PREPARING FOR A SCHOLARSHIP INTERVIEW Sophie thinks the scholarship selectors

S: Hi, Henry. Thanks for coming.
H: No problem, Sophie. I hope I can help. When’s the interview?
S: On Thursday.
H: Which course do you want to do?
S: A Master’s in Development Studies.
H: Whereabouts?
S: In Australia — Melbourne, actually.
H: Well, Melbourne’s a great place. I visited in my semester break.
S: But you studied in Adelaide, didn’t you?
H: Yeah.
S: Why Adelaide?
H: I heard before I applied for the scholarship that most applicants want to go to Sydney or Melbourne, so by choosing Adelaide I thought I’d have a better chance.
S: Do you think I should go to Adelaide? Or not do Development Studies?
H: I think the key is to choose a course you’re really interested in, no matter where it is.
S: Why’s that?
H: Because the workload is heavy. My Master’s was probably the most difficult thing I’ve done in my whole life.
S: I see. Anyway. I bet the interview panel asks the same questions every year. What did they ask you?
H: Firstly, about why I wanted to go to Australia.
S: What did you say?
H: I told them I’d been there already, and I liked it.
S: What else did the panel ask?
H: About my undergraduate degree. About my job. About how a Master’s would improve my performance and the performance of my organisation.
S: Where are you working now?
H: Oh, and they asked about my family — whether I’d take my wife with me.
S: Well, I’m single, and planning to stay that way. As the courses will help me at work, you know I quit my regular job, working in the university library.
H: Yeah, I heard that. What are you doing now?
S: I’m a volunteer at a rehabilitation centre.
H: How ever do you survive, financially?
S: I teach English at night, and I live cheaply.
H: Good for you. You could say an MA would improve your prospects of finding permanent work.
S: I wonder what the interview panel will think about my undergraduate degree. It’s in Russian and History. I studied Russian so I could get a scholarship to Russia for a Master’s degree, but I only lasted six months in Europe.
H: If I were you, I would not mention you already have an incomplete Master. I focus on the work you are doing now. Use phrases like ’grass roots activism’ and ’capacity building’. The panel will love that.
S: Oh? I do worry about my background My family comes from a village on the coast. I seem to recall that most people who were awarded scholarships in the last three years came from big cities and were socially successful.