My perspective on winning the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship

The Commonwealth Shared Scholarship is highly competitive and one of the most prestigious master’s scholarships attainable in the United Kingdom. It is jointly funded by the UK government through the Department for International Development (DfID) and participating UK higher institutions.

In this article, I will be sharing with you some application information and strategies which I believed contributed significantly to the success of my first international scholarship.

It’s a long read but an interesting one, so let’s ride!

A brief recap of my academic background prior to the application

I attended public primary and secondary school in Anambra and Ogun state respectively. While in secondary, I held various leadership positions and rose to become the senior prefect in my last year.

After graduating from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Nigeria with B.Eng (First Class) in Civil Engineering, I proceeded for my one-year National Youth Service in Kwara State. There, I was posted to serve in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ilorin. In the department, I developed a good relationship with the staff especially the Head of the Department (HoD). I never knew that the HoD would later become one of my referees for the scholarship.

The Scholarship

Commonwealth Shared Scholarship gives applicants the flexibility to apply to multiple participating institutions offering the course of their interest. Usually before the application opens, a list of participation institutions and eligible courses are released so applicants can start applying for offer in the institutions of their choice. The chosen institution(s) would later be indicated as the nominating agency during the scholarship application. You can check my article here for more information on the application process.

 If you apply to multiple institutions, there are chances of getting more than one nomination or reservation depending on the strength of your applications. There is also the possibility of not getting any nomination or reservation irrespective of the number of applications you made. Hence, the quality of your applications is more important than the quantity. I applied to four institutions that offer the course of my interest as listed for the year 2018. I got just one nomination without any reservation from the rest. That was enough for me!

The reserve list serves to replace candidate(s) that decline their nomination. Yes, not everyone ends up accepting the scholarship nomination. A nomination maybe be declined for any of the following reasons: a. the nominee has multiple nominations and must accept one and decline the rest, b. the nominee got a more preferred offer from another scholarship body, and c. the candidate is no longer interested in the scholarship for any personal reasons. A timeframe for accepting the nomination is usually given after which it will be assumed that the candidate is no longer interested in the scholarship and a top reserved candidate will be nominated in replacement.

The requirements for the scholarship

Here, I will highlight most of the scholarship requirements and explain how you can approach them (especially the essays) based on my experience. As I stated in one of my articles (click here), “leveraging the areas of your strength in scholarship application”, you do not have to tick all the boxes perfectly to stand a chance in a scholarship; its more about putting your best in the areas of your strength.

Academic grades

Good academic grade is an important element of the scholarship. A minimum of second-class upper grade or its equivalent is required to be eligible for the scholarship. Having a very strong academic grade places you in a better position but it’s not enough to land the scholarship. The overall strength of your application is more important compared to just the quality of your academic grade. I have seen few instances where applicants with second class upper grades were nominated over their first-class counterparts, but larger percentage of the scholarship winners are first class holders. So, for the undergraduates reading this now, if you can still achieve a first-class grade, ensure you put your best to get it. Do not trivialise it!

Developmental Impact Essay

I consider this as the most important part of the application. Good grade but poor development impact essay will have negative effect on your winning chances. For me a good essay in this regard should be solution-based rather than problem-based. By that, I mean your essay should:

1. Identify an economic or social problem in your country that relates to your area of study

2. Identify some of the limitations or hindrances to addressing such problem

3. Highlight your current or past contributions to solving the problem (if any)

4. Then proceed to proffer the most sustainable solution to the problem, indicating how the skills and knowledge you will acquire through the scholarship will prepare you as a positive catalyst to address the problem.

Be as concise as possible and ensure you elaborate more on the solutions (including the strategies you will adopt to ensure the realisation) rather than the problems which are quite known to the scholarship body and reason for sponsoring you to contribute to solving them after your program. Also, in your essay you will be required to include the timeframe for achieving the proposed developmental plans. Ensure your timing is realistic taken all necessary factors into consideration. There is no special template for writing this essay ensure that your paragraphs are coherent, connected and not ambiguous.

Your objectives during the award

What do you plan to achieve within the one-year period of your program? Your objectives should be realizable within the timeframe. You should strike a balance between academic, networking or leadership and social goals. While your academic objectives should be prioritised, you should understand that the scholarship is aimed at preparing you holistically as a future global leader. So, personal development goal is also important.

Your social life is very important too as it helps you relax and refresh after rigorous academic activities. It might worth mentioning that you would like to visit some historic places in the UK (that you usually see in the movies or read in books) which necessary does not have to relate to your studies. Highlighting your social objectives does not in anyway affect your chances of winning the scholarship. It can even strengthen your application if written properly as that gives the impression that you have done some research about the country and you are really interested in studying there.

In my case, I stated that I would like to visit some tourists’ locations and also get to appreciate the beauty of the country. You can look up hostuk.org, a body that link up international students with UK families during term break for cultural and social interaction. You may want to include that as one of your objectives.

