What advice would you give to students who feel hesitant about applying?
Apply. For postgraduate scholarships the emphasis shifts from grades to research potential and personal fit — what kind of work you want to do, why this specific program, and whether you can articulate a coherent intellectual direction. For funding-focused scholarships like Gates Cambridge Scholarship, financial need and a compelling case for why you need full funding can matter as much as academic record.
Just go for it. While the NUS Research Scholarship does look at grades, they're ultimately more interested in you as a candidate — what kind of research you'd like to do, why you're interested in it, and how you've done research before, even at an undergraduate level.
Definitely still apply. Perfect grades are not the only thing that programmes look for — they often aren't the best indicator of your potential. What does make a big difference is a thoughtful, well-crafted personal statement. Remember that grad school is no longer about doing well in exams, but showing that you are well placed to be an independent learner and thinker.
Yes, should apply. For Quantedge, the crux is to assist financially-disadvantaged Singaporeans and/or Singaporeans who have overcome adversity. For MTFA, it is a holistic assessment. Hence, grades are not the primary criteria.
In order to afford a master's degree overseas, I had one condition: I needed full or near-full funding. Being a first-generation low-income student, I had to apply to every scholarship I could find. For me, the necessity of securing funding outweighed the hesitation about not having a strong enough portfolio. Making these applications comes at the cost of time and mental load — but the alternative was not going at all.
Just apply! When you're at the point where you know you want to pursue your studies, maximise whatever opportunities you get and leverage your network well — because you deserve it.
There is no predetermined or typical profile of a scholar — universities want diverse talent from a variety of backgrounds, so anyone interested should just apply. For Rhodes specifically, look at the Oxford course you'd like to apply to and make sure you meet its minimum requirements. That minimum is not like JAE, where a higher score gives you a better chance — it is a requirement you simply need to pass. The edge comes from your other documents, your experiences, and your story. And spoiler alert: my grades were not perfect either.
Just do it. You miss every shot you don't take.
Yes — it usually doesn't cost money to apply for scholarships, and once you apply for one, you'd already have done a lot of the work needed to apply for multiple other scholarships and programmes.
How should students decide which scholarships to apply for?
For postgraduate funding, the key distinction is full-cost vs. partial. Full-cost scholarships (often bonded or competitive) are all-or-nothing — life-changing if you get them, but slim odds. Partial scholarships are often more accessible and unbonded. A tiered strategy — applying hard to 1–2 top choices while recycling materials for others — is the most practical approach.
There are two broad types of scholarships: full-cost and partial. Full-cost scholarships may be bonded or unbonded and provide your entire tuition fee and stipend — they're quite all-or-nothing, and chances are understandably slim. Partial scholarships are usually unbonded and stack well. The strategy I'd recommend: go after the full-cost ones seriously and recycle materials for the partial ones.
Have a tiered system. Apply hard for 1–2 important ones, and for the rest just recycle your materials and align them well with the type of scholarship you're applying to. Better to have options.
Figure out your criteria — bond duration, type of work — and make it as broad as you can while still being acceptable. Then apply for anything that fits within those criteria. The closer you get to those criteria, the more you should prioritise it.
Lay out all the available scholarship options, then narrow down those relevant to your field. Prioritise scholarships with requirements you closely meet, and objectives you strongly align with.
Focus on scholarships that you generally fit into the criteria, so that you can devote more time to each. Within the selected few, prioritise equally so that you can maximise your chances even if it is not a full scholarship.
Personally, I had to get a scholarship if I wanted to pursue my postgraduate studies, so I applied to every scholarship under the sun as long as it related to my interest. Application is a part-time job — dedicate enough time and resources to it. And please apply early: some university applications have scholarships you must apply for separately, and they take a lot of time and need recommendation letters.
It depends on what you want. Don't apply to everything — if you are applying to everything, it's a red flag, as it shows you don't know what you want to do and just want to be sponsored regardless of direction.
Apply for as many as possible, but prioritise those whose funding description you intuitively know matches the work you've already done in the last two to four years.
What types of experiences should students engage in 2–3 years before applying?
For postgraduate scholarships, coherence matters more than volume. The experiences that most strengthen a postgraduate application are those that directly support your research direction or demonstrate intellectual seriousness. Don't go out of your way to add extracurriculars for the sake of it — make sure every experience ties back to a clear narrative about why you're pursuing graduate study.
To me, coherence matters more than abundance. At every step of the way, with everything that you commit to — what values unify what you chose to do? Can you tell a coherent story about who you are? Why do they want to give you this scholarship? That's the question your experiences should answer.
Your application and what you have already done will speak to the intention of why you are pursuing grad school. Most of the time, the things you already have will substantiate your applications. I personally don't see any value in going out of your way to do extra things that aren't in alignment with why you want to pursue grad school.
Do something you'll be proud of. Work experience is important, but don't do it for the sake of résumé fodder. It won't feel good to try and "sell" an experience that you had no enjoyment in. Give yourself space to breathe — but at the same time, don't sit on your hands.
It's more important to have experiences that are relevant to your programme and scholarship of interest. But I would caution against spamming internships or extracurriculars for the sake of it. It's better to have fewer extracurriculars that you are deeply engaged in and can speak to meaningfully.
In my view, it is good to have some volunteering or working experience, including internships, as it adds depth to your application. For MTFA, it is part of the requirement.
There should be something you are passionate about, a big fight you are in, and evidence of your efforts — and you cannot fake passion to that extent. Soul-search first: what are you passionate about, what do you want to achieve, and how can you improve the world in a small way? Then start small. If you care about animals, volunteer at a shelter, find out what else you can do, then start it — with friends, if it doesn't exist yet. Do this early, but it is never too late.
