Q: Why should I apply?
A: There are many reason to apply:
- It is an internationally recognized scholarships
- Getting the award looks good on your resume
- You get more money to spend on tuition fees and books.
- No restriction on the scholarship you currently receiving (Some scholarship may give the applicants lower priority of getting the scholarship because they are currently receiving some other scholarship)
- It is a stepping-stone for another award/ scholarship (This is less obvious but it is true that even if you get an gender-specific award, it helps you in getting another award because it makes your resume stands out among all other applicants)
- You can always keep re-applying each year with minimal additional effort (I applied for twice before I actually obtained the scholarship. The best part is that I can reuse most part of my previous applications in my second application so I can focus more on strengthening my applications.).
Q: Do you need to have recommendation letters?
A: No. I think this is the best part of the application process! As most scholarships required recommendation letters, girls who want to apply may think they need to allocate significant time in figuring out who to ask for the reference letter and also worrying about the reference letter not being ready before the deadline. So, isn't it a big relief that you do NOT need a recommendation letters?
Q: Is there a restriction on how I use the money?
A: While some scholarships restricted the usage of the money for paying the tuition fees or travelling to particular conference, there is no such restriction for this scholarship. You can use it for any academic purposes, e.g., buying books, attending conference, paying for tuition fees or attending summer schools.
Q: Am I good enough to apply?
A: Some girls are hesitant to apply due to the lack of self-confidence. But, what is there to lose even if you apply? You may need to spend some time in completing the applications or risk feeling sad if your application get rejected but it is really a huge loss? On the other hand, if you don't apply because you think that you are good enough, when will you be good enough to apply if you even cannot face such a small challenge?
Q: The requirement stated one must have "Exemplify leadership and demonstrate passion for increasing the involvement of women in computer science", what does it mean?
A: There will be one essay question asking about your involvement in encouraging more women in computer science. Again, don't hesitant to apply thinking that this seem unrelated to you. In the field with women as minority, I am sure that you have encountered situations in which you wish that more women could be in this field and you may have subconsciously done something to encourage women in computer science even though it may be of a small scale. For example, you could attend some networking events for women in engineering or take part of some mentoring program catered for women in computer science. By attending these events, you are actually showing support for organizer of these events and this could be a form of activities that could encourage more women into computer science. Another example is that you may have some weekly gathering with other girls in CS department. While you may think that this is merely a social gathering, demonstrating good social support to your female peers in the same department is a good start to encourage more women to computer science because "words of encouragement" may be the only thing one needs when going through obstacles in life.
I hope that you will really consider applying for the "Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship" after reading what I wrote in the previous lengthy paragraph. Please leave some comments if this post is helpful to you.
