What are Full Ride Scholarships?

When planning to pursue higher education abroad, one of the most critical aspects you need to consider is financial support in the form of scholarships, financial grants or fellowships awarded by the universities abroad. Most students aspiring to pursue higher education abroad aim at full-ride scholarships as they cover almost all the college expenses. These scholarships are a dream for many as these offer study expenses for a year only in one scholarship, which is also free. If you want to get complete information about getting full-ride scholarships, then keep reading.

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What’s a Full-Ride Scholarship?

A basic question that comes to your mind while learning about scholarships is “what is a full-ride scholarship?”. Full-ride scholarships are financial awards that are just like other scholarships but the major difference is that it covers all the college expenses of a student. Full-ride scholarships not only cover tuition fees but also include housing, lab fees, meals, books and sometimes also the cost of living. In terms of money, this scholarship ranges from $20000 to $50000 depending upon the school’s cost. Further, in some cases, this scholarship includes participation in internships, peer mentoring at college and special leadership programs. 

How Do You Get a Full-Ride Scholarship?

As this scholarship is highly beneficial and it also makes this scholarship very competitive as it aims for academic standing, leadership, financial or merit-based, and athletic skills as it does not necessarily require financial needs. The major thing is to initiate an honest self-evaluation. This can be done by evaluating yourself by asking questions such as What are your biggest strengths? What makes you really shine and stand apart from others in your class? It is quite hard to generalise however to increase your chances you can stand out from the rest in one or more areas. Some of the other points that you may include are as follows.

• To get a full-ride academic scholarship you are required to be at the top of your class including a great GPA or Ap honours class or ACT/SAT scores.
• To get a full-ride leadership scholarship you require to start by becoming a student class officer or organising a club or have a unique internship or you can devote some time to community service. 
• To get a full-ride athletic scholarship you must excel in your high school team so that school wants you bad enough for their programs. As division 1 sports awards full-ride scholarships for six different sports there are other organisations for various sports as well. 
• There are other types of full-ride scholarships including first-in family to attend school, specific heritage or overcoming life challenges. Some the universities such as the University of Virginia offer full-ride scholarships on the basis of financial situation. 

How to Apply for Full-Ride Scholarships?

After the completion of the above steps, you are most probably worried about the application process for the scholarship. Here is a guide on how to apply:

Just like other scholarships you are required to first confirm the application date, details, and the backup materials required for the process. For this, you must read the scholarship rules a number of times to ensure you are not missing anything. Some of the extra material you require is as follows 

• Official grade transcript
• Letters of recommendation
• One or more essays
• Lists of your extracurricular activities
• Demonstrated financial need (if that’s part of the specific scholarship)

Further, you are also required to speak with your counselor as these counselors are pretty specific about the rules and sometimes these experienced professionals ensure you that you are not missing something. 

Top Full-ride Scholarships Across the Globe

There are an array of scholarships awarded by various institutions across the globe. Some of the majorly pursued scholarships are as follows-

Name of the Scholarships	Application Deadlines
Boston University: Trustee Scholarship	Early December
Loyola Marymount University: Trustee Scholarship	Early February
Texas Christian University: Chancellor’s Scholars Program	Early December
Vanderbilt University: Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship	Early December
Wake Forest University: Nancy Susan Reynolds Scholarship	Mid-November

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