Senior Kathleen O’Malley is currently studying at the University of Auckland in New Zealand,… Senior Kathleen O’Malley is currently studying at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, thanks to the Institute for the International Education of Students, which is located in Chicago. Out of 300 applicants, O’Malley was selected as one of 37 to receive a study abroad scholarship from IES.

Not all of her time for the spring semester will be spent taking classes and studying in Auckland, though. O’Malley will also be traveling to Tonga, an archipelago kingdom in the southern Pacific Ocean, as part of an IES field trip.

Students that apply for an IES Merit-Based Scholarship must have a minimum 3.3 GPA. A panel of U.S. faculty from various universities reviews their applications and chooses winners.

According to Courtney Peters – communications and media relations coordinator at IES – judges look for a faculty letter of recommendation that discusses a student’s academic and study abroad abilities and for a personal statement that expresses interest in a certain region.

O’Malley was given the Asia-Pacific Scholarship, which allows students to study in Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand and South America.

She received somewhere between $500 and $3,000 for her Asia-Pacific Scholarship. Every year, the IES awards up to $1.7 million in scholarships to students who want to study abroad.