Pedir una beca

[irmamar]

How would you say "pedir una beca" in English?

Thanks

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

How would you say "pedir una beca" in English?

Thanks

Apply for a grant.

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Apply for a grant.

So, you wouldn't say ask for.

And "scholarship"? Is there any difference with grant?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

So, you wouldn't say ask for.

And "scholarship"? Is there any difference with grant?

Yes there is: grant = ayuda económica, scholarship = que se otorga por méritos

(At university, I was awarded both a grant and a scholarship. In the UK, a scholarship is usually something honorary, but the grant is the money you need to live). I think in the USA ths is all different.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

So, you wouldn't say ask for.

No, not normally. Apply is the verb.

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Yes there is: grant = ayuda económica, scholarship = que se otorga por méritos

(At university, I was awarded both a grant and a scholarship. In the UK, a scholarship is usually something honorary, but the grant is the money you need to live). I think in the USA ths is all different.

I meant the money, but my teacher said a "scholarship" (BrE)

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

During my days in the university, I always heard "scholarship"... although I never asked an English-native-speaker whether that was the right word.

[irmamar]

Pjt, what do you think?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

I meant the money, but my teacher said a "scholarship" (BrE)

A brief history of the UK:

Universities in the UK used to offer a place to study, and then the potential student had to find finance. This finance was a scholarship, either from the State (very unusual, only for exceptional candidates) or from the town of residence.

Around 1955 they recognised this was silly, so that the rule changed so that when a candidate was offered a place at a university, he/she automatically got a grant from the town. So when it was automatic, it became a grant, not a scholarship. But you still had to apply for it. Universites of Oxford and Cambridge continued to offer scholarships in addition to a grant.

So really, there is an overlap between grant and scholarship, depending on what the teacher meant, and maybe the two terms have changed meanings recently anyway. (Recent = last 30 years )

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by Perikles

A brief history of the UK:

Universities in the UK used to offer a place to study, and then the potential student had to find finance. This finance was a scholarship, either from the State (very unusual, only for exceptional candidates) or from the town of residence.

Around 1955 they recognised this was silly, so that the rule changed so that when a candidate was offered a place at a university, he/she automatically got a grant from the town. So when it was automatic, it became a grant, not a scholarship. But you still had to apply for it. Universites of Oxford and Cambridge continued to offer scholarships in addition to a grant.

So really, there is an overlap between grant and scholarship, depending on what the teacher meant, and maybe the two terms have changed meanings recently anyway. (Recent = last 30 years )

Thanks for your explanation, it's very interesting

Here The State (Ministry of Education) gives the grant/scholarship. One has to apply for it, too.

[pjt33]

Originally Posted by irmamar

I meant the money, but my teacher said a "scholarship" (BrE)

Pues los profesores no tienen siempre la razón.

Estoy de acuerdo con Perikles de que un "scholarship" se otorga por méritos. Si lo que importa son tus notas anteriores, o que te predigan notas sobresalientes, es un "scholarship"; si lo otorgan automáticamente a quienquiera lo pida, o si es para apoyar un estudio (normalmente de posgraduado) porque creen que el estudio lo vale, es un "grant"; pero en ese caso muchas veces se dice "to get/obtain funding". Si es un fondo para los estudiantes (escolares o de su primer título universitario) que necesitan ayuda para poder seguir estudiando es un "bursary".

Ejemplos:

I applied to an independent school, and because I did well in the entrance examination I won a two-thirds scholarship. My parents were poor, and they wouldn't have been able to pay even one third of the fees, but luckily I was able to get a bursary to cover the remaining third. When I went to university I had to get a student loan: in my parents' generation all university students got a grant from the government to pay for food and lodging, but the proportion of school leavers going on to university has gone up and the government dropped grants in the 90s. I again did well in the exams and won a scholarship of £300 per year. When I went on to do a Ph.D. I applied for funding from the Research Council, and I also worked on a project which was part-funded by EU grants.

Originally Posted by irmamar

Pjt, what do you think?

I'd already started, but as you see it was a long post.

Originally Posted by Perikles

Universites of Oxford and Cambridge continued to offer scholarships in addition to a grant.

Not to mention something called an exhibition. Pretend I didn't just mention it...

Oxbridge scholarships are more complicated: they grant a status (you become a "scholar" rather than a vanilla undergrad) which conveys various privileges, which vary from college to college. They may include being able to walk on (designated parts of) the grass, getting first preference when selecting rooms in halls, getting free meals, wearing Geneva bands with your gown, being invited to parties with the Master, etc. as well as straightforward financial benefit.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by pjt33

Oxbridge scholarships are more complicated: they grant a status (you become a "scholar" rather than a vanilla undergrad) which conveys various privileges, which vary from college to college. They may include being able to walk on (designated parts of) the grass, getting first preference when selecting rooms in halls, getting free meals, wearing Geneva bands with your gown, being invited to parties with the Master, etc. as well as straightforward financial benefit.

You also get the dubious priviledge of wearing a choirboy gown in chapel which makes you look like a penguin.

[hermit]

In North American academic usage, one generally applies for a "grant"
to fund research or other study. (Not to confuse - one can also apply
for a "research scholarship" to cover tuition or other academic expense.)

For a "scholarship", one would think of applying to a government agency
or to a privately endowed foundation to defray tuition costs, books, and
room and board, etc.

[irmamar]

Here you can apply for a "beca". You need some requirements, both academic and some special economic situation as well. But if you get a "Matrícula de Honor" (A), the University pays you one subject (one subject for every MH you've got).

I think its a bit difficult to traslate "beca" into English. So,I think that both "scholarship" and "grant" would be good enough in a simple sentence.

[hermit]

When I applied for entrance into the Masters' Program at my University,
I was told, when accepted, that there was a "beca" in the form of a
"Teaching Assistantship" available to me throughout my Master's studies.

This meant that I would be teaching 2 courses per semester in addition
to my own studies, and funds were available through the Spanish and Classics Department to pay me a salary concurrently.

So, another form of "beca" in English.

[irmamar]

Well, it's quite different here. You don't need to teach . The State pays you the enrollment in the University (or in the high school, since education is free until 16). The amount of money is paid once, it can include all the amount of the enrollment or just a part of it. You can apply for a beca for books, travellings expenses, etc.

[pjt33]

"El estado te paga XYZ" en inglés sería "The state pays for XYZ for you" o, para ciertos XYZ, "The state pays for your XYZ". "The state pays you" significa que cobras, que tú recibes el dinero por algún servicio que has hecho por el estado.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by pjt33

"El estado te paga XYZ" en inglés sería "The state pays for XYZ for you" o, para ciertos XYZ, "The state pays for your XYZ". "The state pays you" significa que cobras, que tú recibes el dinero por algún servicio que has hecho por el estado.

In Spanish too.

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by chileno

In Spanish too.

Entonces, lo de que el Estado te paga los estudios, me lo estoy inventando

[chileno]

Originally Posted by pjt33

"El estado te paga XYZ" en inglés sería "The state pays for XYZ for you" o, para ciertos XYZ, "The state pays for your XYZ". "The state pays you" significa que cobras, que tú recibes el dinero por algún servicio que has hecho por el estado.

Originally Posted by irmamar

Entonces, lo de que el Estado te paga los estudios, me lo estoy inventando

Read again what pjt wrote.