12 Things You Must Know To Win A Full Scholarship in Sweden

12 THINGS YOU MUST
KNOW TO WIN A FULL

SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN
- From a scholarship recipient’s perspective
Mobolaji Folorunso
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Disclaimer ........................................................................................................................................ 8
About The Scholarship .................................................................................................................... 9
Scholarship Benefits .................................................................................................................. 10
Eligibility..................................................................................................................................... 12
Leadership experience........................................................................................................... 13
Sector/Industry of Work experience .................................................................................... 13
Eligible programmes .............................................................................................................. 16
Eligible countries ................................................................................................................... 17
How the scholarship is organized ............................................................................................. 17
Getting Admitted into Swedish Universities ................................................................................ 21
Choosing the right programme/university ............................................................................... 22
Application Fee .......................................................................................................................... 35
List of Contact Details for Admission Offices of Some Universities in Sweden....................... 35
Submitting Applications on the Scholarship Website .................................................................. 37
Documents to submit/Templates ............................................................................................. 37
How I prepared my Letter of Motivation ................................................................................. 39
How I prepared my CV............................................................................................................... 44
Preparing the Letter of Reference ............................................................................................ 45
ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 1

Preparing the Proof of Work Experience/Leadership Experience ........................................... 47
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................... 49
About Me ....................................................................................................................................... 50

Introduction
Hi there. You have chosen to read this ebook because you intend to
pursue Master’s studies in Europe, and I must commend you for taking
what could be the most instrumental step to actualize your ambition.
There are many reasons people decide to pursue advanced studies,

especially outside their home countries. I am sure among other places
like North America and Australia, you’re also considering studying in
Europe, being reputable for its top-notch higher education systems.
You cannot ignore the allure of studying in Europe; the opportunity to

learn another language, experience a different culture and most
important of all, the high quality of education. But high quality means
expensive education. While tuition in some European countries is free,
others require you to pay for your education out of your pocket. Well,
nothing is free in this world. If you see anything tagged free, you may
not pay for it, but, surely, someone else is paying for it. So, education in

those countries that provide free tuition is usually state-funded; and
thanks to numerous scholarships, you can get your Master’s studies
funded in those countries that require you to pay for your tuition.
While some scholarships are partial, that is, you only pay a percentage
of the tuition fees, others are full scholarships that pay for 100% of your
tuition fees. All you need to pay for are your living expenses. Cool, right?
Well, there is another class of scholarships that not only pays 100% of
your tuition fees, but you also get paid monthly allowances to cover
your living expenses. This last class of scholarships is the one I got, the
Swedish Institute Study Scholarship for Master’s in Sweden.
But scholarships like these are, you guessed it right, very competitive. I
mean, there were 14680 applications for the Swedish Institute Study
Scholarship (SISS) when I applied (2017), and only 449 scholarships
were awarded, a 2.36% success rate. In 2018, there were 19,304
applications and only 223 scholarships were awarded, which represents
a 1.16% success rate. So, you see how intensely competitive this
scholarship is and it is quite apparent that those that were eventually

awarded the scholarship, intentionally prepared for it. You'd hardly find
an SISS recipient that'll tell you she/he didn't know how they got
awarded the scholarship.
Preparing for the scholarship just requires commitment from you. As at

December 2015, I knew little about the country Sweden, not to talk of
knowing about its universities or its Master’s application procedures.
But, by the time I was applying for Master’s studies in Sweden in
October 2016, I knew so much about the country and its Master’s
studies application procedures that I was so confident that I paid my
non-refundable application fee same day applications started.
Note that, to win this scholarship, you’ll be competing with a large pool
of qualified candidates just like you and the selection committee only
gets to choose the applicants that meet the objectives of the scholarship
most.
However, you don't have to be the valedictorian of your undergraduate

class to win it, all it takes is committed preparation and you have to

prepare to win from the beginning. No worries, that's the purpose of
this ebook. This ebook gives you a detailed description of how I
prepared to win the scholarship with the hope of guiding you in
submitting a solid application.
What are those 12 things you must know to win the Swedish
scholarship?
They are:
1. Leadership experience
2. Sector/Industry of Work experience
3. Eligible programmes
4. Eligible countries
5. How the scholarship is organized
6. Choosing the right programme/university
7. Application Fee

8. List of Contact Details for Admission Offices of Some
Universities in Sweden
9. Preparing Your Letter of Motivation
10. Preparing Your CV
11. Preparing the Letter of Reference
12. Preparing the Proof of Work Experience/Leadership
Experience
In the following pages, I’ll address every point above.

