) Your career aspirations and the field of work which interests you.
Academically, I’m interested in studying Engineering or Mathematics at University. Mathematics because I’ve always been interested in the subject since I was in primary school – the logic to it just appeals to me. But Engineering is a very exciting choice – the possibilities to it are infinite, limited only by our imagination, and there is huge scope for potential in this field. Being able to apply what I’ve learnt in class also appeals to me. Currently, I’ve leaning towards Electrical Engineering, the field which I feel makes full use of both the subjects I enjoy., also because it involves Quantum Mechanics, a field which interests me. I want to first work as an engineer or scientist in a major organization to learn from experiences veterans in my field, then work my way up to become a leader in a research team when I'm more confident of my skills and have found projects which I'm passionate about. But I also hope to have a role in the management of the company, as the direction of the company is just as vital to its success as the caliber of their employees.

UPLOADS
1. My C/V
2. A recommendation letter date 2007, which a teacher wrote for me when I applied for the DSTA Junior College Scholarship.
You may upload up to two documents on the website for review.

Comment:
Refresh your memory of what you've written on the application form before your interview because they are bound to pick questions off it about what you wrote there.

***

The rest of the photocopies of my school transcripts, NUS High Diploma, CCA Records, Award certificates, ICs, NRIC scans, headshoots, GCE O'Level certs, and records of achievements were stamped "certified true copy" at the school's General Office. They went into a big envelope addressed to ST Engineering's scholarship division. You get to do this process for every single scholarship you apply for, and some universities as well. Pleasant eh?

***

I was called for the first interview but didn’t receive the scholarship. Anyway, hope this information about how to fill the form is useful because after you’ve got the interview, general consensus is that you’re on equal footing with other candidates after that.

You might be asked to bring original copies of the certificates you have submitted for review by the scholarship officers, even if you have already submitted certified true copies in the application.

As I recall, the interview room had three people, two were asking questions and the other was the scholarship officer who was taking notes. I was asked questions about NUS High, how I liked it there, etc. I was also asked about my university choices and subject choices. I was given the chance to ask them questions about the company, such as appraisal and training for staff. Overall, the interview took about half an hour and went quite well, but in scholarship and university admissions you can never be sure until the offer or rejection letter is on your table.

Interview classes

I had the sudden inspiration to write about this "service" the college counselors help students with, though it's pretty under-the-radar. Not many students have heard of it, probably because it travels by word-of-mouth.

I'm referring to interview classes.

What happens is that you have a bunch of students sitting around a conference table, and they each take turns to be the interviewee, with everyone else firing questions at them. One of the college counselors (or someone designated by them) facilitates the entire process and can ask questions as well. At the end of your mock interview, there'll be a short discussion on how you performed in the interview.

Our college counselors can be quite perceptive and brutal. Perceptive because they can tell which questions break you. Brutal because they ask them anyway. But based on my personal experience, this is very beneficial as preparation. A large part of the reason why we're scared is because it's our first time and we only have a theoretical vision of what to expect. The interview classes will dissect all that, show you what your weaknesses are and which questions you need to look out for. You'll also get opinions on how to answer weird questions and how to respond to skepticism. And you get to see how others fare under the same conditions, which you can adapt to your own style.

This doesn't mean you won't be nervous at all during the actual interview. No matter how much preparation you do, there's still the element of the unknown. However, knowing that you were totally crushed during your mock interview makes you a lot more confident about yourself, and then you'll be less likely to stutter, stammer or screw up in general :) After all, you've already been put through an emotional trainwreck; how much worse can it get?

Contact the college counselors if you want an interview class. The best arrangement is to find a group of, say, six to seven acquaintances, and try to schedule a 2-hour slot. The earlier the better, as the college counselors' workload increases exponentially in the 2nd half of the year. Why acquaintances? Because you want to be able to ask all types of questions without risking hurt feelings. That requires some sort of distance and unfamiliarity. If you go with your best friends, it might be extremely awkward. You will also not get feedback about how your character appears to strangers, because your friends know you too well.

