Singapore Scholarship Pros & Cons

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am a Singaporean thinking of whether to take up a scholarship to fund my overseas undergraduate studies (currently applying to colleges). However, the scholarship comes up with a 6 years bond which is potentially stifling, as in no escape route (or comes with $$$) if you do not like the job scope. There has been many horror stories so I will like to find out more. Yet, I am not sure if I will be able to earn back the 300k if I loan from the bank to fund my studies. </p>

<p>Can any Singaporean discuss his or her considerations before coming to college and how are the prospects of getting a job (& remuneration) like in the US for internationals upon graduation. Also, how does the environment of working/studying in the US compare to Singapore? The worst scenario is to get saddled with a study loan of 300k++ without being able to work in US where the payscale is higher in Singapore to be able to pay back.</p>

<p>Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I will say this - take the scholarship only if you really do have a passion for what the scholarship agency is doing (public service if on PSC OMS, research if on A*STAR, etc…). Do not try to loan out the entire US$200,000 amount from banks (I am not even sure banks would bother to lend it to you - too risky unless your parent co-signs or you have some sort of collateral). </p>

<p>You can always study locally, top your cohort, get your first class honors and go overseas for your masters or PhD studies (where there are more fellowships and all available).</p>

<p>As to getting a job overseas - it is a crapshoot really. In some years, the H-1B (work visa) quota is gone in a day so you might not even be able to get a work visa for the US, and meanwhile in other years no one wants to hire internationals because no one is hiring anyone due to the bad economy.</p>