Disclaimer
• All information provided here, including the organization of the

application process is based on the last application round. This is
because information for the next application round may change.
• All information provided here is my personal opinion and based

on my personal experience, and this eBook is not an official
Swedish Institute document.
• Using this manual does NOT automatically make you a recipient of

the Swedish Institute Study Scholarship. It is only meant as a
guide, based on my experience of learning and teaching others to
be successful in their applications. This document is NO guarantee
of being awarded the scholarship, because it was created ONLY to
help you prepare a very strong application for the scholarship.

About The Scholarship
The Swedish Institute is an agency set up by the Swedish government to

promote interest in Sweden around the world, and they do this through
different programmes and initiatives, some of which are scholarships
for Master's, part PhD studies, and postdoctoral research in Sweden.
Within the scholarships for Master's studies, there are still different
scholarship programmes - the Swedish Institute Study Scholarship, the
Swedish-Turkish Scholarship Programme, and the Visby Programme.
You can get more information on this on the Swedish Institute website.
This ebook is about the Swedish Institute Scholarships for Global

Professionals (SISGP), which was formerly called, Swedish Institute
Study Scholarship (SISS) - a scholarship programme for Master’s studies
for citizens of developing countries.

Scholarship Benefits
The Swedish Institute Scholarships for Global Professionals are one of

the most prestigious scholarships out there for Master's studies in
Europe. I mean, there are only few scholarships out there that'll offer
travel grants from your home country, monthly allowances that
cover accommodation and living expenses, tuition fees paid directly
to your university, and comprehensive health insurance. Let me spell
out here the benefits the scholarship guarantees you as a recipient.
• Payment of your tuition fees to the school you're admitted to.

• Monthly allowances of SEK10000, that's approximately $1000
every month.
• One-time payment of travel grant of SEK15,000 (about $1570).
• Insurance against accident and illness by the Swedish State Group
Insurance and Personal Insurance.

• Membership of the SI Network for Future Global Leaders (NFGL)-
a network that offers exclusive opportunities for scholarship
recipients during their time in Sweden.
• Unlike other full scholarship programmes, you're not compelled
to return to your home country at the end of your programme.
You can choose to stay in Sweden to work, further your studies
through a PhD programme or even start a business.
As an international student, you can get a 6-month residence permit to

remain in Sweden at the end of your programme to look for work or
start a business.
However, you're more likely to get the scholarship if you intend to

return to your home country to contribute to the development of your
country/region. Actually, this is the purpose of the SISGP – to give
international students the opportunity to experience Swedish education
and culture and return home to help develop their homeland with the
skills they gained.

Eligibility
Hours of work experience
To apply for the SISGP, it is traditionally required to have some hours of

work experience from full-time/part-time employment, voluntary work,
paid/unpaid internship, and/or any other position of trust. This could
even be experience from running a business or freelance work. When I
applied, we were required to have at least 3000 hours of work
experience and it was the same for the last application round, the
number of hours of work experience required could change during your
application round but from previous years, work experience has been
required for one to be considered eligible for the scholarship. How do
you calculate the number of hours of work I’ve worked? Don’t worry,
the Swedish Institute will guide you on how to do that as they did for us.
Here, the SI explains how to do.

