Hey all, I need some guidance on my answer for the Chevening scholarship. I want your opinion on the content of my essay and whether I'm answering what they want to know. I also want to come across as a strong candidate so pls help me out here. Thanks :)
3. Outline why you have selected your chosen three university courses, and explain how this relates to your previous academic or professional experience and your plans for the future.
*Please do not duplicate the information you have entered on the work experience and education section of this form
The Chevening program enriches its participants intellectually, socially and professionally by providing them an opportunity to learn the best international practices in UK's world renowned institutions. As a mid career public servant, I take great interest in the field of development studies as it is directly related to my job where I not only enjoy huge authority in terms of direct jurisdiction, but have also gained enough experience to realize the basic development issues faced by our country.
I have been diligent in my choice of program and settled upon the top ranking universities for International Development namely the London School of Economics, University of Sussex and the University of Manchester. I believe that an MSc in Development Studies will help fulfill my professional aspirations due to its interdisciplinary nature and range of development modules such as Foundations of International Development, Development Policy as well as Policy and Politics of developing countries. These modules will augment my understanding of the complex socioeconomic development issues and help me to contribute towards policy reform. In addition, the optional courses of Aid and Development and Policies for Sustainability and Development will broadly develop and improve my understanding of the contemporary issues affecting not only developing countries like Pakistan but also developed countries worldwide.
My rigorous academic and professional training at the Civil Services Academy has made me well versed in the subjects of Public Administration, Public Policy, Urban and Regional Planning, Local Government, Development Economics and Criminal and Civil Procedure Code. Moreover, while preparing for my CSS examination, I studied a broad range of subjects including Political Science, Constitutional Law, History of Subcontinent, General Knowledge and International Relations. An in depth study of these subjects along with a Masters in Economics gives me the right background to further delve into the field of International Development. Furthermore, my extensive work experience as a public servant and being directly responsible for the welfare of common citizens has underscored for me the importance of development studies for the prosperity of our future generations.
Presently, Pakistan is mired in challenges of poverty, under distribution of resources and a failing social sector. Moreover, we face an acute shortage of professionals who can steer the country out of its many conundrums. Civil servants are considered the agents of change in Pakistan and therefore, an MSc in Development Studies will help me develop a skill-set that I can effectively put to use in all of my future assignments. As an officer of the Federation, I have the advantage of serving in both Federal and Provincial governments. Moreover, my service cadre affords me a unique horizontal mobility where I can work in multiple development sectors including Health, Education, Urban Planning and Administration. My goal is to become proficient in the study of International Development so I can use my authority and discretionary powers in answering the development needs of the populace and at the same time help channelize the meager resources of the government in an efficient manner.
Hi Nazia, welcome to EF! :)
I believe that this essay has already well-written. You have successfully answered the prompt given above by elaborating your answer almost flawlessly. I do really like the way you link your ideas between sentences and paragraph. This makes the reader easily understand what is your main points or ideas.
In detail, this prompt is actually divided into three parts. First, "Outline why you have selected your chosen three university courses, second, explain how this relates to your previous academic or professional experience , and third your plans for the future.".
I assume that the first paragraph is the introduction, that is the place that you've used for outlining the overall progression of what might appear in the whole essay which is quite interesting to the reader. The second paragraph is the first answer. The third paragraph is the answer for the second prompt. Eventually, the last paragraph is related to the third part of the prompt, your future plans.
However, I can notice that there is still some rooms for improvements. As you can see, this program is a British Government program and therefore, I would like to suggest you to write by using British spelling, such as fulfill > fulfil, and meager > meagre. This is because I think that this would help to impress the reader/selection committee that you've actually understood an English language that is commonly used in the United Kingdom.
Hope this helps :)
