Seeking and securing study funds
YOU can’t pursue higher education if you don’t have the funds for it. And this is exactly what drove thousands of school-leavers to hunt down the best scholarships available at the Star Education Fair 2017.
Students must be clear about the course they want to pursue before they fill in their application form, said Star Education Fund manager Susanna Kuan.
“Don’t just sign up for any course as it will be a wasted application,” she advised during her talk titled “Funding Higher Education – Star Education Fund”.
“Consider your education level, interests, the education institution, its location, the qualification level (professional certification or an academic degree) and budget,” she added.
Although the fund covers either the full tuition fee or full fees (which include tuition and other fees such as laboratory and resource fees), potential applicants will still need to pay for living expenses.
She said there have been cases of shortlisted applicants who couldn’t even afford to travel to tertiary institutions for their interviews.
Kuan said those who come from financially well-off families should not apply to the Star Education Fund as it is for those who are in real need of financial aid.
She also told the crowd not to apply for a course just because “your parents want you to” or, “your friends are doing a particular course.”
“At the interview, prospective candidates are often asked about the course they’ve chosen to pursue. Their answers will somehow reflect their interest or the lack of it. If we (the interviewers) don’t see that passion, you will not get the scholarship.” Kuan also said applicants should only send in six to 10 certificates from their Forms Four, Five and Six (or other pre-university qualification) years.
“Do not send in certificates from your primary school years. We do not have time to go through 40 certificates,” she said, adding that she receives close to 4,000 applications every year. She also advised potential applicants to read the instructions carefully on the application website at th estar.com.my/edufund.
Methodist College Kuala Lumpur marketing manager Reuben Chan Chien Chern advised those planning to apply for scholarships to start the process early.
“You need to understand and respect deadlines,” he said during the talk titled “Are You Prepared to Apply for Scholarships After High School?”
He also said that applicants should keep their personal statements “personal” and not “copy and paste what you find on Google”. Although this drew laughter from the crowd, Chan said he has seen many personal statements from different applicants which were taken from the Internet.
“Doing so would cause your application to be rejected,” he added.
To date, the Star Education Fund has provided about RM108mil worth of scholarships to more than 3,500 recipients. The fund is offering 272 scholarships worth RM13.3mil this year. These scholarships cover a wide range of fields and disciplines, from entry-level courses to undergraduate programmes, professional studies to vocational training.
The 29 partners-in-education are Brickfields Asia College, Equator College, Erican College, HELP University, Heriot-Watt University Malaysia, IACT College, Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur, KDU University College, KDU Penang University College, Kolej Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Malaysian Institute of Art, Management and Science University, MSU College Penang, Methodist College Kuala Lumpur, Multimedia University, Oriental Nilam College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Quest International Universtiy Perak, Saito College, SEGi University and Colleges, Sentral College Penang, Sunway University, Sunway College, Sunway College Ipoh, Sunway College Johor Bahru, Taylor’s University, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, UCSI University Trust and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.