General FAQ:
Q: What are the scholarship award categories?- 7th graders to 9th graders
- 10th graders to 12th graders
- Undergraduate College Students
Application Deadline: July 9th, 2023
Awards Announcement: September 1st, 2023
Awards Ceremony: Fall 2023 at the CIE/USA-Seattle Annual Gala Award Event (To be confirmed)
An applicant must meet the following three qualification criteria:
- An applicant must be enrolled in accredited public or private schools as a full-time student in the Washington State as of June 1st 2023 and continuously in the fall quarter/semester 2023.
- An applicant must come from a family with ethnic Asian Pacific background.
- An applicant must not be a scholarship winner in the immediate previous year and a winner in the same award category.
Q: Which award category should you apply for? (For example, if you have early admission to UW.)
Scholarship category is based on the grade of the incoming semester in fall 2023. All applicants shall continuously keep their full-time student status in the fall semester of 2023. For example, if you graduate from high school and you are going to attend UW in the fall this year, you’ll need to apply for the “Undergraduate College Students” category.
Q: How will applicants be judged for the award? What is the award percentage?
A panel of independent judges will be appointed by the CIE/USA-Seattle to evaluate applicants in each award category. Winner to applicant ratio differs each year based on the number of qualified applications received per category.
Q: What additional materials can I submit to increase my chance?
Additional test scores could be submitted during the online application period. Applicants should provide all your Volunteer and Achievement to demonstrate your qualification. Having someone who is familiar with the applicant’s achievements to write the recommendation letter is also valuable.
Q: Whom can I ask for a recommendation letter?
Applicants should request recommendation letters from teachers, employers, or professional organization members the applicant has worked with or volunteered for. No recommendation letter from relatives or family members will be accepted.
Q: How can recommendation letters be submitted?
Please download the Recommendation Letter Template and forward it to your recommendation letter provider. He/she must email the completed letter directly to ciescholarship@cie-sea.org by July 9th, 2023 (5pm PDT). Once CIE/USA-Seattle receives the reference letter, a confirmation email will be sent to the provider within 48 hrs and cc the applicant.
Q: What are the award selection criteria?
Applicants are graded based on:
| a. | Academic achievement | 30% |
| b | Volunteer and community services | 25% |
| c. | Extracurricular activities or accomplishments (recommendation letter) | 25% |
| d | Essay | 20% |
Q: When do I know if I am selected as a winner or not?
All applicants will be notified by September 1st, 2023 via the e-mail address provided during online application. Award winners will be invited to the CIE/USA-Seattle Award Gala Event to be held in Fall 2023. It is mandatory for award recipients to be present at the Gala Event to receive their award; absence will result in disqualification. The APA Scholarship Award Committee will work with the winners and their families to establish the specifics of the award process after award notifications.
Application Process FAQ:
Q: What do I do if I cannot finish the application in one time?
You do not need to complete this application all in one session. By clicking the “Save Answers and Resume Later” icon at the end of each page, you will be able to save your partially completed Form by capturing the unique Form URL. You may also choose to have this link emailed to you. By simply clicking or paste the unique Form URL into a browser, the Form will be reloaded with any fields that had already been filled in. If you make any changes to the Form, you will want to re-save and resend the Form URL to you.
Q: How can I change info if I make a mistake?
Applicant can SAVE their online application and return multiple times to enter data. If you are using a shared computer, you should close the browser and clear the history after SAVE so others sharing your computer cannot see nor edit your application. No change to data is allowed once the applicant clicks SUBMIT FORM.
Q: How can I upload / change my file attachment?
No change to the application is allowed once the applicant has submitted the online application. Applicant can change file attachment as frequently as s/he wants during the SAVE stage of the application process. Applicant can simply click “Browse” again and select the replacement file.
When using the “Save & Resume” function, files uploaded by the applicants will NOT be saved to the database until the application is submitted. Applicants should not upload files until they are ready to submit.
Q: What file type can I upload my transcript and test scores?
Please upload transcripts and test scores in .jpg, .PDF, or Word file formats during the online application process.
Q: What do I do if I only have a paper copy of my transcript and test scores?
Applicant is responsible for scanning supporting documents into .jpg or .PDF file formats.
Q: If I have a hard copy of a transcript or recommendation letter, where can I send the hard copy to?
No hard copy will be accepted. Applicant is responsible for scanning supporting documents into jpg or PDF file formats and upload during the online application process.
Q: How do I know if CIE has received my application?
Upon completion of the online application, a “Successful Submission” web page will be displayed. In addition, the system will send a confirmation email to the email address provided during application account set-up. Please check the email account provided during online application set-up for confirmation.
Q: How do I know if my recommendation letter has been received?
Once CIE receives the recommendation letter, a confirmation email will be sent to the reference provider within 48 hours and cc the applicant. Please check with your recommendation provider directly if you do not receive the confirmation email.