Commonwealth Shared Scholarship 2019

Hello Nas25,

It won’t reduce your chances. Every university has its internal classification of GPAs and CWAs
So what the school will do will be to liken your transcript to their scheme and give you a classification.
You can find out this from the admissions Department of the Universities you’ve applied to study.
So what do they write on your degree certificate?
your graduating average?
Suprising
Suprising anyway

I don't know, degrees are not classed in my country, only GPAs..i scored a 3.6 on a 4.3 scale...so I don't know what class that is. On the CSSS portal, the only option I can choose is unclassified as the other options like 1 or 2:1, distinction or Magna *** laude don't apply to me. I'm not sure if that will reduce my chances but it seems to be the only option available.

OK. Let me lend my voice on this, if you don't mind. An easy way to calculate class of CGPA is to convert it to percentage. A first-class normally should be 90% and above. A second class upper should be 70% to 89%. I converted your CGPA to percentage and it turned out to be 83.72%. That should be 4.18/5.0 or 3.34/4.0. It's a 2.1, but a laudable one. I personally have a CGPA of 82%.
Cheers guy.

Thanks eureka01...which universities did you apply to and what courses are you most looking forward to study.

I'm applying to Southampton, Leeds, Stirling, Aberdeen and Sheffield Hallam. I intend studying Environmental Management (my first degree was on Environmental Technology), but I want to specialize in Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS).
What about you?

Greetings everyone, this forum has been silent for a bit, hope all is going well with you eurek01, olasosweet and Patrick Quaye.

Greeting to you dear. Thanks, all is going well. Crafting these essays are tasking to be honest😃

Greeting to you dear. Thanks, all is going well. Crafting these essays are tasking to be honest😃

That’s true...
so daunting that even when you’re done writing it, you still visit it and make changes for like a million times 😹😹😹😹
I’m even tired 😓

You too Patrick, what is it that makes writing these essays so difficult...

The funny thing is I haven't even started writing any of the essays yet, so I wanna ask what you are finding particularly difficult about the essays

The point is that you can impress the panel with a good write up but you’ll still not win their heart to nominate you because what the problems of your countries are and how you wish to get them address is not covered in the course content...
This implies that you have to read the course content of every module in your choice programme and tailor your essay to it.
Dont focus on how developmental the name of the course is or sounds to explain or write your essay.
It becomes daunting when you’re done writing ✍️ but never content with what you’ve written. At times you have so much ideas that you don’t know how to suppress it to meet the maximum word count.
When you’re done cooking your essay and met the word count and even submitted, you always have new ideas dropping in mind and so you keep visiting and making changes.

The point is that you can impress the panel with a good write up but you’ll still not win their heart to nominate you because what the problems of your countries are and how you wish to get them address is not covered in the course content...
This implies that you have to read the course content of every module in your choice programme and tailor your essay to it.
Dont focus on how developmental the name of the course is or sounds to explain or write your essay.
It becomes daunting when you’re done writing ✍️ but never content with what you’ve written. At times you have so much ideas that you don’t know how to suppress it to meet the maximum word count.
When you’re done cooking your essay and met the word count and even submitted, you always have new ideas dropping in mind and so you keep visiting and making changes.

A whole lot of research has to be done, first finding a developmental need of your country, especially one they are currently working on and then researching the course content of your school, identifying skills the school has to offer and linking it with the contribution you want to make to your country upon return. Basically research till everything flows😃

I should really got on to work on my essays judging from these comments...appreciated though

I do but last year I wasn’t serious...
I thought my first class will sail me through
I wrote nonesense but got reserved 😹😹😹
I think it is God ooo
Let us all work hard on our application and pray...

In September/October I believe we’ll all meet in UK 🇬🇧 that is when we will see how rewarding it is all the night we spent crafting, writing and editing our essays...
Olasosweet, Nas25 and Eureka01 “OUR LABOUR WILL NEVER BE IN VAIN THUS SAYETH THE LORD”

In September/October I believe we’ll all meet in UK 🇬🇧 that is when we will see how rewarding it is all the night we spent crafting, writing and editing our essays...
Olasosweet, Nas25 and Eureka01 “OUR LABOUR WILL NEVER BE IN VAIN THUS SAYETH THE LORD”

Thank you brother. Indeed, it won't be in vain. We are all going to be successful. The lines shall fall unto us in pleasant places. He shall make the crooked way straight. It is so.

One thing I want to add is, while you're outlining skills that the course will expose you to, understand that most masters programmes are very vast and this is where most applicants miss it. They claim they are interested in EVERY or MOST skills that are available to learn. Realistically, that's not possible. There should be a specific thing, called your study interest, that tickles you. This should be the fulcrum of your application.
Another mistake is some applicants think masters study is PhD study and they craft an essay that attempts to SOLVE an issue in their country, like inventing something or adding substantial knowledge to the academia. While this may be possible, it's not really feasible. A masters is what it is literally -mastering something; be it a skill, technology or concept. You're not expected to invent or bring about new knowledge, especially in a taught masters programme. So please let your essay be guided on this. It's okay to put further study as your long term plan if you'll need it. But don't think the selection panel will be impressed in your aspiration to use ice to produce electricity for your country.
Lastly, the THEMES. We might tend to overlook it but please remember that your essay should be crafted around it. The outcomes of your study should be in alignment with the chosen theme of the scholarship. If need be, read the theme description again to get more ideas.
Cheers guys...and girl.