A citizen of one of the countries listed below who holds or will hold a high school degree by August in the year of application, and meets all of the eligibility requirements, may apply for the OSI Scholarship and financial awards.
Participating Countries
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
OSI Application and Selection Process
General Timeline
| Completed paper applications |
End of third week of December. Due at local offices. |
| On-line individual applications |
January 1 |
| Institutional TOEFL testing. |
Fourth Saturday of January |
| Pre-selection based on the TOEFL results made by AUBG Admissions office. |
Early February |
| SAT tests ordered for all who pass the TOEFL successfully (550). |
Early February |
| SAT testing. |
Fourth Saturday of February |
| Financial aid documents received at AUBG Admissions office. |
April 1 |
| Selection process at AUBG. |
April |
Applications
Applications are available on the AUBG website for submitting on-line or downloaded. Applicants should be encouraged to submit an on-line application. If on-line service is unavailable, applications should be downloaded and printed by the applicant. Any applications submitted after April 1 will not be reviewed for the OSI Scholarship but will be reviewed for regular AUBG admission.
Supporting documentation to be included with the on-line or paper based application. The essay can be attached with the online application:
- Official high school transcript with GPA
- Certified English translation of transcript
- Three letters of recommendation, with translation if not written in English
- Completed Financial aid documentation – sent to AUBG Admissions office by April 1
- Students who have taken the official TOEFL and SAT Reasoning test should be advised to require ETS (www.ets.org/toefl ) and College Board (www.collegeboard.com) to send their official scores to AUBG. The AUBG Institution code for receiving official TOEFL and SAT scores is 2451.
- Students who have taken the official ACT should request that ACT (www.act.org/app) send directly to AUBG their scores
- Official IELTS or Cambridge ESOL Examinations, should be requested to be sent to AUBG by British Council in their country (www.britishcouncil.org) or ESOL (www.cambridgeesol.org).
- If a student is a gold or silver medalist or a valedictorian, he/she will be exempt from the SAT Reasoning test or ACT exam.
Scholarship Coordinators may use the checklist provided in Application Instructions to make sure all required items are enclosed before sending the paper applications with supporting documents to AUBG. Please, keep a copy of all application materials in case the applications are lost in shipping.
Financial Assistance
Any student interested in applying to AUBG should be encouraged to complete the application for financial assistance, as AUBG and OSI financial aid will be awarded based on merit and need. Many admitted students receive substantial AUBG and OSI funded financial assistance in the form of grants, loans, and work-study. Some of the students who are not selected as OSI Scholars may also be eligible for a merit scholarship, which is awarded by the AUBG Scholarship Committee. Students who do not submit the application for financial assistance and the supporting documentation along with their application for admission are not considered for any financial aid.
Testing
The AUBG Admissions Office strongly recommends that all applicants take the official TOEFL or IELTS or Cambridge ESOL test and SAT Reasoning or ACT exams offered in their country for admission purposes, and have their official test reports sent directly to the AUBG Admissions Office. The AUBG code for receiving official SAT and TOEFL test scores is 2451. For IELTS scores the students should contact the British Council in their country (www.britishcouncil.org); for Cambridge ESOL Examination scores – contact (www.cambridgeesol.org and for ACT – contact www.act.org/aap.
In cases when the applicants have not taken the tests already, or are not planning to take them by the end of January, the AUBG Program Coordinator will be responsible for administering the Institutional TOEFL (ITP) on the fourth Saturday of January and the Institutional SAT (MAPS - Multiple Assessment Programs) on the fourth Saturday of February. Instructions will be provided both by ETS and College Board for proper administration of the tests and material returned.
The Institutional TOEFL and SAT tests are acceptable only at AUBG and not at other institutions. If an applicant has taken a regular TOEFL or IELTS or Cambridge ESOL test and SAT or ACT test, official scores must be requested by the applicant to be sent directly to AUBG and received by the deadline. The AUBG Institution code for receiving official TOEFL and SAT scores is 2451.
Final Selection
The selection of finalists for the OSI full and partial financial awards takes place at AUBG in April by representatives of AUBG’s Admissions, Financial Aid and Scholarship Committees.
Assessment of applicants for admission is based on their academic records, on test scores, on ratings on the essay included in the application, on their general interests outside of academics, and on financial need. Previous study outside their home country does not increase the possibility of the candidates’ receiving an OSI Scholarship. The decisions of the Admissions, Financial Aid and Scholarship Committees are final.