Landing into a reputed University with a scholarship bounty!

‘A university is a place of light, liberty and learning’- Abraham Lincoln

In the 21st century, a university is definitely more than a prestigious educational institute where one acquires knowledge. After completing 12 successful years of schooling life in India, I was dogged to study under-graduation in the US and so, got into the grind of searching my dream university. When you embark on the journey of pursuing under graduation in the US, one of the onerous, yet an exciting task, is the selection of a college/University that fits you the best. Like my fellow aspiring students, I too, had a tough time in narrowing down (from the plethora of choices) to the universities I’d eventually apply to. While I was doing a lot of research and going through the web pages of many universities, I came across one such university which captivated me. It was none other than a one of the highly esteemed private university located in the state of Ohio-‘The College of Wooster’.

What fascinated me the most about this College was its proportionate student to teacher ratio, diversity in academic specializations, opportunity of mentored undergraduate research with a dedicated faculty, exceptional student-Prof relationship, campus involvement, supportive community, etc. As I dug deeper, I found out that they had many courses in Computer Science (which happens to be my intended major) coupled with internship opportunities while pursuing under graduate studies. At that instant, I thought to myself-“What if I make it to this university to fulfill all my academic goals? That thought instigated me to start my application process. The overall application process was an experience by itself and it also entailed writing essays on interesting topics to complete it. The timely and clear responses for my queries that I got from their admissions office further reinforced my interest in The College of Wooster. 

A brief hiatus followed after I fulfilled all of their application requirements. During the interim, I kept wandering what was in store for me. I was delighted to receive an un-conditional admission offer to this reputed liberal arts private institute in the major of my choice. Well, this was job half done as the next million dollar question was how to fund the yearly $67,000 expenses as estimated by Wooster. I started applying for most of their prestigious and competitive scholarships. If I had to study at Wooster, grabbing maximum scholarships and financial aid was my only bet.

To my delight, I was shortlisted for an interview for one of their most competitive scholarship that offered $35000 per year for next 4 years. Realizing the fact that I would be competing with many such students for this scholarship, no doubt, gave me goosebumps. But, I trusted my instincts and prepared for my interviews that happened over Skype. Cracking the first round boosted my confidence for the final round of interview that was scheduled with one of their Senior Admissions Director. Until then, I had never faced an interview with such a senior person and I’d be lying if I don’t admit that this made me a bit nervous. However, as the interview went on, my nervousness was replaced by confidence and a sense of satisfaction – thanks to way that Director conversed with me in a very informal way. She endeavored to understand me as a person and how I can fit into the culture of Wooster ad how it can be a game-changer opportunity for me. She even appreciated me for the way I spoke and how I presented myself. All said and done, I really had a great experience talking to her. In fact, it also gave me a glimpse of how the other faculty members at Wooster might be. Her overall conduct was a manifestation of what culture was prevalent at The College of Wooster. Such was her influence that I literally started dreaming of landing at Wooster for my under graduate studies!

It is said that if you can dream it, you can achieve it provided you are willing to give what it takes. To my ecstasy, I was not only offered the prestigious College Scholar Award, but also other scholarships based on my academic merit and dancing skills, all totaling to a whopping $45,500 per year! I felt honored and privileged to have an institution like The College of Wooster offer me a truly life changing opportunity to pursue research based under-graduate studies without burning a deep hole in my Dad’s pocket!

Final thoughts…I urge every aspiring student like me to never undermine their own skills and abilities, rather, capitalize on them and endeavor to pursue their dream education in the US. Beyond any doubt, it is one of those places on earth where you’d possibly rediscover your innate abilities and new possibilities while living as a student.

Author – Siddhant Jaju