That's all I have on this topic. Again I'll emphasize that it was a great help for me. I went for it one day before my interview, which is not a good idea because you need some sort of 'recovery time' - but it was still better than nothing. Ask the college counselors for more details. Schedule one early; this can only advantage you.

An application to PSC

The PSC scholarship consists of a few parts – the proper application, the psychometric test, a psychologist interview and then a board interview.

If you are interested in a PSC scholarship though, you might want to try out civil service work first at a ministry or something. PSC now has an internship programme for JC kids (end of J1 or end of J2) and so you really should try it. Not only will you convince yourself about whether you like the job, it probably makes a good case to others that you know what you are getting yourself into.

The school may nominate you for the psychometric test sometime in March or June in Year 6. If you can’t make it on the dates, don’t worry, you will have a chance to take it again at the end of the year, or after you submit your PSC application.

So what is the psychometric test like? There are 4 components – logic, math, English and a personality test. The logic component is similar to the test taken for GEP selection – a bunch of shapes with 1 missing, and then you choose the shape that fits the pattern (Raven's Progressive Matrices). The math component is just a ton of simple math (but you can’t use a calculator!). The English component consists of a few passages where you read it and see what you can infer from it, and the personality test is just what it is, a personality test (it was the Cattell 16 Factor Personality Test in my year).

I don’t think that any of these tests are ‘muggable’ per se, and I really don’t think you should ‘mug’ for them, the best advice I can give is that time is really tight and if you don’t know the answers you really should skip it because it is a very real possibility that you wouldn’t be able to finish the test. Each question also carries the same amount of weightage so it really doesn’t make sense to dwell too much on one question.

I got my psychometric test results back in about August, but they weren’t very informative other than just saying that I was above average in some components and average in some. If you don’t get the results that you were expecting to get, don’t worry because there are so many factors that PSC takes into account anyway and your psychometric test is just 1 out of the many factors. (small caveat: I am not the board and I don’t know how much weightage they give to the psychometric test)

The application opens at about September/October (I can’t remember), and that’s when you fill in things like your grades, etc. That’s pretty straightforward and I wrote a post about what I filled in so you can look at that if you like. I am inclined to believe that the earlier you submit your application, the better (and if you want to know why come ask me). I have heard that they process applications in batches so I guess the earlier you apply the earlier it gets processed, and possibly an earlier interview?

I got my notification for a psychologist interview sometime at the end of January. The psychologist interview is just what it is. They assign you to a psychologist who can be from any affiliated board like Civil Service College, Prisons, Hospitals, etc, and the psychologist will sit there and talk to you for ~4 hours just asking you questions about yourself. Right before the interview commences though there is a very short personality test for about ½ hour. This is probably the easiest component as you just get to talk about yourself for 4 hours. You really don’t have to prepare for this other than BRINGING LOTS OF WATER.

My board interview was sometime in the middle of February. It is held in the PSC office in the National Library, and really they can ask you about anything. Anything goes, be it about yourself or current affairs. The whole PSC board will be there (~10 people) and it can feel a bit intimidating. The questions do come very quickly and they are very sharp (well of course, they are the board members for a reason). The best advice I can give for this section is DON’T PANIC and be calm. There is no better way to prepare for this than to read the newspapers every day (as early as possible, NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO START IF YOU HAVENT ALREADY) and take a keen interest in what is happening in Singapore. I don’t think this is something that is ‘muggable’ as well, it isn’t like textbook recitation but it requires you to think about the issues surrounding the world today and how they all affect Singapore.

SIM launches bond free scholarships for undergraduates and postgraduates at local and overseas universities

I saw this in the TODAY newspaper on 8th March 2010.

“ The Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) has launched two scholarships - the SIM-Richard K M Eu and SIM-You Poh Seng Scholarships - to honour the contributions made by two SIM pioneers.

