I haven't been active for quite some time now, more than half a year actually, because I just lost the will and the thought that my blog, this blog, is important. When in all actuality, it is very, very important to me. This page right here is like an online diary for me. Allowing me write down all my thoughts and opinions on things.
So allow by restarting, yet again, my blog this late 2018 by saying that I have finally ticked off a grand item from my bucket list. And that is: TO CONTINUE MY STUDIES :)
Me after officially enrolling for the first time in 4 years!
Currently, I am enrolled in University of Santo Tomas as a graduate student. I am affiliated with the Graduate School of the said university and am currently completing my Master's degree majoring in Biology. It was such a huge jump for me! I was very nervous about the application that I didn't want to talk much about it of fear that I might jinx it! But here I am! Currently enrolled for my 3rd term. What's more exciting about it is that I'm already writing my thesis!!! IT'S THAT FAST :((
List of prioritized courses for DOST Scholarship (image take from UP DOST Scholars' Association FB Page)
Because I want every blog post to be educational, what I wanted to share with guys is the scholarship program I applied to. For my master's degree, I submitted an application to be under DOST-SEI ASTHRPD scholarship program. They cover the total amount of my tuition fee (I only have to pay 10PHP for the printing of my registration form), book allowance, and plus! I get to have my own monthly salary in the form of stipends hehe. Every month, DOST scholars get to receive 25,000PHP for our stipend. An additional 5,000PHP for our book allowance that is given per semester. It was too good to pass up that's why I endured all the application procedure!
Financial coverage of the DOST-ASTHRPD Scholarship
Anyway, what you need first, of course, is the application form. As for UST, the DOST scholarship for the Graduate School is handled by the Office of the Vice Rector for Research and Innovation located at the first floor of the TARC building (Thomas Aquinas Research Center), I inquired at their office and got the application form. I then proceeded on getting all the other requirements.
One of the major requirements for this application is that you need to have a letter of acceptance beforehand before officially starting your scholarship application. So I submitted my intent to enroll first to the Graduate School along with other pertinent documents such as TOR and referral letters. They will email you after the application period if you're accepted as a regular applicant or under probationary (meaning you have to take an entrance exam). With that letter, I was able to tick-off one requirement :)
Other requirements are NBI Clearance, which I had to wait for weeks because apparently, I have a hit! And the other thing is the Physical Exam. Once your requirements are complete, you can now submit it to the office of your chosen school and they will schedule you for an interview! And that's it! All that's left to do is be really prepared for your expected research output. They ask a lot of questions about your prospective study during the interview and of course, your background too. As for myself, I got a bit anxious about my life story because I strayed away from science for quite some time that I felt I needed to do a lot of catching up. Thankfully, the vice rector saw through that and accepted me hehe.
The catch in all of this is that you have to sign a contract stating that you will be a full-time student for the duration of your scholarship. Any job whatsoever is prohibited by law and will be grounds for some jail time :| Yes, the 25,000PHP stipend per month is really something a regular job can't provide but do bear in mind that this is a government agency we're dealing with! Therefore you shouldn't be surprised if your stipend comes in delayed for 2 whole months HAHA. But still, at least you're able to enjoy the life of a student again!!!
Oh yeah, almost forgot, DOST also offers scholarships for undergraduate programs and the application for the upcoming academic year is currently on-going.
You can also visit DOST's website to get the details about the scholarship I applied for, just click here :) Good luck on your endevours!
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