Future career plans

In writing your future career plans (both in the short and long term), ensure you coherently connect your proposed course of study with the development impact you have set to achieve. It should be plans (in the short term) that will better position you to achieve your development plans. In the long term, your plans should be those that can position you as a policy influencer or a key player in your chosen field to ensure a wider actualisation of development initiatives even beyond the shores of your home country.

Personal Statement

I consider this essay as one capable of winning the heart of the application reviewers to your favour. Here is basically where you write about your background (especially family background), your motivations, the challenges you faced to education and how you overcome them to success. It is important that you express adequate passion and motivation while writing this essay. If you come from a less privileged background, you should expressed how your desire to rewrite your family narratives and influence your community positively has become a source of motivation for you (this is just an illustration and should not be adopted as a line in your essay). Check this post I wrote some weeks ago and draw some inspiration from it.

Voluntary and leadership experience

Leadership experience is a very important part of the application that should not be taken for granted. It shows that you have the qualities to excel in your chosen field of endeavour and also contribute meaningful to development of your community and the country at large. Every opportunity you had in the past to lead (or better put, serve) should be included here. Your contribution to development and achievement should be appropriately specified. Some make the mistake of just listing the roles without emphasising on the positive impact they made. If you have volunteered for any organisation(s) in the past, you should highlight your roles and achievements. In my application, I highlighted all the voluntary leadership roles I held from my primary school to the university level and during my service year. I ensured that I pointed out my achievements through quality service delivery and contribution to community development.

Recommendation/Reference Letter

This is a very vital element of the scholarship application which usually you do not get to see the content, but it can have significant impact on the outcome of your application. Some applicants usually trivialise the important of this letter.

The choice of your referees is very important and even more important is your relationship with them. From my experience (I do not know if the procedure has been reviewed), the link for completing the recommendation form are usually sent directly to the specified referees email addresses. So, in that case you do not get to know the questions asked and the answers that were provided.

Most times, you can assist your referee with some information about you in form of a CV, but you have to understand that a good recommendation letter goes beyond the content of a CV. Hence, choosing someone that you have developed a good academic or working relationship with you over time is key. They will be more passionate to write an outstanding recommendation for you from their knowledge of your achievements and potentials

Inform your prospective referees about your application very early even before the application commences. Most of them might be well occupied and you need to remind them often without being too pestering. A good prior relationship with your referees mostly influences their willingness and dedication to write an outstanding recommendation for you.

Note, the reference letter you will submit when applying for an offer in your preferred institutions is different from the one that will be submitted by your referees for your scholarship application. For the former, the institutions will usually ask you to scan and upload the letters on an official letterheaded paper during your application. The ones for the scholarship are usually submitted directly by your referees through a specified link or email address.

Awards and Certification

Award(s) usually add some flavour to your application but not a must have. I remember listing some of the awards I received during my undergrad and National Youth Service for my academic and leadership prowess. Do not trivialise any recognition you received for your academic performance, leadership prowess or for contributing to the development of your community in anyway. This recognition(s) can be the distinguishing parameter between two closely competing applications.

Work Experience

As a fresh graduate, I had one-year internship experience during my undergrad that span over three academic sessions. That was the only work experience I had related to my field before the application. I also highlighted my responsibilities as a corps member in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ilorin where I was serving at that time.

I included some of the work I did during term time and short breaks to assist myself financially. I did that because there was no specification of the type of work experience required. I also thought it was wise to include them since it portrays my commitment to ensuring that my studies did not suffer financially especially during my final year when my father developed health challenges. So, you should not ignore any vital part of your work experience.

Academic publications

Relevant academic publication(s) is not compulsory but can strengthen your application. I had no academic publication during my application, so I did not complete the section. It is better to skip this section in your application than provide poorly published articles just to fill the gap.

Professional bodies

Association with relevant professional bodies is important. It shows that you are committed to continual career development through interaction with industry experts and access to latest innovative information in your field. I listed in my application some of the professional bodies I belonged to. You may not be required to provide evidence of association but ensure you are providing the right information.

Above all, winning the scholarship for me was by the grace of God. Prior to my nomination by Nottingham Trent University, I have already received rejection emails from Commonwealth Scholarship body for all my four applications. My nomination came as a miracle after I have already moved on. Few days after the rejection emails, I got another email from the university that I have been nominated for the scholarship and asking me to ignore the initial email from the Scholarship body. Note that nominations are done by the institutions while the scholarship body do the final confirmation. I later realised that the previous emails were automated to be sent to all applicants that were not nominated before a specified deadline.

Therefore, you should put in your best effort in the application and then commit the rest to God and he will grant you favour and success.

Thank for reading to the end, you can also check my previous article on how to approach scholarship applications.

I wish you all the best in scholarship applications.

Sunday Okafor

Commonwealth Shared Scholar, 2018

Nottingham Trent University, UK