There are many determined and talented students in Malawi who lack only access to information to better their educational futures. For the fourth year, the United States Embassy, Public Affairs Section seeks to identify highly academically qualified and motivated students in Malawi to join the Educational Advising Center. The Educational Advising Center’s mission is to assist highly-talented and determined students to negotiate and finance the admissions process for colleges and universities in the United States with the aim of producing highly-skilled and widely-educated leaders for tomorrow’s Malawi. The Advising Center works closely with students through regularly scheduled meetings and seminars to assist them throughout the application process to secure admission to colleges and universities in the United States. The Advising Center expects a commitment of students to give back of their energy and time to the program and to their communities.
Students will work with our educational advising staff over this year and the next year to try to secure places and financial assistance to begin study in the US in August 2009.
To apply to the Center, you must be a highly-determined and hardworking student who will have completed the MSCE or write the "A" level examinations. To be eligible for consideration, you must have a strong academic record, and be active in co-curricular and community activities. Please complete this application form and return it together with the required documents to:
Personal Information:
Date:
Full Name:
Home address where you reside when you are not at school:
Contact telephone (s): Email address, if any:
Birthdate: Gender:
Mother’s current occupation and workplace (Be specific, even if self-employed):
Father’s current occupation and workplace (Be specific, even if self-employed):
If parents are deceased, state name, relationship, occupation and workplace of your guardian:
Number of siblings and their ages:
Number of dependent people currently living with and supported by your family and their relationships to you:
Amount of your secondary school fees (inclusive of boarding fees, if applicable) paid per term in 2007 (or the last year of your secondary schooling):
Who currently pays for your school fees? Are you on any bursary/scholarship? If so, how much does the bursary cover?
Academic and School Information:
MSCE or IGSCE or A level School Name and Mailing Address:
School Telephone Number: Headmaster/Headmistress’ Name:
Subjects you are taking. Please circle your strongest subject:
What exams are you taking at your school?
When did you write your exams?
List below all schools you have attended and which forms you did at each school:
School Location Forms Completed
1.
2.
List the extra-curricular clubs, sports and activities that you participate in at high school and in your community and/or church. Circle the one to which you devote the most time and energy.
Please describe which one of these activities has the most meaning for you and why.
Do you hold any leadership positions at school? Please list them here and in which forms you held these positions (ie class monitor, prefect, headgirl/boy, president of a club, captain of a team, etc.)
Financial Information:
What amounts of financial resources will you family be able to provide for your education:
Short answer questions:
Feel free to use the back of this sheet or additional paper if the space if insufficient.
What do you hope to study at university? What is your planned career and why? Feel free to mention more than one potential field of study and career path. US education offers many new opportunities, so think widely – beyond medicine, pharmacy, engineering, actuarial science, business and accounting.
Outside of your planned career path, name several things you would like to learn just for the pure joy of learning – what do you have a burning desire to know more about?
List all prizes, honors or awards you have received during secondary and high school.
What else should we know about your background, your family and financial condition? Feel free to use an extra sheet of paper if this space is too small.
Dream a little. What impact do you want to make on the future of Malawi? Assuming that you will return home after completing your studies in the USA, how will you contribute positively to your home community and country? Please use the other side of this form to write your answer.
You must attach:
1) A photocopy of your MSCE stamped by your current school or a copy of your O level and/or A Level results. If you do not have your MSCE certificate please write the scores.
2) 2 passport sized pictures
3) MK 2,000
4) A letter of recommendation attesting to your character, talent and skills by a teacher, headmaster, pastor or community leader who knows you well. Please do not include a basic testimonial that does not talk about you as an individual.
5) A copy of both your end-of-year report from your Form Three year and of your first term report from Form Four. If you have not received your MSCE scores, please submit a copy of your full Form Four Year. If taking A levels, a copy of your end of year report from Lower Sixth and a copy of your first term report from Upper Sixth.
6) Write two essays, one from Group A and one from Group B, each at least one page long. Please write/type your name on all pages.
Group A – Choose one only
Colleges and universities in the United States will want to get to know you as a person, both in and out of the classroom. Use this essay as an opportunity to let us get to know you, how you think and what’s important to you. As we want to get to know you and not look for the most dramatic tale, is essential that all experiences related in these essays are a true and accurate depiction of your life.
A1. Sociologists argue that individuals must be defined in the context of both their families and their communities, and anthropologists add that this is particularly so in the communal settings of Africa. How do you personally define community and family and to what extent do they have an impact of your growth and development? Write specifically about a positive impact you have you made in your family and in your community.
A2. Describe a situation where your opinion was unpopular and you were thus in the minority. How did you make yourself heard and how did you deal with the response to your decision or opinion? What can you learn from this experience to apply to your future? (Please tell a true experience from your own life.)
A3. Explain a risk that you have taken that has influenced your life greatly, either positively or negatively. What have you learned about yourself and about risk taking from this experience? What do you think is the value of taking risks?
Group B – Choose one only
No matter whether you have studied science, commercial or arts subjects at A level, if you attend college or university in the US, you will be exposed to and will take a wide variety of subjects from the humanities, social sciences, and pure sciences. With this liberal arts education in mind, please answer one of the following questions to demonstrate your intellectual strengths.
B1. Discontent often leads to action. Use evidence from your studies, your knowledge of current affairs and you experience to write a paper agreeing or disagreeing with this statement.
B2. If you were on a committee to give an award for an unsung hero who has positively changed the world, that is someone who society has not yet recognized for the valuable contribution they have made, who would you nominate and why? Include your definition of a hero when making your decision.
B3. What is the greatest scientific discovery so far in the history of humankind? Describe its positive and potentially negative impact to justify your choice. Now if you could make one scientific discovery in your life, what discovery would you want to make and why?
Educational Cultural Exchange
Advising Services
Education Advising Center Tests
Graduate Studies
Information Resource Center
