About Postgraduate Scholarship
Are you eager to pursue higher education for master degree? Here are some references for you who are willing to endeavor getting scholarship for a master degree abroad. There are a lot of scholarships offered all around the world. As a scholarship hunter, you must have heard some scholarships offered for Indonesian students such as LPDP (Lembaga Penyalur Dana Pendidikan) from Indonesia government, AAS (Australia Awards Scholarship), and EMJMD (Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree).
Most of us must have not confident to apply, and for sure, it is hard to start an application, because there are a lot of requirements that are needed to fulfill. Sure, you may have to actually invest some time and thought in the process but it could pay off in a big way.
LPDP offers master degree scholarship for both domestic and abroad, and it has a limited list of universities that you can choose. In the other hand, AAS only offers the scholarship for your study in Australia’s universities, but you can choose almost all of universities there. EMJMD program provides various join programs from several universities within the Erasmus Mundus Consortium. You will be able to experience studying in 2-4 different universities in different countries in 2 years master program.
The 3 scholarship programs will cover your tuition fee, living allowance, books, return airfare tickets, visa, etc. In addition, they are even willing to cover extra expenses if you bring your spouse (husband/wife), and up to 2 children. LPDP provides various range of scholarship amounts, depends on your chosen universities, for example; the scholarship awardees in Australia will get higher amount of living allowance than for those who choose universities in Asian countries.
The first thing that you have to do is to check the websites of the scholarship programs. Search as many as possible all the information about the deadlines, minimum requirements, required documents, and list of universities. ALL scholarship programs will definitely require recommendation letters, some may ask from either academic view (lecturer) or from your superior at work, and some needs both of them. So make sure you keep in contact with your ex-lecturer, thesis advisor, and your supervisor from your workplace.
Most of the scholarship programs require all of the documents letters to be translated in English, including your diploma and birth certificates, recommendation letters, etc., and you need to find a sworn translator to translate them. It might sound complicated, but it is not, you just need to google it, and you will find a lot of sworn document translator. The price is vary from IDR 50,000-150,000/page, and you only need to send your scanned documents to the translators, and they will send you the result in .pdf file so you can check them first before they send the hardcopy to your address.
Preparing TOEFL or IELTS is also a must. You have to check whether the scholarship program requires the TOEFL/IELTS score to be sent directly from the test institution or not.
For AAS, the minimum score for English proficiency is 5.5 for IELTS, 525 for Paper-Based TOEFL, and 69 for Internet-Based TOEFL. Actually, they prefer you to take IELTS, and eventhough you are allowed to submit TOEFL Score, but in the end you will still have to submit your IELTS Score. Moreover, the minimum IELTS score sets by AAS is 5.5, but you still have to reach the minimum score in your targeted university. It is varied with minimum score of 6.5 – 7 with no band less than 6 – 6.5. Some of you might still be under the mistaken impression you cannot win a scholarship if you could not reach the minimum score from the targeted university. The simple fact is that they will provide you a free IELTS preparation course and test for you to reach the minimum required score as long as you passed the minimum requirement for AAS.
As for EMJMD, most of the program require the same IELTS score range with AAS. Some of the programs allow you to not to submit English test score as long you can prove that all of the subjects in your secondary or higher education are delivered in English, or you took English related major in university. On a side note, also require you to submit other language proficiency score, and it depends on each program. Some may require Spanish, French, or Germany, so once again, re-search the programs’ requirements.
AAS usually opens the online application in February 1st – April 30th, there are plenty documents you have to upload and questions to answer. So make sure you are well prepared before the online application be opened. You need to choose the major and the university you want to take, and for that you may choose two different universities. You will also need to write short essays based on the questioned topics, the topics are usually talk about your study plan, your contribution in the targeted area you want to study, the relation between your current job with the major you want to take, and your future plan upon returning back to Indonesia. If you passed the first stage, you will get another notification email for the interview arrangement. The process between stages will take months, you have to always make sure that your email active so you can response their email once you receive their invitation.
LPDP also requires LoA (Letter of Acceptance) from Host University that you choose. Hence, if you are applying for LPDP, you need to prepare it in advance, search and apply for the admission process in your chosen university or contact their International Office. Some universities require application payment, and some are not. If you could not decide any university to choose, you can also contact Educational Agent in your area, and for your information, they are providing consultation service for free. LPDP scholarship will also require a medical statement which mention that you are drug-free and TBC-free, and for that, search the closest and the cheapest hospital in your area, because it will be wasted if you are not selected, since it will only be valid for 6 months.
EMJMD and AAS do not require LoA, because when you apply for the scholarship, it will automatically connected to the universities. So if you are selected to get the scholarship, the scholarship committee will help you until you are accepted to the chosen university.
Now all you have to do is to determine the value of the scholarships that you can select based on when the deadline is, preparation needed and documents required, and the amount of the award. Once you have completed your search, carefully review your profile to ensure all the requirements you have to submit is accurate. The only way to have a shot at winning scholarships is to apply for scholarships, so begin preparing for your application now. Good luck!
Useful links:
http://www.beasiswa.lpdp.depkeu.go.id/
https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/library/scholarships-catalogue_en
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