Leadership experience
Some level of leadership experience is also required to be considered

eligible for the scholarship. The Swedish Institute hopes that after their
time in Sweden, scholarship recipients should be able to contribute to
the development of their home countries/regions. And the best way for
the Institute to be certain this happens is to select applicants that have
had some level of responsibility and have led a group of people or
projects. This could be leadership experience in your place of work,
from leading student unions, or experience gained from organizing
events.
Sector/Industry of Work experience

When I applied, work experience from the following fields were given
priority:
• Agriculture and food security

• Conflict resolution, peace and security

• Democracy, human rights
• Education
• Engineering and technology
• Entrepreneurship management and/or leadership
• Environment and climate
• Equality/equal opportunities
• Health
• ICT and E-solutions
• Law
• Life Science
• Market development
• Sustainable development
• Trade and investment
In the 2018 application round, they stated that work experience from
fields related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
were given priority.

The Swedish Institute states that, “ideal candidates are ambitious young
professionals with academic qualifications, demonstrated work and
leadership experience, ambition to make a difference by working with
issues which contribute to a just and sustainable development in their
country in a long term perspective, and a clear idea of how a study
programme in Sweden would benefit their country.”
For the 2019 application round, SI also stated that “priority will be given
to applicants with a strong and relevant professional background and
demonstrated leadership experience.”
Check the SI website regularly for any updates on what criteria they will
be using to prioritize candidates for the next round.

Eligible programmes
Please, note that not all Masters programmes are eligible for the SISS.
When I applied, the Swedish Institute prioritized areas of study which
focused on: gender equality, sustainable development, democracy,
human rights or poverty reduction. Here is the link to the list of eligible
programmes for 2016 application round, here is the one for the 2017
application round and here is the link to the list of eligible Master’s
programmes for the 2018 application round, and here is the most
recent list of eligible Master’s programmes for the last application
round, 2019. A list of eligible programmes for your application round
will likely be published by the Swedish Institute in November, check
their website periodically for updates.
Ultimately, the Swedish Institute (SI) has the final say on what qualifies
you for your application round. The eligibility conditions I elaborated
above were based on previous application rounds.

Eligible countries
As at the last application round (February 2019), only candidates from

the following countries were eligible to apply for SISGP:
Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia,

Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras,
Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Morocco, Myanmar
(Burma), Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Sri
Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia,
Zimbabwe.
How the scholarship is organized

In the last application round for the SISGP, the application portal was
open from February 4 to February 14, 2019. The scholarship application
round usually starts a day after the deadline for Master’s applications.
The way the application process is organized may change in future
rounds. So, visit the Swedish Institute website frequently for updates.

NOTE: It is important for you to note that applications for Master’s in
Sweden and applications for the Swedish Institute Scholarships for
Global Professionals are entirely two different applications, meaning
TWO different organizations are responsible for them and subsequently,
different sets of requirements and application documents.
The timeline for the Master’s and scholarship applications is usually like
this:
Mid-October: Master’s applications start on the University Admissions

website
January 15: Deadline for selecting Master’s programmes on the website
February 1: Deadline for paying Master’s application fee and
submitting supporting documents
February 2-4: Applications start for Swedish Institute Study
Scholarship
February 10-14: Scholarship applications close

NOTE: The SISGP application does not require any application fee.
Application fee of SEK 900 is only required for Master’s applications.
The SISGP is only awarded for Master’s applications made in the
Autumn application round that usually starts in mid-October.
One very important requirement to be awarded the scholarship is for

you to get admitted into a Master's programme in Sweden in the first
selection round for the Autumn semester. There are usually two
selection rounds in the admission process. In the first selection round,
admission is granted based on candidates’ qualifications and ranking
among other applicants for the same programme – top-ranked
candidates are given admission places, while their lower-ranked
counterparts, who though qualified for the programme, will be placed in
reserves. In the second selection round, applicants who reject their
admission from the first selection round are replaced with applicants in
reserves. But SI requires that you must be admitted in the first
selection round for the Autumn semester to be considered for the
scholarship.

Apart from meeting the requirements of the programmes you apply for,
getting admitted also depends on a combination of other factors. In the
next chapter, I'll briefly show you how to increase your chances of
getting admitted into Swedish universities for Master's studies.