Dr Eu was SIM's first chairman from 1964 to 1989 when he was a banker, as well as running family business Eu Yan Sang concurrently. Professor You was the school's executive director from 1979 to 1996, and helped establish ties with overseas universities.

Both scholarships are bond-free and cost up to $100,000 each. They are open to Singapore citizens who want to pursue either undergraduate or postgraduate degree programmes at any reputable university either locally or overseas.

Applications are open until May 14, 2010. Visit www.sim.edu.sg/simscholarships for more information.”

Do note that the scholarship is only for Singapore citizens, and for undergraduate or postgraduate studies at local or overseas universities in the fields of Banking, Business, Economics, Finance, Statistics and/or Technology.

The criteria for applications also seems to be for A-Level students and/or Polytechnic students, but maybe someone interested in applying might want to check if NUS High Students are also eligible? Keep us posted on the enquiry results.

Why apply, or dont apply for a PSC scholarship, or any other scholarship for that matter

Many people have asked me whether they should apply for a PSC scholarship or not, and while I havent been in it for very long (only about 1 year since my acceptance) and I havent started working in the civil service, this is the advice I can give. It's pretty general though because that's the way it is. (I am writing this now at 5 am because I am jetlagged, and no I ended up sleeping on the plane) I tried to make it PSC specific but I realized I cant really cos the same stuff pretty much applies for all scholarships as well.

1. I dont think it hurts you to apply and see what happens to your application. Applying is free after all.
I feel that it would be extremely wasted if you are actually interested in the scholarship/school/whatever else but you didnt apply because you thought you wont get in. Call me idealistic, but I feel that many things in the world have a luck component to it and you may get lucky. This is of course not to diminish the achievements of those who get in because you are really good, but really can you deny the luck component involved?

I had a friend who deemed herself unqualified for her dream university, and didnt apply. I am not sure how she felt when she eventually saw others (who had worse grades/qualifications than her) getting in. Again you can argue for the luck component, but I think it just puts a lot of "what-if"s into your head. It's easy to start wondering, what if I applied, maybe i could have gotten in, etc... in any case, you save yourself a lot of agony by just applying and seeing how it turns out.

2. That said, there is no point applying if you dont see yourself ever working in that organization
If you already know that a life in the civil service is not for you, then I dont see why you would want to apply for PSC. Or if you know 100% that you dont like research, then dont bother to apply for AStar or DSTA...

Why did I take up a PSC scholarship?
I guess for me it was an easy decision because I always wanted to work in the civil service since young (like hm sec 1?). My dad works in the civil service and a few of my other relatives do as well, it helps cos I get a feel of what it is like and I dont actually mind it. I couldnt actually see myself doing anything very vastly different from entering the civil service (and I guess I would have really been at a loss of what to do if PSC didnt accept me). The PSC internship helped a lot, I enjoyed my time there and so it merely served to solidify my want to enter the civil service.

Of course not everyone knows what they want from young, and I cannot say I understand how you feel because I had an easy decision making process, but I'd say talk to more people and you will find out more about what you want. Do you like what you hear about the profession or the job?

Non-bonded scholarship: Korea Government Scholarship

Re-posted from Mr Allan's email:

The Korean Government would like to invite qualified applicants from Singapore who have completed their pre-university education at the various JCs, CI, polytechnics to apply for the Korean Government Scholarship (Undergraduate). The info and application form are attached. We would appreciate your assistance to forward the information to interested parties please. Please note that the deadline for submission is 22/1/2010 (Fri).

Just wanted to encourage interested Year7s and lower-years to consider this scholarship. The Korea government sponsors a year of Korean language study followed by university education in a Korea university. After the first year of language study, students are eligible to apply to all Korean universities. This scholarship provides for airfare, school fees, and living allowance.

Eugenia, NUSHS '08, is currently finishing up her first year of language study at a university near Seoul. Once I learn more from her, I'll update more.

Non-bonded scholarships

''Harh there's such a thing as non-bonded scholarships in Singapore?" Yes, there are non-bonded scholarships (NBS) around.

