Insider Tips to Earning an Abroad101 Scholarship
At Abroad101, we are committed to providing resources and opportunities to as many students as possible, and enable them to have enriching study abroad experiences. Several top-notch program providers such as IEM Study Abroad, Academic Programs International (API), and CEA Global Education have partnered with us and provided incredible scholarship opportunities on our website! All of these scholarships have been (or will be) earned by students who compose thoughtful, and well-written responses to why they think they deserve the scholarship, as well as acquiring significant amount of Facebook “Likes” from people who vote for their entry. As we are currently hosting an incredible $5000 scholarship opportunity for students interested in any CEA Global Education program this coming fall, we reached out to the finalists in our most recent Academic Programs International (API) scholarship offering to find out how they were so successful in their campaigns which each garnered over a thousand “Likes” on their entries!
Interviews with the top three finalists:
Ilian Hernandez of Texas A&M International University, used her teamwork strategy to reach out beyond just her immediate friends and family. Her “team” called upon their friends via phone and Facebook to spread the word of her scholarship entry and her fierce desire to study abroad. ”It was a huge chain, including my elementary, middle, and high school friends and teachers. Friends all over the U.S., some in Europe, and others in Mexico also helped me”, explained Ilian. Since the contest ended, she has received over 50 phone calls from her supporters asking how her campaign went. Ilian wants everyone who voted for her to know how deeply grateful she is for their support!
Teresa Gallo of Emmanuel College blew us away when she was able to obtain over 2300 “Likes” in only a couple weeks! We asked her what the secret was to her success, and she explained that her brother and cousin, who already had a large group of followers on YouTube, added a segment to all their videos asking everyone to go check out and “Like” Teresa’s entry! It was a genius idea that proved successful!
Pablo Flores, from the University of California-Riverside, wrote a poignant essay, which was a testament to his determination to study abroad in Spain. He made a very conscious effort to portray his campaign in a way that really engaged his audience and made them understand his passion for culture and knowledge. Through personalized messages to all his friends on Facebook, as well as gaining supporters on Twitter and Tumblr, he was able to captivate a crowd of nearly 2000 people who were rallying for him. Pablo’s belief is that, “If you truly want something, then somehow, someway you will achieve it.” He certainly proved that point, and is a wonderful example for so many students who wish to study abroad and are searching for ways to make that possible!
We look forward to keeping in touch with all three of these deserving students and hope to follow up with each of them once they’ve made it to their dream study abroad destination and started their journey of a lifetime!
The Abroad101 team and all the applicants to the scholarship thank API for their generous offering and continued support in helping so many students study abroad. If you are still interested in learning more about API’s programs, check out their awesome reviews on Abroad101′s website!
Be sure to check out our scholarships page to see what we are currently offering and enter to win your own study abroad scholarship!