Getting Admitted into Swedish Universities
When I started searching for Master's programmes around the world in

late 2015, Sweden was not even in my plans. I mean, who wants to go
study in Sweden when you have options of the US, the UK, Canada,
Australia and Germany.
While searching for Master's programmes, I was also searching for full
scholarships, those that'll pay for tuition fees and living expenses.
Scholars4dev was my companion then, searching for full scholarships
that I knew I'd have a chance in. I didn't finish with a very top grade, just
good enough and most full scholarships usually attract the top-grade
students.
So, I stumbled on the Swedish Institute Study Scholarship, when it used

to be called that, and that led me to study more about Sweden, and then
about Master's programmes in Sweden. Little did I know that Sweden is
ranked as having one of the best 5 higher education systems in the

world according to the 2017 Universitas Ranking of National Higher
Education Systems; Sweden is the second-most innovative country in
the world; Swedes are one of the top 10 happiest people in the world;
and Master's programmes in Sweden are taught in English. I visited
studyinsweden.se and I was hooked. I mean, you try it. Visit the website
and tell me if you don't fall in love with it.
I'll advise you to visit the University Admissions in Sweden website,

universityadmissions.se and study it closely. There's a vast wealth of
information on the website about how to apply for Master's studies in
Sweden, the requirements and procedures.
Choosing the right programme/university

Sweden has a unified portal where all universities in Sweden can access
your application and make evaluations on it; you don’t send your
application documents to different universities, you send all of them to
the University Admissions in Sweden either by courier or online. Each

mode of sending documents has specific instructions, study them
carefully and follow them wherever they apply.
You have the option of choosing at most 4 different programmes in the

same university or different universities and arranging them in order of
priorities from 1 to 4. If you get admitted for the programme you choose
as your first priority, the other 3 will be deleted. However, if are not
admitted to your first choice programme, you’ll be considered for the
second choice and so on. Choosing the right programmes is very
important and the order of priority you place them matters a lot.
Let me give you a hot tip: information most applicants do not know
yet.
There's a website where you can get data on the number of admitted
students for each Master's programme in each university in previous
years. Let's say you want to know the number of students admitted into
the programmes you want to choose at University Admissions in past

years, there's a website for that. This will help you judge the popularity
of the programmes you choose and the admission rate for each
programme. Interested? Yeah.
This is it: http://statistik.uhr.se/. It's the University and College

Admissions Council statistics website.
Despite how much I prepared for my application, I didn't get to know

about this website until about a week before admission results were
released. So, knowing about this website during your application will
certainly do you a lot of good.
Let me show you how to use the data provided there. When you type the
website address in your browser, the page that opens is in Swedish, but
no worries, you can easily translate the page to English in Google
Chrome.

After translating the page, you’ll see four fields on the home page. Don't
bother about filling the "Free text" field. Since we're checking for
Masters programmes, in the "Choose the term" field, scroll down and
you'll see codes starting with "MASTERHT17". "HT" is an abbreviation
for "Höst Termin" which means autumn semester, while 17 stands for
the year of admission. So, "MASTERHT17" stands for Master's
programmes that started in autumn semester of 2017.

The next one, "MASTERHT16" in the same vein, stands for Master's
programmes that started in autumn semester of 2016. If you scroll
down, after the "MASTERHT10" code, you'll see the code,
"MASTERVT18". "VT" is an abbreviation for "Vår Termin" which
means spring semester. So, "MASTERVT18" stands for Masters
programmes starting in spring semester of 2018. But, since information
we're concerned with is for autumn semesters, you can choose any of
the "MASTERHT--" codes for any of the years you want to check data
for.
In the field "University/College", you'll see a list of universities in

Sweden, choose the one you're interested in. And in the field,
"Program", you have 3 options. Choose the "Just Programs" choice.
Then, click "Search".

