From Khujand to Singapore: How I Got Into UWC on a Full Scholarship
Zebo Furkatzoda told Kun.uz how she passed the selection process for UWC. My name is Zebo Furkatzoda. I am from Khujand, and I studied at a physics and mathematics lyceum. At the age of 16, I was admitted to UWC South East Asia in Singapore on a full scholarship worth 168,000 Singapore dollars ($131,150).
From Khujand to Singapore: How I Got into UWC on a Full Scholarship
The selection process lasted nine months. I submitted an application with about 15 essays and two recommendation letters, then passed online tests in logic, mathematics, and English, followed by a 90-minute interview with a 12-member committee in Dushanbe.
Grades were only the first stage of the selection process. At each stage, the committee was interested in what I had done on my own initiative: participating in a summer school and Model UN, mentoring, and co-creating a mobile app with a team.
UWC (United World Colleges) is a network of 18 schools and colleges across four continents. Teenagers from dozens of countries live on the same campus, study together, and participate in social and community projects.
During the final two years of study, students follow the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. It is based not so much on memorizing material, but on research work, critical thinking, and project activities.
You cannot apply directly to a specific school. First, you must go through the selection process via your country's national committee. In the application, you can indicate the schools you would like to study at, but the final decision on where to send the candidate is made by the committee.
UWC provides scholarships. Financial aid is assessed separately from the selection process, so admission and receiving funding are two different decisions.
What attracted me to UWC was one idea: grades are not the only thing that matters here. The committee is also interested in what kind of person you are, what you are interested in doing, what you start on your own initiative, and how you treat other people.
In addition to school documents, I wrote about 15 essays. I expected the usual questions: why do you want to study here, what are your strengths. But instead, some tasks required describing situations and dilemmas that I had never even thought about before.
I sat over some questions for a long time, not knowing what to answer. Later, I realized why they were needed. The committee wanted to see how I act when I do not have a ready-made answer.