Category Archives: Application

The Swedish Institute Scholarship

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If you are from a country outside Sweden you need to pay a tuition fee to have your studies here. The values for the courses can be challenging for some of us and thus a scholarship is a great option.

When I started to look for masters abroad I knew I needed a full scholarship once I had no means to support myself in another country. I was already interested in studying in Sweden since my semester in Norway as a undergrad. That was when I came across the Swedish Institute, a government fomenting agency that gives scholarships for students from selected countries. This year the scholarship changed a little bit from last year, but is is essentially the same. The scholarship includes: 

  •  – Full coverage of tuition fees 
  • –  A monthly extipend of 10.000 SEK (about 1.000 euros) 
  • –  A travel grant of 15.000 SEK
  • –  Be part of the Network for Future Global Leaders (NFGL) 

Before I come to Sweden I had no idea what this Network meant, but it ended up being a great surprise. The NFGL is how the Swedish institute invests, supports and enhance our potential during and after the masters. Within this network you will meet your fellow colleagues from around the world, have the chance to participate and organize events in different topics and take part in study visits all around Sweden, so it is a great plus that should not be taken for granted. 

They have different categories of scholarships depending on your country, so you need to check your applicability. To apply you need to fulfill some requirements, such as: 

  • – Have at least 3.000 hours of working experience that must be proved (different activities can count as those) 
  • – Leadership experience that also needs to be proved, but it can be within your current position (it was my case)
  • – Two recommendation letters 
  • – A motivation letter

As I explained in another post, you apply for the scholarship in the Swedish Institute website after you have applied for admission in one of the eligible master’s programs via University Admissions. 

Swedes are very detailed in their instructions, so if you read the website carefully it is very possible that you won’t have any doubts, otherwise you can ask me anything, I know how it can be overwhelming.

Although it looks very difficult to get this scholarship, just show your true self in the application and trust your motivations. That was what I did and it worked out, can’t still believe sometimes!! So believe in yourself and who knows, next year might be you writing this blog.

 

 

How to apply for studies in Sweden

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If you are thinking about having your masters abroad chances are you have looked for it in different countries. Although Sweden was my first option, I had to go around and see what else was out there and I must say, in no other country I saw such a organized and simple application system. 

Going through any application process is stressful, you need to understand what they are asking, how to provide that to them and how to upload everything until the deadline. Most of the times, each university has its owns procedures. In Sweden, the application is unified under University Admissions website, thanks Sweden!!! 

The application process at University Admissions

In Sweden you can apply for up to 4 different masters programs in any of their universities and you will rank them in order of preference in one same website, University Admissions. There it is also the place where you need to upload the required documents and where you will receive your results. So the steps are more or less as follows (dates are valid for autumn 2019): 

  • – First you select the courses you want to apply, the website Study in Sweden has all the information one might need 
  • – Between 15th of October and 15th of January you apply for the programs you have chosen 
  • – By 1th of February you need to have uploaded all the required documents 
  • – In the beginning of April you will receive your results and you need to accept or reject the place you have been given (you will only be offered one spot following your priority order, so choose wisely) 

There are three basic documents you will need to upload, besides the specific ones you program might ask, being those: 

  • – Academic records 
  • – Diploma 
  • – English test 

Therefore, start early to prepare it as you possible will need verified translations. 

Each masters has additionally other documents that can vary from recommendation letters, motivation letter or thesis ideas thus you have to check their website beforehand the application. Nevertheless, usually you will upload everything in the same place, what makes everything easier. 

And scholarships applications? 

Scholarships application are a completely separated process. Each university offers a limited number of scholarships for admitted students and normally the selection process happens after you have already accepted your offer. Those scholarships usually cover only a share of the tuition fees, so chances are you still need to pay part of the tuition fee and also afford your living expenses during your studies. 

Also be aware that for some of those university scholarships there are specific requirements. At LiU, you need to have put Linköping as you first choice. You also have other options for scholarships, as the one offered by the Swedish Institute, which I will talk more about in another post.

I know it seems a lot of information to assimilate, but once you have gone through everything you realize how simple it can be. Good luck in your applications!