Understandably, competition is very stiff. The winners of these scholarships have excellent grades, stellar academic achievement, and other outstanding contributions or awards. Bear in mind that the philanthropic organizations giving these scholarships are looking for future contributors to society.

- Loke Cheng Kim: Open to any course and uni. Applications open after A level results are released. Open to SG citizens and PRs. Applicants need to go down to the office to collect the application form. More info here: http://forum.brightsparks.com.sg/showthread.php?t=183

- Jardine: Open to selected Oxbridge colleges. More info here: http://www.jardine-foundation.org/

So far these are the two that I know of. If you know of any others, please post it in the comments and I'll try to find info~~

Junior college scholarships

For those who are about to hit year 5 and onwards (and year 3s, but I'll focus mainly on the year 5s), there's going to be a slew of junior college scholarships and book prizes available. I've attached the summary of the scholarships as a googledoc at the end of this post, so if you want to just go grab a quick look, feel free to skip ahead.

As much as these scholarships connote the usual terms of bond and contracts, there isn't much of a bond to speak of. In some sense, they can be taken as awards given on a general level to students who have done well. As the school has changed their policy of how they shortlist and nominate students for these scholarships, I will write more about the portions of way before the nominations open, after you know you are shortlisted, and what each scholarship looks out for.

But first of all, why take up such a scholarship? Take it as a form of recognition for your efforts in all that you've done in Years 1-4. For me, I applied mainly because I needed a JC scholarship to help pay for the growing cost of a NUS High education ($320 a month is not small). Perhaps many of you are already on scholarships such as EESIS, ESIP, etc., and so do not require the scholarship in terms of the monetary amount.

A natural question that one will proceed to ask is "what will I gain out of getting these scholarships?" Well for some of these scholarships, your name will be logged into their system prior to others, and you will stand some advantages for the undergraduate scholarships (at some stages, even though it may be very subtle). I must stress that the advantage for the undergraduate scholarships should not be THE factor why you will want to work towards these scholarships. I will elaborate subsequently on what advantages you can have. Nevertheless, please please don't treat this as a TROPHY you want to collect.

Common criteria for choosing (those with an asterisk indicates it is also an internal criteria)

• CAP score*
• Teacher nomination*/recommendation
• Co-curricular* (not just CCA, but what you do outside of classes)
• Interest as a person
• Potential undergraduate scholarship awardee (for certain agencies)
• Character (some request for essays and etc)

Scholarship window opens in Jan/Feb, so the school will usually send an email.

Interviews:

1) MOE Pre-University Scholarship

This scholarship's only criteria is that it looks at how well you do. In that sense, I mean people who generally do well in more than one aspect in school, such as leadership and studies. By "well" I don't mean being winner in 10+ competitions, but to have put your heart and gotten some recognition. Being in a math and science school doesn't help, as they want to know your more humanistic side. So your results are not so so important, since it is given you've done well enough to be shortlisted by the school. Be prepared to answer random activities, such as CIP, on your student development transcript, or views on recent headline-grabbing news, e.g. the Budget, and Singapore related issues. The panel isn't out to kill, so it isn't too difficult, so long as you are confident in what you say (it takes practice!) , I think they won't hesitate to give it.

The good thing about this is, there's no "bond".

2) A-Star JC Science Award

This one I think is not so hard on NUS High students, because the key factor (after school selection) is on your passion in the sciences. Well, being in this school gives you some subtle advantage since you will have many interesting experiences of science to speak about. Who else in Singapore besides top schools' science clubs get to build a mini-trebuchet or Galileo thermometer or do research. The interview I had wasn't that difficult, because I could really relate to why I like science. Be prepared to ask which institute of A*Star you know about and want to work for in your month long attachment. Again, this interview isn't out to kill, they give a decent number, like 100+ a year to the whole nation.

