How I Won a Full Scholarship for Masters Degree in Sweden

My name is Mobolaji Folorunso, a Swedish Institute Study Scholarship recipient from Nigeria currently on a Master’s degree programme in Sweden. I was part of the group of candidates that were successful in the 2017 round of scholarships. The Swedish Institute (administrator of the scholarship programme) has made a call for applications for the next round of applications for Master’s programmes starting in autumn of 2018 and I’ll love to help you get the scholarship. It’s a full scholarship. It includes 100% tuition fees, monthly allowances to cover your expenses, health insurance coverage and a travel grant for transportation from your home country. Scholarships of this kind are rare and as a result, very competitive. When I applied, 14680 applications were received, of which only 449 of us were successful, a 3.06% success rate. In the next round, only 180 scholarships will be awarded, that means increased competition.

From my experience, you don’t have to be in the top 10% or 20% of your undergraduate graduating class to win the scholarship, in fact, academic achievements play little role in getting the scholarship. All the Swedish Institute requires from you are leadership qualities and passion for development in your immediate community. If you can provide concrete examples of your accomplishments in community development, entrepreneurship, leadership, etc., then, you stand a great chance of being successful in the scholarship.

In this article, I’ll briefly describe how you can present a strong application for the scholarship in the next round that will be open from February 2 – February 9, 2018. There’s a whole lot of stuff I’ll love to say about the scholarship here in this article, but it won’t fit in a single article. I’ll be releasing an ebook soon that chronicles my experiences during the application period, how I completed the required documents and tips on how you can too. If you’ll want to be notified when the ebook is released, you can sign up your email address

For the next round, the Swedish Institute has made a few changes. The changes include:

No more two steps: When I applied, the application process was in 2 stages, called “steps”, where you only get to submit required documents in the second step. The first step started on December 1, 2016, while the second step was in February 2017. The first step was just about filling an online form but was very crucial as only successful candidates from the first step proceeded to the second step.

This time however, the process has been simplified. There’s only one stage/step, from February 2 – February 9, 2018 as the Swedish Institute website says. And this is where you submit the required documents online. You’ll be given templates to guide you on how to fill the required documents, around the time the application opens.

Two letters of reference: In the last application round, we were only required to submit only one letter of reference. This, year, the Swedish Institute says you must submit two. This year, the Swedish Institute says you must submit the following documents:

• A motivation letter
• A Europass template CV, with no more than 3 pages.
• Two letters of reference
• One proof of work/leadership experience
• A copy of the data page of your international passport, attached as a fourth page to your CV

Reduced number of scholarships for Masters: As I mentioned earlier in this article, there’s a reduction in the number of scholarships available in the next round which will number 180. As such, you have to present a really strong application if you want to win it. You don’t have to worry, I’ll be glad to help you. I know what goes into presenting an application that wins scholarships. You can send me your email address using this link (http://bit.ly/2A4DgWO) to receive weekly tips from me, or visit my blog (https://mobolajifolorunso.wordpress.com/) where I’ve been posting tips.

One important ingredient for being successful, not only with this scholarship, but with any other thing in life is commitment and resilience. You have to want this thing. During the application period, I will say that I was practically obsessed with presenting a strong application by studying the content of the Swedish Institute website and University Admissions, formulating my responses to the essays in the documents required using templates from past years, visiting websites like AllScholarships.info and contacting about 9 scholarship holders seeking advice from them. At the end of the day, it all depends on how much you want it.

One advice I’ll love to leave you with is, winning the scholarship largely depends on your profile, your experiences; and there’s a “right” profile that is required to win the scholarship. Visit the Swedish Institute website, (https://si.se/en/apply/scholarships/swedish-institute-study-scholarships/), and scroll down to the “Who we are looking for” section and study what the Swedish Institute requires in a prospective scholarship recipient. If your profile fits what is described there, then, congratulations! You’re on your way to winning the Swedish Institute Study Scholarship.

If you have any questions, you can send me an email at mobolaji.b.folorunso@gmail.com

P.S. The list of eligible Master’s programmes for the next application have already been published by the Swedish Institute. You can find them here at this website