For Burmese students who seeks scholarships

For Burmese students who seeks scholarships


Since becoming an eager, but unpaid, educational consultant for friends, families, and acquaintances picked up via the Burma Digest, the author has communicated with many Burmese students who seek information about scholarships and admissions. This article intends to wrap up earlier articles and earlier queries with some suggestions this author would like to add for fellow Burmese citizens especially youths from Burma.

One of the frequently asked questions is how one can win scholarships for undergraduate (college) or graduate degrees (MA, MSc, PhD, MBA etc.) studies?

For those inquirers, I would like to recommend reading the article “Scholarships for Burmese students“. I think that scholarships for studies in overseas colleges are not impossible but very competitive and demanding. They mostly fall into the Category 1 scholarships in that article. It is relatively easy to get financial assistance for the graduate school and business schools. Here the author would like to suggest students to think of financial assistance rather than scholarships. People should have kept in mind that education is an individual and a family’s own responsibility and only when the academically distinguished and deserving student (please interpret as already got admission to a good university) cannot bear the financial burdens, the scholarships bodies and the institution (college, university) step in and assist. Scholarships are only for hardworking students with determination to learn, ability to cope with meat grinding alike academic workload of college and graduate schools.

Financially, it will be pragmatic to expect to chip in own money for own education. It will help the student appreciates and works harder for his or her education. People should remind themselves that the world does not owe them for their education. They should work hard and be tough to survive and thrive in the real world out of Burma.

But they should be equally aware of nasty and cunning scholarship schemes. There are agents in Yangon where students are being lured with scholarships that covers 20% of tuition fees in good for nothing private Universities. The author would suggest student to check the ranking of the college or university that agent is pitching. Do some homework whether its graduates got employed after graduation, how many of the graduates can continue in good graduate schools after graduation from that college. If chances are slim then it is recommended to concentrate on college studies in Burma and sit for TOEFL and GRE and prepare for overseas graduate school only afterwards. Do homework before wiring your parents’ savings to some deceiving agent’s account.

While there are students who are currently studying in no name colleges in universities in the ASEAN region and elsewhere, there are also Burmese students, who earned Category 1 (competition among Burmese students) scholarships and are currently studying at good universities in US, UK, Australlia and Singapore. In addition to those there are some Burmese who are pursuing college or graduate schools with Category 2 scholarships (competition among candidates from all over the world). What the author wants to see is an increase in number of Burmese students who earn Category 2 scholarships after fair shoulder to shoulder competition with able students and graduates from all parts of globe. We need more people with brains and balls to compete for those scholarships. It is time to aim higher and better, it is time to study harder, it is time to stop sitting and talking in tea or beer shops, it is time to prepare for sterling scores in GMAT and GRE and good scores in TOEFL or IELTS. It is time for everyone to step forward and work for themselves.

I have said what I really want to say and now I want to recommend the students to opt for overseas graduate studies as it is cheaper, shorter, faster return on investment; and abundance of scholarships as one goes higher up the academic pyramid.

Students could spend every hour of their college days in Burma preparing for overseas graduate studies. They must work for best grades, develop leadership, team work and thinking skills, improves on self reliance and maturity. They can equip themselves with real world skills like Software Engineering (not only Programming), Languages and more involvement in Open Source projects that will give them better credentials for overseas graduate school application. They should prepare for aptitude tests like GRE (Graduate Record Exam) and GMAT (Graduate Managment Aptitude Test) and etc..

They are recommended to read the “Graduate Schools Application 101 for Burmese students“.

Further on there are some side issues author would like to discuss. Regarding those who will earn a right to study in top tier universities like MIT, Harvard, UCLA or Cambridge with the scholarships from good philanthropic organizations like the Gates Foundations or Ford Foundation or Full Bright scholarships, DAAD, ADB or Mobushio scholarships or scholarship from Burmese government (if there are any in future), or ParPar MarMar scholarships or In-Law (Youkahti-Youkama) bursaries (strictly for graduate students), it is good for them who earn rights to be identified with those great universities.

The author is equally glad for those who will pursue professional studies like medicine, law, business, nursing and teaching or academic studies like natural science, computer science, IT and engineering in foreign institutions. It is especially true if they can get better education or they are seeking their only chances to study in those fields there.

But author will not recommend students to leave Burma for foreign institutions of dubious quality or studying unemployable degrees in overseas.

Students should aware of those degree mills and nature of the discipline they want to pursue before commit. There are many fields where a graduate needs an advance degree to secure a decent job and graduates in some fields and disciplines have better chances of career prospects than some other disciplines.

The rule of thumb is that good academic programs in good universities are hard to get in but easier to get loans and financial assistance. But on other hand, substandard universities are easier to get in but no one will eager to help you as nothing good may come out of that education. For example, any wanna be MBA admitted to an MBA program in Insead, a French Business school are eligible for loans from ABN AMRO (a Dutch bank) and HSBC bank offers loans for those who secures a seat in a full time MBA program in top tier business schools in UK.

But no bank will loan a student admitted to NoName B School elsewhere. Check with banks as banks lend money to those who has potential to make money. If one has a choice, it is not unwise to go and study more prestigious MBA program on loans and some scholarships rather than at a NoName Business school that offers full scholarship as job opportunity after graduation has to be considered as well. Getting into a good MBA or advanced degree program is as difficult as completing the program.

The question the author would like to be asked, but none asked so far, is that how can a student get financial assistance to pay the tuition and how can he gets the job after graduation. One of the goals of modern education is not education for the education’s sake itself. Diplomas and papers are sought not for paper’s sake alone but earned qualifications must contribute to the graduate’s employability, career mobility and prestige.

The student who makes himself employable is in fact doing favor for Burma indirectly. While it is important for a country to have intellectuals but it is equally important to train competent professionals: academics, researchers, engineers, managers, doctors, nurses, teachers, technologists and technicians.

A nation with citizens who had learnt only to recite Plato Republic, Shakespeare and History will lose competition with other nations full of trained professionals. A nation with competent professionals and agile technocrats are sexier and more irresistible for foreign investors than countries those are top heavy and bottom empty, i.e. full of policy thinkers but no worker bees, all intellectuals but no professional technocrats.

Therefore the author would like to suggest young Burmese students to pursue more employable disciplines such as engineering, science and business rather than pure theoretical/ideological studies such as political science, etc. It will be the ideal if young Burmese students could become generalized specialists (professionals with intellectual capacity). If they could make their marks in every field they have engaged in then it will be good for Burma. If they become middle to senior managers in corporations they could bring management expertise back to Burma. Had they become professors in good overseas universities, they could help Burma build its higher education. If they become finance and business professionals, they will be able to help Burma control inflation. Had some chosen to stay as distinguished engineers then Burma may become a technology powerhouse. Should students be afraid of being labeled as traitors for not returning back home; they should not be as long as they try to help Burma as much as they can while working overseas.

And, if a fraction of those overseas educated sons and daughters of Burma may choose to go back to Burma, it will be net gain for our country. If they choose to settle roots in host countries as law abiding, tax paying citizens they may still serve their native country as strong and overseas lobby for Burma in favor of the causes of Burma in global affairs. Had they earned their first degrees in Burma, then they can be said implicitly serving as education ambassadors of Burma in the same way as the proud sons of India and China are doing.

So, the author sincerely wish all Burmese students and youth to survive and thrive well through the acid tests in class rooms and cubicles, i.e. challenging academic environments of colleges and universities and challenging professional lives in international corporations.

http://burmadigest.wordpress.com/2007/05/07/for-burmese-students-who-seeks-scholarships/