The page that opens gives you a list of programs at the university you
chose, the total number of applicants, and the number of applicants that
selected each program as their first choice (labelled as “first hand
seeker”). To see the number of students admitted in the first selection
round for each programme, click the "Selection 1" red tab and you'll
see the data.

You'll also see data on the number of reserves from the first round. As I
explained earlier, in the second selection round, applicants who reject
their admission from the first selection round are replaced with
applicants in reserves. A programme with a relatively high number of
reserves is very competitive, while the ones with "0" reserves most
likely mean all qualified candidates that applied for that programme
were admitted. Don't bother about the "admission points" column,

you'll get to know more about that in the later part of the application
period.
So, you now have an idea of how competitive your programme is.
If you finished undergraduate studies with a not-so-good grade, I'll

advise you to choose programmes that are not so popular in not-so-
popular universities.
Universities like Uppsala, Chalmers, KTH, Lund, Stockholm University,

University of Gothenburg, Karolinska Institute are very popular, so
competition for places in their Master's programmes are really intense.
If you're certain of getting admitted into these universities with your
grades and qualifications, then go for them. Otherwise, I’ll advise you to
select the less popular universities.
As I said before, not all Master’s programmes are eligible for the SISGP.
A list of eligible programmes is usually published by the Swedish
Institute in November. So, you may have a question here. If applications
for Master's open in October, and you don't know which programmes to

apply for until the Swedish Institute publishes the list of eligible
programmes until November, won't it be too late to get the required
documents ready? Well, I don't think it'll be too late. It's just a 1-month
difference.
However, you can start Master's applications in October and if the

programmes you choose are not in the list of eligible programmes
published in November, you can always replace them.
You can as well check lists of eligible programmes published for

previous years to have an idea of which programmes will most likely be
on the next list. Here is the link to the list of eligible programmes for
2016 application round, here is the one for the 2017 application round
and here is the link to the list of eligible Master’s programmes for the
2018 application round, and here is the most recent list of eligible
Master’s programmes for the last application round, 2019. You can
always make changes to your Master’s application on the University
Admissions website until the deadline in January.

Please, note that all these dates are based on previous years, these dates
may change for subsequent applications.
I want to say that it is very important for you to thoroughly go through

the information provided on the University Admissions website and the
Swedish Institute website. If you're serious about getting the
scholarship, I expect that you should even have gone through EVERY
PAGE on the two websites before applying.
Required Documents for Admission
The documents needed for Master's admissions include:
1. Bachelor's Degree Certificates and Diplomas
This is very important. There are special instructions for each country in
the world regarding how to send your Bachelor's certificates and
diplomas. Check the one that applies to the country where you studied
in so you won't miss on the admission.

2. Transcripts
Same thing applies here. You'll need transcripts of your results from the
university you studied in. There are also special instructions on how
you should submit them depending on the country where you studied.
Please, study them.
3. Official English language test results
Since the Master's programmes in Sweden are taught in English, you

need a proof of your English language skills. You can do that in 3 ways:
a) High school studies
b) University studies: If you studied in some countries, you don't need

any other proof of English skills, your transcripts and certificate will be
enough. Find out here if your country is among them.

c) If you still don't meet the English language requirement with the first
two means I mentioned, then you'll need to write an official English test.
Find out here which English tests are acceptable.
4. Proof that you meet the specific entry requirements
For this, you have to visit the website of the universities you're
interested in to find out what their specific requirements are for the
Master's programmes you're interested in. Some require that you
should have taken some specific courses in your undergraduate studies.
Some also require motivation letters, reference letters, CVs, portfolios,
undergraduate programme syllabus that lists the courses you took, their
titles and their descriptions, etc. Note that these specific requirements
mentioned here are not generic for every university. You need to visit
the university's website to know what they want from you for that
specific programme. Note also that if you don't meet these specific
requirements, you'll not be accepted into that programme.

