What is ScholarX and How to Apply?
From a ScholarX 2021 Mentee’s Point of View
In this article, I wish to share how I learned about the ScholarX Program and how you can apply to this program. As any applicant would do, one of the first things we do is to ask someone who was in ScholarX program about their experience. So let me share my experience so far on ScholarX, hoping that it would be of help to any future applicants.
What is ScholarX?
Founded by Sustainable Education Foundation, ScholarX is a 6-month program for Sri-Lankan undergraduates who would like to get free premium mentoring during their study period. (Sustainable Education Foundation Official Website)
Started in 2019, the first ScholarX program was held with 6 mentors from the world’s top universities and Fortune 500 companies, and 19 mentees of Sri Lankan origin. With immense success on their first program, then only a 3-month program, the mentees did a great job in letting their colleagues know about this valuable and interesting program that undergraduates get to take part in. That is when I also got to know about this program. You can check out an article written by one of the mentees in the ScholarX 2019 Program from here. You can read an article by SEF on the ScholarX 2019 Program from here.
From there, the ScholarX 2020 program was an even greater success with 18 mentors and over 50 mentees. From this year onwards, ScholarX program was increased to be a 6 months program which I feel is great from a mentees point of view, you get to spend more time with your mentor!
So before applying to ScholarX 2021, I also didn’t forget to get an insight into how the program is by a mentee in the ScholarX 2020 program as well. You can check out the article written by her from here.
Simply Saying, What Can You Get From ScholarX?
From my point of view, ScholarX is a place or a program where you can widen your horizons. To say it in more simple words, you get to:
- meet a mentor who has excelled in their own path
- meet new people from various disciplines (in my mentoring group, there are mentees from various backgrounds like Computer Science/IT related, Medicine and even Statistics related). As undergraduates, it is very rare that people from various disciplines would sit together to do something productive for our academics. But in ScholarX, everyone gets to learn from each other, which I see is a really great opportunity.
- get guidance from your mentor on a path you both decide on how to continue the mentoring program.
Who Can Apply?
According to ScholarX Official web page (for 2021), if you are above 18 years and currently following a full-time or part-time undergraduate or postgraduate course, and if you have not already been a ScholarX mentee before, you are eligible to apply.
** These conditions may/may not change. So better to refer to the latest info on their page.
Are You Interested in Applying Already? What You Should Do?
If you are interested in applying to this amazing program, then you would want to keep an eye out till SEF starts the application process for their next batch of ScholarX. Some helpful links would be;
- SEF Official Website: https://sefglobal.org/scholarx/
- SEF Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/sustainableeducationfoundation/
- SEF LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sefglobal/
The ScholarX Program has a schedule (calendar) that they publish. And I would recommend you keep an eye out for that from their official page and social media pages.
After they open applications, make sure to apply before the deadline.
Before You Apply…
- The first and the most important thing you should do before applying according to my opinion is that, you should think to yourself, what is/are the reason(s) for you to apply to this program.
Simply saying, think to yourself, why would you be needing mentoring/guidance for, what areas are you looking to be mentored on. In my opinion, having a clear idea on this would make things easy for you during the application process and would make it easy for the SEF team to partner you up with mentors.
- Before ScholarX opens the mentee application process, they announce the list of mentors who will be there in that particular year's program. So before applying, do your research on the mentors that will be participating in that particular year’s program and choose 2 or 3 mentors according to your choice.
SEF takes into account your choice at all times before they partner you up with a mentor. If they couldn’t partner you up with a mentor you’ve requested, then they would partner you up with another mentor who would match your requirements/visions.
As I heard, in the mentoring programs that were conducted up to now, the mentor and mentee(s) get to decide how they would continue their time together to get the maximum benefit out of the program. It is the same with my mentor too, Ms. Saranya Narayana, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Calgary, Canada. She was kind enough to listen to each of the mentees' stories allocated to her and cleared out the mentees’ reason(s) for applying to the program. Then she gave us a brief idea of her plan on conducting the mentoring program for mentees allocated to her.
You will be able to get guidance from the mentor depending on what you want to get, and what your mentor is capable of offering you within their busy time schedules. (A friendly advice to keep in mind, the mentors are not paid to be mentoring you, so do not expect them to put all their work aside and mentor you)
- Have your CV ready — you might need to upload your CV to the application form (I had to when I applied), so you might need your CV sorted out before you start filling the application form (and do not wait till the last day to fill the application form as I did 😉)
After You Apply
Be alert on the ScholarX calendar and always be on the alert with emails. Because the first communication that’ll be done from ScholarX will be via email.
If you were selected,
- they would inform you of the mentor you are paired up with, and ask you to confirm your spot in the program.
- they would inform you of the things you are expected to do during the 6 months of the ScholarX program.
My opinion is, it is essential you acknowledge this using their requested way of communication (either by replying to the email or filling a Google form, etc.) because as you might have already seen, the number of ScholarX applicants increase year by year, and if you do not wish to take part in the program due to any reason, your spot can be given to another deserving individual.
What SEF Looked into in ScholarX 2021 Applicants?
According to what the facilitators of ScholarX mentioned during the Inauguration Ceremony of ScholarX, they looked into the following criteria when selecting applicants for the 2021 Program.
- You were a current student
- A genuine curiosity to learn and innovate.
- Ambition to achieve their career goals and articulately express how the mentoring program will assist with achieving their overall academic and/or professional objectives.
- GPA and extracurricular activities
So with all this information, I hope you got a clear idea about what ScholarX is and how to apply to this program from this article.
Thanks for reading and hope you would get the chance to be a part of this amazing program in years to come!
