Applying for graduate study at a New Zealand University

Before you apply for the NZAS scholarship, you must secure an UNCONDITIONAL OFFER from a New Zealand university first. I mentioned the participating universities in my previous post.

I applied at the University of Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington, and got accepted to both, but chose to study with the former.

In this post, I will discuss the application process at the University of Auckland.

The first thing to do is visit the university's on-line application page. Everything is there. 

Choose your degree. 

Choose your course. 

Then fill up the on-line application form, press the send button and wait for the International Office's response. It's very simple.

The next step is to prepare your supporting documents. They are:

• Standard passport photograph
• Verified copy of passport
• Certified copy of official academic transcript
• Certified evidence of diploma

You will actually be asked to upload a scanned copy of these documents during your on-line application, but you will have to send the hard copies as well.

Do NOT send the hard copies though, until you get a go signal from the International Office. I sent mine via DHL and it cost me about PhP1,500.00.

After you send your supporting documents, you wait. The waiting period varies from university to university. Some, like Massey University, respond within 2 weeks. For the University of Auckland, my unconditional offer was emailed to me after more than a month.

You have to apply as early as possible, so that you can get the unconditional offer. Only when you have that offer from the university can you submit your application for the scholarship.

PS: Strangely, unlike colleges in the US or Europe, both the University of Auckland AND Victoria University of Wellington did NOT ask for referee (or recommendation) letters. I assume it's the same for other universities in New Zealand. I guess the Kiwis focus more on an applicant's academic credentials than his references.