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Application Requirements for the Maldives Universities

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(Bachelor's, Master's & PhD)

To apply for enrollment, it is best to contact the university and ask about the program that you are interested in and the specifics of the application process. Typically, however, you will need to provide the following documents:

  • a filled university application form
  • copies or original of your last degree
  • academic transcript
  • passport and passport-sized photos
  • certificate of English language proficiency
  • reference letter and CV (if applicable)

For admission consideration, students from the Maldivian education system who have completed their A-levels must have passed two A-level subjects and five General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) subjects (including English and maths).

Applicants who have completed only the GCSEs must have passed English, math, and three additional academic subjects with a combined minimum average of B.

The purpose of an application fee receipt, photos, and ID copies is pretty obvious. The university needs to be able to recognize you and accept your application.

However, other common requirements may determine if you will get accepted or not to the degree you are applying to. That is because there are a lot of elements that can influence the decision of the universities, which don't appear in the list of admission requirements.

To help you get into an Undergraduate or Master's admission commission's mind, we are going to take each important document and give you some insight into what universities expect when they require it.

In your Master's application to a university abroad you will be asked to add certified copies of your previous graduation diplomas, translated into English. While most Master's applications only require a Bachelor's diploma, some programs will also ask for a high school graduation diploma.

Universities need these documents to have proof that you attended and graduated from previous cycles of education to qualify for a graduate program. However, these diplomas usually include data about the educational institution you attended, your Grade Point Average (GPA), final grades, or Bachelor's thesis.

The university admission board will take into account the reputation of the university where you graduated from, but also what your GPA and final exam marks say about you.

If you have a good final exam/thesis grade, they will know you have taken your studies seriously and you are capable of academic excellence. But don't worry, if you do not have high grades, you will not be disqualified. There are many other ways in which you can win over the commission: volunteering activities, a strong motivation, and good references also count a lot.

Academic Transcripts from your Bachelor's studies

Academic transcripts give the university full details about the courses and modules you studied at the undergraduate level and the grades you received. Universities expect these transcripts to be official copies and not screenshots or printed pages.

Academic transcripts are important because seeing what courses you took can help universities decide if you have the necessary background and skills for the Master's you are applying to.

At the same time, they can see at which subjects you performed better and which subjects are "weak spots" you need to improve on. That is why you must have bigger grades at the undergraduate courses that are most relevant for the Master's program you chose.

Let's take an example. Say you graduated from a Bachelors' in Communication Skills and you want to study a Masters' in Global Media.

The application commission will be more interested if you followed any Global Media courses such as International Media or rather than on courses like Public Relations.

So, if you have lower course grades at the latter, it will probably not impact your application as much as lower grades in International policy-related courses.

Proof of language proficiency

When applying to a degree abroad, chances are that you will study in English or another popular foreign language (German, French, etc.). For this reason, universities need to know that language will not be a barrier in your studies; that you can understand and use that language at an academic level.

For English-taught Master's universities will typically require official language certificates such as TOEFL, IELTS, C1 Advanced. When they demand a specific score, it means they expect you to have that score. The higher the score, the more they will be convinced that you master English skills.

There is also the case when universities will not demand a language certificate as long as your Bachelor's was English-taught. In this case, they will pay attention to any English-language courses found in your transcript of records, such as "Academic English".

Motivation letter or Statement of Purpose

Many students are confused about the requirement of including a statement of purpose, or motivation letter in their application.

A motivation letter and a statement of purpose are very similar, but they are not the same thing. However, both documents should be focused on your background and reasons for applying for a particular degree.

Typically, they should be structured and well-written, but not very long (don't tell the university your life story). Try to limit it to 1-2 pages. Here is what most universities expect you to include in a motivation letter/statement of purpose:

  • Why you want to undertake that specific program at their university, and how you have learned about the program.
  • What interests you about the program's content, and what makes it the best study option for you.
  • What particular factor convinced you to pick that program (reputation, professors, employment options, etc.)
  • How your previous studies match the Master's you want to pursue. If they don't match you should argue why you want to change subject areas.
  • What career you are aiming for after graduation and how this degree fits your plan.

While a statement of purpose and a motivation letter is similar there's a subtle difference between them. With a motivation letter, universities expect you to focus more on how their program relates to your background and your professional plans. They might also want you to state which is the course or specialization you want to focus on during your Master's.

With a statement of purpose, universities expect you to talk about who you are, what has influenced and inspired your academic and professional journey so far, your interests, and your professional goals. In other words, it is a much more personal document and your chance to shine in your application.

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RocApply helps students apply to any university. If you have questions about the application process or the university itself please do not hesitate to contact us any anytime at [email protected] or through our phone, Whatsapp or Viber: +49 151 12975441 

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