It's a good scholarship, because it gives you a one month attachment, yes everyday from 9-5, to A*Star. Some call it bad, but if you want to be a scientist, then real exposure to the A*Star labs can give you a preview. See those Science-Cafe emails the Office of Research sends out? A*Star sends out even more with prominent scientists, including Nobel Laureates, as the speakers.

3) DSTA JC Scholarship

If A*Star is related to biological sciences (or that's what it's perceived in our school), then DSTA is related to physical sciences. They give out only 30 a year, so its quite selective. The interview is also the toughest amongst the three, at least from what I gather. The interviewers can just ask anything, like what did you learn in this HYXXXX module; or whether you are dating anyone (editor's note: i think this was asked once only, out of fun I suppose), just to test your response. So be really prepared to know whatever you submitted very well.

They also have a session before that interview where you have to sit for an online psychology test and a chit-chat session of 5 minutes with their researchers. Not sure if you still have to spend 20 minutes typing an essay into notepad (it happened for my year), but in any case, be prepared.

This scholarship doesn't pay school fees, even though it has its monetary award. Unlike A*Star which has a compulsory research programme, they encourage you to join their YDSP research programme, which is not compulsory, and can be on a longer term.

I don't think I'll post about the others as of now because very very few people will apply/be asked to apply. If you do want to know about the others, drop a comment, and I'll try to answer.

Meanwhile:

Click here for the google doc.

Scholarships, brightsparks, and more.

So after the career fair on Wednesday I think maybe you now have a better idea of the scholarships that are available to you! I thought I would write about scholarships in general in this post since I havent really been talking about them before.

There are 2 types of scholarships available, namely the bond-free types and the bonded types. The bond free types tend to be funded by the universities themselves - an example being the AB Duke Memorial Scholarship Programme (http://www.abduke.org/) or the NUS Global Merit Scholarship - or by private organizations, such as the Jardine Foundation or the Khoo Teck Puat Scholarship. All these scholarships are, as the name implies, bond-free, so it's really altruistic of the organizations to fund you/any other outstanding student overseas with no strings attached.

As a sidenote, you really should take a look at the Jardine scholarship if you are applying to Oxbridge because it's for selected colleges only and you may want to change the college that you are applying to as a result before the September 16 deadline for Cambridge applicants. (I heard there were only about 20 applicants from Singapore 2 years ago, such a waste) And you should take a look at the other bond-free scholarships available too by googling or finding out from the university that you want to attend, brightsparks isnt the only source available even though they seem comprehensive.

If you get desperate, there are some funny scholarships available that are like this: http://www.scholarship.harvard.edu/rf/rfall.html --> change your name anyone?

Now we will look at bonded scholarships.

There are a few ways that you can look at bonded scholarships:
1. A way to fund your studies overseas --> common type of thinking for those who cant fund your studies overseas
2. A way to fast track career + prestigious
3. A win-win situation to allow you to join the organization that you want to work in after your studies

A lot of times, people take up a scholarship just because they want to go overseas for their studies. But this is a very common pitfall that people fall into, because eventually when they come back from their studies they find themselves either 1. lured by all the other wonderful job opportunities there, or 2. miserable and sad that they have signed 6 years of their life away doing something that they dont like.

And that's why people say very carefully, THINK BEFORE YOU SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE! That's effectively 4 years of study + 6 years of bond = 10 years that you are stuck with the organization.

If you break your bond, there is a VERY HEFTY fee that you have to pay, and you have to bear the title "bond breaker" everywhere you go. More importantly however, you would have already deprived someone else equally deserving of the chance of an overseas education and the scholarship that you got but decided to break - it's a moral thing. So please dont see a scholarship as a way to fund your overseas education, try to look beyond that and think about whether you really want to be in that organization for the next 10 years of your life, or you will sign and regret in future.

Me? I am happy working in the civil service, haha, so I didnt have such a tough choice to make. It would probably have been tougher if I didnt get PSC though because I wouldnt have been so sure about working elsewhere. I was sure that I didnt want to work in A*Star, so I didnt apply to it at all - yes I would rather go to NUS for undergraduate than get bonded to A*Star because I dont see myself doing research in future. But that's just me, some of you will probably be interested in it.

