IT student with a thirst for travel? It's time to master

Good afternoon, Habr!

I am an IT student, a graduate of one of the oldest universities in Moscow, who suddenly found herself in a magistracy in Europe. I don’t want to agitate for “brain drain” or something similar, though, but by chance many acquaintances asked about the application process, so the idea of ​​sharing a year of searching and accumulated skills with a wider audience seemed interesting to me. So let's go.

Intro

In this post I will try to explain how to find a scholarship to study in a magistracy abroad in the EU. Most likely, the same instructions apply to the countries of the rising sun, the New World and Australia with minor differences in the list of documents and certificates.

Before starting a search, it is necessary to determine why you need study abroad and what you will learn from this training for yourself. Looking for the long term.

Thus, if you plan to stay and work in a particular European country, then you should start looking for grants and universities where you are satisfied with the conditions for obtaining a work permit, living conditions, taxes and language. Or you know in which area you want to improve, and for the development of a master's degree in a particular specialty.

Most often, students do not know either the first or the second.

So we will narrow the search to the EU and assume that you want to continue studying in your specialty or in the same / related scientific field.

What is important, it is necessary to prepare for the magistracy 1-2 years before the planned admission to the magistracy. Even if you are undecided about which scholarship, which institution and which country will accept you, you need to secure a decent chance to enroll in the stated university and apply for funding.

The first pillar of any application is a language certificate. IELTS, TOEFL (does not work for British universities) is essentially the same thing - a certificate of passing an English language test. The minimum pass rate for admission to technical specialties for TOEFL is 80 out of 120 possible. The more serious the institution, the higher the pass rate. Also, the more humanitarian specialization is, the more specific scientific terms there are and, as a result, the higher throughput score. You can prepare either very expensive in a short time, or cheaper, but within six months-year with a good knowledge of the language. If you can read the first 5 books of Harry Potter in the original - you have a good knowledge of the language. Once again - without a certificate, very few scholarship funds will consider your application.

Further, while you have a year or two - be sure to be a volunteer or take part in the organization of social events. Let it be free, but Western universities love students who not only shine with knowledge, but also care about the life of society. Any certificate or certificate of participation can help you enjoy the selection committee.

I volunteered to analyze the data for a very well-known organization for the chosen specialization, which was documented by a recommendation letter from my boss, and also participated in the first courses in the work of non-profit organizations, the Children's Movement of Moscow and the Civic Shift. Although at that time my involvement was not serious and superficial, then, when filling out all the documents for grant applications, I was grateful for the fate that I was involved in such social activities. My friend helped at the Olympics in Sochi, another friend worked as a translator for visiting athletes.

Types of scholarships:

1. A lump sum payment of a certain amount, usually a pleasant bonus, but not a means of subsistence;
2. Monthly coverage of a small portion of your expenses;
3. Scholarship covering tuition fees, if tuition fee is tuiton fee cover scholarship;
4. Personal scholarship, which is given for personal merits (volunteering, contribution to science, etc.);
5. A scholarship on some basis - gender, race, membership of a country, specialization, physical inferiority, exceptional abilities, etc. - the more you differ from the typical applicant of the selected institution, the more successful you will be in competition for this type scholarships, oddly enough. The amounts and periodicity of payments for such scholarships may be different.
6. The scholarship with full coverage of tuition costs, expenses and everything is the most desired among us students

The list is most likely incomplete, but what I’ve encountered is listed.

Where to look for scholarship programs?

It is necessary to determine their own resources and capabilities. If you have enough money to provide you with accommodation, food and insurance, and you only need to cover the costs of training, then scholarships like 1-5 can be useful to you. You can do without scholarships in principle if the education is free, such as in Germany and at public universities in France and several other countries (see Google ).

If there is no money for anything at all and you need full maintenance from the foundation, then this is only type 6.

I had a search for the very sixth type.

So, scholarships with full coverage are sometimes given by the state, which is profitable to invest in future specialists, sometimes by the university, if it has sufficient resources. Thus, the search is conducted in countries with a good economy (Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, etc., but not Greece or Bulgaria - everything is clear), as well as in the largest and oldest universities.

Opening the browser search engine, you can start searching for sites that have information on all scholarships in the world. On request, "Master scholarships for international students 20XX (year of enrollment)" is given a lot of resources. Most Popular:

scholars4dev.com
scholarship-positions.com
scholarshipportal.com

The most convenient site in practice turned out to be the first. Such sites provide the ability to filter by level of study (Masters -> 200 scholarships), by country of study, by country of origin of the applicant, by specialization, and so on.

Also, these categories of sites have collections of the most attractive scholarships by category, for example, "25 Fully-funded Scholarships for International Students" , "Top 10 Science, Engineering, Technology Scholarships for Foreign Students" , etc.

When viewing it is important to pay attention to deadlines and Eligibility - the possibility of admission to the competition for a scholarship. But, in general, all you need to pay attention. Often scholarships are not given to all specializations of training, so before you happily move a bookmark with a scholarship to the "favorites", you need to be sure that you are 100% fit and meet all conditions.

A few more scholarship programs and sites that seemed interesting to me personally:

Sweden - VISBY program.

Germany - DAAD program and, in general, in the country .

Netherlands - scholarships from the organization NUFFIC .

EU-program Erasmus + (replaced Mundus). Programs of the most honorable and, as a result, popular type, which include training on semesters in different universities of European countries on the chosen specialization. Big competition, new programs are opened every year - there is more chance to enter new programs, as there is always less competition.

EU - EIT ICT Digital programs.

At the moment I am studying this program.

Many of the oldest universities offer scholarships called Excellence scholarships, which in most cases cover all student expenses.

Switzerland, ETH

Switzerland, Université de Genève (+ knowledge of French).