5. International Passport
You'll need to upload a clear scanned copy of the page of your

international passport with your personal data and photograph.
Submit all required documents that apply to you and the country you
studied in, I mean ALL. Visit the websites of the
universities/programmes you're applying to and study carefully the
documents required for application to that programme. Transcripts,
International Passports, CVs, Letters of Motivation, Reference letters,
Certificates of English Proficiency (if it applies to you).
Get these documents ready before application for Master's programmes

open. Please note, as I earlier mentioned, the SISGP is only awarded
for Master's programmes starting in Autumn. And applications for
admission into programmes starting in Autumn usually start in October.
So, get all your documents ready before October. If you need to inform
your home university to send your transcripts to University Admissions,
it'll be advisable you do that as soon as applications start.

Application Fee
Pay the application fee (usually 900 SEK) before the deadline. This is
very important. VERY IMPORTANT. I paid my application fee the very
day applications for Master's opened. I didn't want to take any chances.
I will reiterate that you study the content of the University Admissions
website inside out. Go through the instructions, especially special
instructions for your country.
List of Contact Details for Admission Offices of Some Universities in

Sweden
In your research for the specific requirements for some Master’s

programmes in Sweden, you might need to contact the admission
officers at some universities to clarify anything that may not be clear
regarding any information on their website. When I was applying, there
were times I contacted admission officers at some universities in
Sweden to clarify some issues I had regarding how to qualify for their

Master’s programmes and they were very responsive and helpful. Find
the contact details and websites for all universities in Sweden here.
Ask the admission officers as many questions as you want, they’re there
to serve you.

Submitting Applications on the Scholarship Website
In this section, I’ll be guiding you through how to fill the required
documents for the scholarship application and how to submit them on
the online scholarship application portal. A workbook on how to fill the
motivation letter for the scholarship accompanies this manual which
will be very useful for you when you want to make your applications.
Documents to submit/Templates
The following documents are usually required for the scholarship

application: CV, Motivational Letter, Reference Letter, Proof-of-
Work/Leadership Experience and International Passport. You don’t
have to worry about how these documents should look like because
before every application starts, the Swedish Institute usually provides
templates of how these documents should be filled. So, you can’t use
templates for previous application rounds for the next application, but

over the years, they’ve had similar structures, which means you can
practice your essays with previous templates.
The Swedish Institute was quite strict with how the documents should
appear, be filled and submitted, so, I'll say it again for the umpteenth
time, follow given instructions strictly. To submit a strong application,
I’ll advise that you familiarize yourself with what the Swedish Institute
wants in a prospective SI scholarship holder; you'll find this on the
“Who we are looking for” section of the SISGP page here.
All the documents you're putting forward; CV, reference letter,

motivation letter, proof of work experience and proof of leadership
experience should paint a picture of an ideal SI scholarship holder in the
mind of the Swedish Institute examiners. I completed all my documents
in a way that painted a picture of me as entrepreneurial, experienced
with renewable energy, leader, volunteer, self-starter, based on my
education, experiences and achievements because this is a picture of an
ideal SI scholarship recipient.

Now, let's go into details on how I prepared my documents for the
scholarship application. As much as I would’ve loved to share with you
the full contents of the documents I submitted for the scholarship, the
Swedish Institute expressly frowns against it.
How I prepared my Letter of Motivation
As I’ve mentioned earlier, a workbook on how to craft a winning

motivation letter accompanies this manual. This workbook will guide
you step by step on how to write a motivation letter that will place you
among the top candidates for the scholarship. You will find a copy of the
Letter of Motivation template the Swedish Institute provided for the
2017 application round here and for the 2018 application round here.
For the 2019 one, you’ll find it here.
Please note that the content of the template may change for your
application round. I’m using the template in this eBook for reference
purposes only. The 2017 template was provided in a Word format but

we were required to convert it to PDF and submit. Interestingly, the
2018 template was given in PDF, so that candidates then wouldn’t have
to go through the trouble of converting from Word to PDF before
submitting.
So, let’s go through each section of the template and how I filled mine in
the 2017 template.
NOTE: Please note that the templates for the next application may be
different from the previous ones. However, as you can see from the
previous 3, the wording of the questions may be different, but, at the
end of the day, they’re essentially asking for the same information.
As shown, the first section of the 2017 document mainly required filling
in your personal details like first-name, last-name (fill these as they
appear in your passport), date of birth (ensure you always use the date
format requested for), citizenship, country of residence, current status
(studying or working), current university or workplace and application
number at universityadmissions.se. There was also a Yes/No question