So how do you decide what scholarships are good for you, since there is such a long list of scholarships available? You can either mass spam (HMM) or shortlist a few that you like or wont mind, based on your interests or what you know about the organization.

What I did was to first shortlist the scholarships based on the courses that they were willing to fund me. For instance, I dont think I will be studying horticulture in university, so NParks was out for me. I didnt think I was going to study anything related to urban development, so URA was out for me, and so on. Of course you shouldnt take up a scholarship just because they fund your field of study, but it is somewhat related to the job knowledge and scope that you will need in future and I was quite sure I dont want to stare at plants the whole day.

Another tip I will give is to GO TO SCHOLARSHIP FAIRS! Take the brochures that they give you and read it, it often tells you the salient points of what the job is about and what joining the organization entails. Read it! Talk to people at the fair too because they will definitely give you some idea of what the job is about beyond what is written in each brochure. It also gives you an idea of whether the staff in the organization have a clear idea of their company's direction and vision. And if you need more info, there is always the World Wide Web.

So that's what I did, went to a scholarship fair, took all the brochures available, then started to shortlist them based on whether I liked the job description in the brochures. So it was something like *read* *chuck in pile for non-consideration* *read* *chuck in pile for possible/to scrutinize more closely* or *read* *read* *this looks good* *read* *MUST CHECK OUT*

I cant emphasize how important it is for you to like the job and the whole feel of how the organization is like before you sign on the dotted line. If you dont like the feel of it, you will be very miserable for the next few years, and you make the organization miserable too because then they have a very unhappy staff member. And you will get even more miserable when you see your friends enjoying their job while you are stuck in yours because you hate it so much.

Dont ever compelled to take a scholarship because you feel that you MUST go overseas for your undergraduate education. Maybe you see that 1. all your friends are doing it, or 2. it sounds prestigious, and so in the spur of the moment you sign on that dotted line. For all the talk about Harvard Yale Princeton etc, NUS is still not a bad place to be. I am serious. If I hadnt gotten a PSC scholarship, I would have seriously considered going to NUS.

If you really must go overseas to study, think about taking a study loan overseas if that option is available. Or beg for financial aid. Or if you manage to convince your parents, maybe they will let you take their lifetime savings (highly unrecommended). Or look on the bright side and know that you can go overseas for your graduate studies. But dont sign on the dotted line and then regret it when the time comes, because the high of getting a scholarship does not last 6 years. Maybe in the first month people are like wow you got a scholarship, wow cool etc but after that, it starts to hit and then you realized you signed yourself into a situation that you dont want to be in.

I say that because I know of people who already regret signing their bond (even before going to study! Can you imagine, they havent even started work and they are already regretting it) It makes me feel so lucky that I got the scholarship that I always wanted because my choice is markedly easier, but I dont want you all to fall into the same predicament as my friend is in right now.

And before I end off this article, I just wanted to point out something about the brightsparks forum (http://forum.brightsparks.com.sg). The forum is a place with lots of helpful people who are willing to answer your questions, but helpful people are not the same as informative people or people with inside information or people already in the system. I have unwittingly misled people before on the forum (and stand corrected), and I have been misled multiple times by moderators or long-time posters. That's why they have the disclaimer after their signature:
"Disclaimer: Any advice offered by myself or other moderators / forum members on this forum is just that - mere advice. Neither BrightSparks nor we give any illusion that the information provided is definitive, and take no responsibility for any consequences."

Some of them give advice for scholarships that they were rejected by, and some are no more than 1 or 2 years older than you, maybe even the same age as you. So yes, you can ask questions or whatever there but PLEASE TAKE ALL ADVICE THERE WITH A PINCH OF SALT, because many things on the forum on brightsparks have been either factually wrong, logically wrong, anecdotally wrong or whatever and sometimes no one will correct it.

