Yogyakarta, September 21st 2020—Career Development Center (CDC) Fisipol created a webinar titled “Scholarship Sharing: Get Your Higher Studies Experience in Norway” with Ayudhira Pradati, an awardee of the Norway Quota Scheme Scholarship who is also the head of Indonesia Student Committee in Oslo. In this webinar, she shared her experience through the Zoom platform.
Ayudhira Pradati — better known as Dhira — started the sharing session by talking about the charm of Norway as a place to pursue higher studies. “In Norway, there are a lot of interesting and varying departments and classes. The local culture here, shown through art, tradition, music, and food, is also marvelous. It’s a shame that not many people know about the scholarship offered here when in reality the scholarship offers so many things to the student,” Dhira said.
“The university in Norway has a free tuition fee, but we only need to pay the administration fee for 1 million rupiah per semester for facilities like printers, copy machines, student cart, etc. But, the living fee is also pretty expensive so that’s where a scholarship will come in handy,” Dhira said.
Dhira then elaborates how fun the studying environment is in Norway. “When it comes to mental health, the students here will get everything they need. In the Oslo University, there’s a policy where if the test is seen as difficult by the student, the student can raise their hand and say that they’re having a difficulty. Then two to three days later, the university student can retake the exam. They have three chances to do this,” Dhira said.
Universities in Norway that have become students’ favorites are the University of Oslo, University of Bergen, University of Agder, University of Tromsø, and NTNU.
“For political science students, the popular universities are Oslo and Agder. Meanwhile, NTNU is mostly occupied by science students studying oil and fishery,” Dhira is currently taking a master study in the Department of Culture, Environmental, and Sustainability in the University of Oslo.
The administrative requirements that are needed to apply for a scholarship to Norway are pretty much the same with the requirement for a scholarship to other countries. You will need an IELTS score above 6.5, a GPA above 3.00, a motivation letter, Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a research proposal.
“In preparing for those needs, the Oslo Indonesian Student Committee will also help in terms of IELTS. When it comes to writing motivation letters, what matters is that we are honest, don’t be afraid to ask seniors if you need some help,” Dhira said.
Next, Dhira talked about her life when being a student in Norway. “Students that come from tropical countries will be depressed for a while because there is no sun here. The winter coldness will reach -20°C. The Ramadan fasting will last for 18 hours, we end our fasting at 11 pm and at 2 pm we start fasting again.
The scholarship sharing that was held for one and a half hours is then closed with a question and answer session with the 20 people that attended the show. The information about scholarships in Norway can be accessed through the http://studyinnorway.no/ web, or through the LPDP site www.lpdp.kemenkeu.go.id.