Netherlands, Utrecht University .

Netherlands, University of Amsterdam .

Italy, Politecnico di Milano (they give scholarships commensurate with the merit and potential of the student, so that the nominal value of the scholarship is not known in advance).

This is not a complete list. The search for such scholarships is quite simple - decide whether you are a techie or a humanist. Roughly speaking, technical sciences are well taught in the Nordic countries, ranging from Sweden, ending with Germany and partially France. Law and other humanity arts are excellently taught in more southerly countries, such as Italy, the south of France, etc., although there are exceptions, such as Politecnico di Milano and other Italy’s oldest Politecnico are known for their technical faculties.

Thus, we open Wikipedia, enter the List of Groups in (your country of choice) and look at the largest universities. Wiki always offers a link to the university's website. In the Postgraduate section (/ International Master courses / something similar), you need to look for programs that interest you and see if you are eligible for Applicants. If so, then you need to find the Scholarships section in order to find a scholarship in proportion to your needs. This is long and tedious, but after a few dozen universities the search process is automated, and as a result you may have a large selection of possible scholarships for which you have a chance to qualify. It is logical that the more applications you submit, the greater the chance that you will be chosen somewhere.

I submitted about 6 applications for scholarships - I was accepted into all universities, but only one was given a scholarship. So in no case can not be limited to one option.

What documents do you need?

All documents must be translated into English and the translation must be certified by a translator and supported by a seal.

I translated all the documents myself and signed the translation in the International Department of my university. But, in general, do not do that.

1. Language Certificate
2. If you have publications, you need to include them with the translation of publications.
3. Help that you are a university student
4. international passport
5. A copy of the record book with grades + transfer
6. Sometimes the gradebook is not accepted - in this case, you need to take an academic certificate (it is given only once) or just use a diploma if you have already completed university. Translations and copies of these particular documents must be officially certified by a notary.
7. Course syllabus - a list of items for your specialization with explanations. Very, very few Russian universities make such an informational gift to their students.
8. Explanation of the estimates. You can write in a free form, and you need to explain what Russian grades mean in terms of credits, GPA or the empirical grade “Excellent”, “Good”, etc.
   Added: if you want to enroll in a magistracy in the United States, then just transfer a diploma is not enough. Usually, you need to do a degree evaluation, where you will recount Russian grades to the American GPA Ball and confirm that your bachelor is the equivalent of a Bachelor degree in the states.
9. School certificate
10. Various additional training certificates (for example, on Coursera.org, training internships in campaigns, non-English language courses)
11. Letters of recommendation.
    I took letters of recommendation from anyone I could, it was embarrassing, embarrassing, but in the end it was worth it. Since the specialties for which I applied were all slightly different, for the recommendation I chose a teacher with the closest discipline to the chosen specialization. Most of the time I wrote the letters myself, the main thing is to reflect in them how the teacher knows you, what you amazed him with, what qualities he sees in you and what perspectives he predicts to you. In the end, it is worth to attribute that the teacher certainly recommends Applicant at the chosen Master Program.
12. Motivation letter.
    ABOUT! This is just the rearguard of your application for a grant or university entrance. In no case do not download the letter from the Internet - all letters are loaded into the general database of European universities (yes, it is, this is not a myth) and are checked for uniqueness. There are various requirements for letters, they need to be observed without fail - if it says “no more than 500 words”, then you should not try to go beyond this limit to impress the commission, since Your application may not even begin to consider.
    If the letter format is free, then you should first carefully consider the specialty for which you are applying with the hope of a grant. It is worth looking back at your life experience and draw a line through all the events of your academic and working career that could lead you to this specialty. For different applications, I described the same events of my studies and work in different ways - I did not lie, I just “fiddled with facts.” Thus, it is worthwhile to tell about the school and indicate that even then you had inclinations towards the chosen area. Further, it is worthwhile to briefly describe your path at the university, focusing on your achievements, which clearly told you and the whole world that you will achieve success in this particular area of ​​science. It is worth telling what you expect from this program and what impact it will have on your life and career. Perhaps you lack these two years with such unique training courses to develop yourself as a professional. You also need to mention how you can be useful to the society of the university and the people around you. You can slightly complain about your financial situation, but with modesty point out that, despite all the obstacles, you steadfastly and inexorably gnawed the granite of science and mastered a promising specialty for future financial independence.
    In a motivation letter you can write a lot about what - about your dreams, about childhood memories, about how society and parents influenced you, about how you admire James Goodnight and Mark Zuckerberg. The main thing is to write what you really think and avoid cliches and falsehoods. You need to bring the letter to a state where you will be most interested in reading it and will be wildly like the author of the letter. Let your friends read the letter with knowledge of English, they will point out the mistakes and contradictions that your “intent” look missed. You can first write a letter in Russian, and then translate into English. But the main thing is to comply with the requirements in terms of volume and content.

Requirements for documents may vary, but these are the main important documents.

You can entrust the search for programs and scholarships to special organizations for a high reward, but we are independent, economical and goal-oriented students.

Update: about the age of undergraduate students - there was a comment that for the "berries" is no longer a ride. I can say that a lot of people study with me, who have worked in the industry from 2 to 10 years, saved money, decided that we needed to expand horizons a little with the potential of transition to the adjacent field and went to magistracy.
In this case, there are several advantages:

• You are already an adult, with experience and a priori overtake peers where they lack knowledge (my weakness are networks, protocols, etc., for example.)
• To act fairly simply on the basis of the skills that are already available and respectful inverse to knowledge.
• It is easy to immerse yourself in the process of mastering new items.
• Epic comeback to student life if health allows

Minuses:

• Well, they are anyway, but I still do not know.