'Hunting' for international school scholarships from high school

Many international high schools in Vietnam have very high tuition fees (several hundred million VND to more than 900 million VND per school year) but still have policies and scholarship programs to recruit talented students in various fields.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF

One summer day in 2023, Quynh Dan, a former student at a bilingual high school in Ho Chi Minh City, was overwhelmed when she received the notice of being accepted for a 70% talent scholarship (over 400 million VND - PV) from the Canadian International School - CIS. The 7th grader is enjoying her first days at her new school.

"I wanted to change my learning environment to a new school to challenge myself. To prepare for the scholarship exam, I carefully prepared my application, studied for the entrance exam entirely in English, as well as the interview. In addition to winning the CIS scholarship, I also won a 50% scholarship from Wellspring and a 50% scholarship from South Australia International," Quynh Dan said.

Quynh Dan won a 70% scholarship thanks to her impressive achievements in sports and academics.

What helped Quynh Dan win a scholarship to this international school? The female student said that in the past years she had good academic achievements, besides that she loved dancing and played many sports such as karate, badminton, basketball... Dan also participated in many extracurricular activities, social work, and volunteering at her old school. In the last 2 years, the female student has had an impressive list of awards.

"Quynh Dan is confident, cheerful, and has a lot of positive energy," Mr. Kendall Kloss, Principal of CIS Elementary School, told Thanh Nien reporter (according to the Canadianeducation program, grade 7 is still considered elementary school).

Passing the scholarship exam with the Cambridge CEM English proficiency test, interview and presentation in English, assessment of language ability and thinking ability, Nguyen Thi My Ngoc recently won the IGCSE scholarship worth 70% to enter grade 9 at Victoria South Saigon School.

"I was impressed with the presentation and Q&A session with the two teachers on the topic of "festivals" that I was chosen by lottery. I talked about many impressive festivals in Vietnam and around the world . During the process of answering questions, I also responded with some questions. I think that was the part that made me score the decisive points," said My Ngoc, who has had good academic performance for 8 years, is good at English, has studied piano since childhood and is passionate about drawing.

My Ngoc won a scholarship thanks to her ability to think and debate.

NOT JUST ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Students who received scholarships said that when applying for international high school scholarships, they need to pay attention to two parts: academics and extracurricular activities.

In terms of academics, students need to have a good grade point average (GPA), depending on each school, there will be GPA requirements from which grade. Students should note that extracurricular activities need to be broad and deep, can be based on personal interests; bring certain influences to the community or international competitions in various fields...

For the direct interview with the teachers at the school, be confident, dare to ask questions and express your opinions. In particular, follow the information from the school, update the application deadline to avoid missing the opportunity.

This school year, at CIS, there is a face that won a scholarship of up to 95%, Gia Phuc, FIDE chess master, 9th grade student. Gia Phuc is a former student of Dong Khoi Secondary School (Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City) and has many outstanding achievements in national, regional and international chess.

This summer, AD (former student of Huynh Khuong Ninh Secondary School, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), with impressive academic and extracurricular achievements, received a 75% scholarship from the American International School Vietnam - AISVN. The 10th grade female student also received a 75% scholarship from CIS and 2 schools with 70% scholarships are Penn School and Scotch AGS.

Gia Phuc, FIDE chess grandmaster, won a 95% scholarship to CIS, playing chess with his mother at the school library.

SCHOOL PROVIDERS

WHERE TO FIND SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION?

At CIS, in the 2023-2024 school year alone, the school will award talent scholarships to 77 students from grades 7 to 12 with a variety of scholarship levels ranging from 50-100% of tuition fees, worth more than 300-800 million VND. Notably, many students from public schools and specialized schools have received scholarships.

Being a KOL yourself or your parents also increases your chances of receiving a scholarship.

Some other international schools have an additional criterion for scholarship consideration such as students or parents being KOLs (influencers on social networks), celebrities, to be able to spread many positive stories about the school, or become ambassadors, school representatives to participate in suitable competitions...

Ms. Tran Thi Kim Dung, Director of Admissions and Marketing at Victoria South Saigon School, said that this school year the school will grant 8 official scholarships from 70 - 100% of tuition fees. The school will also grant 29 extended scholarships (30% of tuition fees) to encourage students who have made efforts during the scholarship review period. The school's tuition fees, depending on the grade level, in the 2023 - 2024 school year range from 120 - 261 million VND/year, excluding lunch, breakfast, transportation, etc.

Several months before the new school year, the official websites of international schools publicly post scholarship categories, scholarship values, admission criteria, and complete the scholarship review process before school starts.

At CIS, teacher Kendall Kloss said that any student, from any school, as long as they have extensive academic knowledge and outstanding talents in singing, music, sports, etc., can apply for scholarships and go through all rounds from application review to entrance exam.

The Penn School system has also announced the "Building the Future" scholarship for the American Diploma Program (ADP) in the 2023-2024 school year. Students will have the opportunity to receive scholarships worth from 20 - 100% of tuition.

Scotch AGS School posted information about the 2023 talent scholarship for students with excellent academic achievements entering grade 10 in the 2023-2024 school year. The value of each scholarship is up to 70% of tuition fees, equivalent to about 1 billion VND for 3 years of high school.

Asian School holds an annual competition to select students who win scholarships, up to 50% of tuition for one school year.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/san-hoc-bong-truong-quoc-te-tu-bac-pho-thong-185230824212906856.htm