For me, I had three research attachments before applying. I participated in competitions as well.
It depends on the funding body. For fully funded PhD programmes in America, having independent research experience was most important.
What are the key points to highlight in a personal or academic statement?
Your statement is not a list — it is a coherent argument for why you, why this programme, and why now. Give context to what you've done, not just a record of it. For research scholarships, your readers care about your research proposal more than your achievements list. For overseas scholarships, the statement is your chance to explain the vantage point only you can offer.
Your readers have your CV so the point of your statement is not to list what you did. Rather, I saw my statement as a place where I could give context as to why I organised or volunteered in certain things — constructing a coherent story of my unique vantage point: being first-generation low-income, what values were important to me, what gaps I saw in my community, why and how I bridged them, and why this scholarship and programme was the natural next step.
Any form of statement is part of the whole package which is your application. Your SOP or personal statement must gel and piece together the whole application — from your intention, to why this school, to your life's journey, to the things you have done. Everything should feel connected, not stitched together.
Highlight your passion, motivation, goals, aspirations, and future plans.
Your personal statement is your story — try to tell it in the best way possible, which is your way. If you run it through AI to ideate and write for you, it will be the most generic work ever, and yours will just look like a good personal statement. The best statements are the ones unique to you and your brain, so write from the heart. For me, I cycled for about two hours, sat by a bench and reflected, then cycled back and wrote my personal statement.
Things outside academic scores are important — from your interests to the side quests that may be related to your work.
It's very dependent on the scholarship body and the programme.
What's the most effective way to prepare for scholarship interviews?
For postgraduate scholarships, preparation is about two things: knowing your research (or field) deeply enough to discuss it spontaneously, and being able to answer "why you" with specifics. For organisation-based scholarships, research the interviewer's background if you have names. For research scholarships, expect your research proposal to be probed — know every sentence of it.
If you're applying to an organisation, the interviewers will ask you "what do you know about us?" — so minimally read their website. I also search them up on Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube to check what's out there. If you're given the names of your interviewers beforehand, google them — it may help you build rapport naturally during the interview.
I use ChatGPT — the speaking function to train and prep for an interview is amazing. I remember asking it to throw curveball questions at me for an hour and tracking my responses, especially on when to stop elaborating and when to explain more. Most scholarship interviews are quite standard: your motivation, your life journey, why this scholarship, and what you plan to do with it.
1) Research the vision and mission of the organisation through its website, LinkedIn, and social media. 2) Reach out to previous scholars to learn about their experience — LinkedIn is great for this. 3) Check question banks and practice your answers out loud until they feel natural.
Reflect, reflect, reflect. There are no gotcha questions here — the interviewers genuinely want to know who you are, and the best way to answer "who are you?" is to know who you are. Reflect deeply on what you want in life, what your values are, and what you hold dear. I asked close friends to throw questions at me, all circling the same thing: what do I want to achieve, what do I enjoy, what do I hate, and who am I. Then, just before the interview, clear your mind, arrive early, and feel confident.
To be honest, I think having a structured cheat sheet or a prepped answer is a bad idea, at least for me. You just need to know what the awarding body wants its scholars to achieve. Often they award scholarships because they need talent in a certain sector — A*STAR, for example, is a hybrid between academia and industry, so they are looking for people who want to innovate and potentially spin out a company. Be yourself.
Speak to people who have worked with the funding body, not just past scholars. They'll be able to give you a sense of the things the panel might want to hear.
What was your experience during the final or panel interview?
Postgraduate scholarship panels tend to be more conversational than undergraduate panels, though the size varies a lot — 3 interviewers for research scholarships, up to seven or ten for the named international awards, and 15 to 45 minutes. Some run more than one stage, including a dinner. For research scholarships, the panel will probe your research proposal directly — they've read it, and they want to understand how you think, not just what you know. Come ready to discuss your proposal in depth, including its limitations.
This was one of my favourite interviews. It took 20–25 minutes. I had three interviewers and they were friendly and warm. I appreciated the care they took to read my application — they asked me to elaborate on specific sentences I wrote in my research proposal. They also asked some questions I hadn't anticipated, like "what exactly is transferable about your fieldwork with this community in this country, to another context?" That question showed me they had engaged genuinely with what I'd written.
I had 3 interviewers — a 30–45 minute interview on Zoom. The questions covered the same themes as the application: your motivation, your life journey, why this scholarship, and what you plan to do with it. Being on Zoom added a layer of effort to building rapport, but it was still a warm conversation overall.
For Quantedge: 2 rounds — first with staff, second with donors. The first was online with 2 staff as interviewers, lasting about 30 minutes. They started with background questions, then working experience, then why Quantedge specifically. For MTFA: 1 round, with 4–5 committee members over about 45 minutes. They focused heavily on your future plans and your financial situation.
The Rhodes interview process is in two stages: a dinner, then a solo interview. The dinner was very nice — three tables, one of them mixing interviewees and interviewers. The most important thing is to be yourself, answer like a human being, and have fun. I treated it as a session to learn more about different people, industries, and interests. The solo interview was fun too, with somewhere between five and ten people. The questions were insightful — about my research, my social activities, and myself. No one was out to get me.
Standard questions like what's your goal, why did you apply, and where do you see yourself in x years. Fifteen minutes, three interviewers, in a meeting room.
About seven panellists, no women. Many were defensive about the feminist and global work I was doing, particularly since they understood themselves to be carrying out support for Singaporeans who would probably contribute back to the nation. Not all panellists are the same, and it was helpful to weave in nuance after a palatable punchline with every answer.