about whether we enclosed a copy of our passport in the CV we were
submitting. The Swedish Institute actually requested that we should
enclose a copy of our passport in the CV we were submitting as I will
explain in detail later.
There was also a question about active involvement in any

project/organization/network aiming to influence development in our
home countries; the name and the website of the
project/organization/network were also requested. An ideal candidate
for the scholarship is one who is actively involved in initiatives that are
geared towards the development of the candidate’s home
country/region. The company I was working for during that period was
massively deploying renewable power solutions across the country and
I was involved in the project in some way. I filled in the name of the
project and the page on the company’s website describing the project.
The next section required us to fill in details about our Master’s

programmes; their priorities as selected on our applications at

University Admissions website, the programme’s application code and
the name of the Master’s programme.
In the next section of the document were questions requiring short

essays with character limits, not word limits. We were expected to
answer questions about our goals, ambitions and motivations. Even
before the Swedish Institute published the templates we were to use for
our documents, I was already working with templates released for past
application rounds, formulating my responses to questions asked in
those templates, making drafts of how my essays would look like.
The questions asked in previous application rounds were different from

what we were asked, but they were of the same form - questions about
past experiences and future ambition. So, I’ll advise you to start working
with past templates released by the Swedish Institute, this will help you
get prepared when the Swedish Institute eventually publishes the
templates for you to use for your documents. Here, you’ll find a copy of
the motivation letter template for the application round before mine
(2016/2017).

I’ll advise that you go straight to the point in your essay and be concise
in your responses. I included facts and figures by reputable
organizations to explain some of my points. I will advise that you
employ as much figures as possible in your essays.
For example, in my response to the question about examples that

demonstrated my ability as an experienced leader, I included facts about
the number of people in my team, the exact dates of projects and events
we organized. Give as many examples as the character limits allow.
Additionally, in my response to the question about examples of my
networking skills, I included a link to a webpage that buttressed the
point I had raised.
For the question on how I planned to develop my leadership skills in

Sweden, I described how I wanted to be actively involved with the
Swedish Institute Network For Future Global Leaders (SI NFGL).

How I prepared my CV
The Swedish Institute required us to use the Europass CV template to

fill our CVs to a maximum of 3 pages and attach a copy of our
international passport as the fourth page. This was also the case for
applicants in the last application round (2018). Here is a link to a
sample of what the Europass CV template looks like. But for the 2019
application, the Swedish Institute designed a CV template to be used by
applicants. You find it here.
A very important thing to note is that, you should ALWAYS use the
document templates the Swedish Institute provides. You can delete any
section in the CV template that does not apply to you.
I’ll advise that you prepare your CV in a way that portrays you as an
ideal SI scholarship recipient with respect to your experiences and
achievements. Use lots of facts and figures in proving your points. One
very important advice for you is, do not talk about the same experiences
in your CV and your Letter of Motivation. If you give an example of an

experience in your Letter of Motivation, do not repeat it in your CV. If
you do that, you’ll come across as one with just very few experiences
and that doesn’t fit well with the SI’s idea of an ideal applicant. You need
to create the impression that you are an accomplished leader, someone
they can trust to lead life-changing projects in her/his country after
their studies.
Preparing the Letter of Reference
Here is a link to a copy of the reference letter template the Swedish