Since I am on this note about disclaimers, let me reiterate again to you, my dear readers, that just like the brightsparks moderators, any advice that the collegetalk writers offer is just "mere advice" and we will not give you any illusion that the information provided is definitive. Haha! :)

Some useful links that you might want to look at!

So here are some documents (from my archives) if you want to look at them (copyright to the various owners of the documents, of course):

Undergraduate information that Cambridge sent me after I got admitted
2009 Brightsparks scholarship rankings and career survey
University responses for my batch when Mr Allan met up with us in September for us to see where everyone wanted to apply to
A guide about studying overseas
Teaching as a career
Scholarship application deadlines 2008 (I guess it will be about the same this year) - compiled by Mr Allan
University application deadlines 2008

Bonded scholarships

The contents of this post have been reproduced from: http://singaporeanskeptic.blogspot.com/2009/07/translated-letter-to-berita-harian.html

This is a translated letter written (and translated) by Farhan Ali which he sent to the Berita Harian. (Thank you Farhan.) It is to highlight the issue of bond free scholarships to the Malay community. According to him, the issue of bond-free scholarship is largely unknown in the Malay community.

Choose bond-free scholarships

I refer to the report “First ‘environmentally friendly’ Malay recipient” (BH, 7 Jul 2009). Congratulations to Mr Mohamed Arif Mohamed in receiving the Housing Development Board (HDB) scholarship. Mr Arif also stated how he would like to pursue environmental engineering up to PhD level. It is an ambition that should be encouraged in the Malay community. But I hope Mr Arif has seriously considered the scholarship bond. I have a few friends who when young felt proud to have gotten a government agency scholarship. But they have since regretted the decision because it has hampered their plans to immediately pursue a PhD due to the bond that has to be served after obtaining the Bachelor’s degree. Some have also expressed dissatisfaction with the jobs that have been given to them upon graduation. Not many in the Malay/Muslim community may be aware that many universities all over the world, including in Singapore, award bond-free scholarships.

For example, five years back when I was an undergraduate student, I received a National University of Singapore Undergraduate Scholarship that funded my tuition costs for four years along with a monthly allowance. In the United States, universities are more generous with scholarships and funding for undergraduate and graduate students. This is especially so for the big private universities, such as those in the Ivy League. For instance, Harvard University pays all tuition costs of undergraduate students from families earning less than US$60,000 (S$87,000) without regard to nationality. Graduate students are also funded generously in most PhD programs without considering family income. As a PhD candidate, my university is funding my education, including a decent monthly salary. Not once was, or will I be, bonded in NUS or in the United States after graduation.

It is hard to believe, but it is true! A lot more of my PhD friends in America, including a few students few from the Malay/Muslim community’s, are recipients of such scholarships that offer freedom not bondage. We are ever grateful for the munificence from such institutions. Previously, opportunities to further one’s studies, especially overseas, were very much limited, thus government scholarships were highly sought after.

Times have changed. Institutions of higher learning value talent and diversity in their student body and are able to provide generous scholarships and funding. I encourage young people and parents of the Malay/Muslim community to visit the websites of various universities, research institutes, and web portals such as http://igfas.wiki.zoho.com/HomePage.html or http://www.iefa.org/ to obtain further information. We should pursue knowledge and chase our dreams without being shackled by a bond that was signed when young and regretted later.

Farhan Ali

Cambridge, United States

A*STAR, NTU AND NUS Collaborate To Provide New Opportunities For A*STAR Phd Scholars

A*STAR and local universities ink MOU to create multiple career pathways in academia and research for young PhDs

1. The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) are collaborating to offer A*STAR scholars the opportunity to explore a career in academia under the schemes of the A*STAR–Academia Pathways. These schemes were the Joint Appointment Scheme (Research and Academic Dual Career Track), the Secondment Scheme (Academic Track) and the Adjunct Appointment Scheme.

http://www.a-star.edu.sg/a_star/189-Press-Release?iid=688