Institute provided for us in 2017 and here is a link to the copy of
reference letter for the last application round (2018). Here, you’ll find
the 2019 template. The letter of reference is meant to be completed by
someone you’ve worked with before in any professional capacity, either
while volunteering or on a paid job.
At the beginning of the document, the Swedish Institute gave express

instructions on how the document was to be completed. When I applied

in 2017, the Swedish Institute asked for only one reference letter, but in
the 2018 and the last application round (2019), they requested for 2
reference letters. During your application round, I believe the SI will
also provide instructions on how the letter of reference is to be
completed. The instructions may be different for the next application
round. Just make sure you stay updated and if you follow the
instructions religiously, I believe you will not experience any problems.
I asked one of my managers at my job then, to help complete the letter
of reference. You can advise your referee about your qualities that they
need to emphasize in the document, qualities that are in line with the
SI’s view of an ideal candidate.
The Swedish Institute also required that the document should be signed
and stamped with the organization’s official stamp. I scanned and saved
the document as a PDF file before submitting it to SI. Study the
instructions to know if this requirement will also apply during your
application round.

Preparing the Proof of Work Experience/Leadership Experience
Here is a link to a copy of the Proof of Work and Leadership Experience

template the SI provided for us to use in 2017. This is the 2018 one, and
2019 one. The proof of Work Experience/Leadership Experience is like
the reference letter, except that it can be filled by as many people as the
Swedish Institute stipulates.
It’s just a document to be filled by people that know you professionally

and can comment on the number of hours you’ve worked and the
number of hours you were in a leadership capacity. I believe the SI will
provide instructions on how the document is to be filled as they did for
us. Follow the instructions strictly and your document will have no
issues. When I was filling mine, I read the instructions a lot of times to
fully grasp what the SI required from us, and I went on to complete the
document afterwards.
I also scanned this document and saved it as a PDF file before

submitting it for my application.

Kindly find below links to templates of documents for the previous 5
application rounds of the scholarship:
2016 Application document templates

Conclusion
I was in regular contact with about 9 SISGP holders during the
application period, asking for guidance from them, seeking their
opinions on elements of my application. This manual gives you the same
experience of drawing from the insights of an SI scholarship holder.
At the end of the day, it all depends on how much you want it.

About Me
I was a Swedish Institute Study Scholarship recipient from Nigeria and
recently finished my studies in the Industrial Engineering and
Management Master’s programme at Linköping University, Linköping,
Sweden.

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12 Things You Must Know To Win A Full Scholarship in Sweden

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12 THINGS YOU MUST

KNOW TO WIN A FULL

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 1

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 2

There are many reasons people decide to pursue advanced studies,

You cannot ignore the allure of studying in Europe; the opportunity to

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 3

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 4

Preparing for the scholarship just requires commitment from you. As at

However, you don't have to be the valedictorian of your undergraduate

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 5

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 6

In the following pages, I’ll address every point above.

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 7

• All information provided here, including the organization of the

• All information provided here is my personal opinion and based

• Using this manual does NOT automatically make you a recipient of

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 8

The Swedish Institute is an agency set up by the Swedish government to

This ebook is about the Swedish Institute Scholarships for Global

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 9

The Swedish Institute Scholarships for Global Professionals are one of

• Payment of your tuition fees to the school you're admitted to.

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 10

As an international student, you can get a 6-month residence permit to

However, you're more likely to get the scholarship if you intend to

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 11

To apply for the SISGP, it is traditionally required to have some hours of

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 12

Some level of leadership experience is also required to be considered

Sector/Industry of Work experience

• Agriculture and food security

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 13

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 14

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 15

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 16

As at the last application round (February 2019), only candidates from

Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia,

How the scholarship is organized

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 17

Mid-October: Master’s applications start on the University Admissions

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 18

One very important requirement to be awarded the scholarship is for

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 19

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 20

When I started searching for Master's programmes around the world in

So, I stumbled on the Swedish Institute Study Scholarship, when it used

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 21

I'll advise you to visit the University Admissions in Sweden website,

Choosing the right programme/university

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 22

You have the option of choosing at most 4 different programmes in the

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 23

This is it: http://statistik.uhr.se/. It's the University and College

Despite how much I prepared for my application, I didn't get to know

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 24

ULTIMATE MANUAL ON HOW TO WIN A FULL MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIP IN SWEDEN 25