semester at sea scholarships explained! save some money!

[@scratchinpetepa]

Really enjoy watching your videos! Thanks for sharing Jess!

[@jessshorst]

thanks!

[@orlandopalacio4150]

For the UWC scholarship you need to be a UWC alumni to qualify

[@jessshorst]

Good to know! Thank you!

[@successfulperson7657]

Great video, thank you so much! Can you do a video about ethics on SAS like sustainability and countries they go to if that makes sense like if they go to any problematic countries. I ask because they recently added Israel to the Spring 2022 voyage even though they are doing a genocide there, and I feel like I can’t go now because of my moral compass.

[@jessshorst]

ooooo that’s a really interesting idea! i definitely know a lot about the environmental implications of cruise ship travel and can talk about that. i’m honestly pretty surprised SAS added Israel for an upcoming voyage, but they probably assume the conflict will be “over” by then/it’ll be safe to travel there…. but i agree that that overlooks a lot of the bigger issues. i do know however that Israel has been a common stop for past voyages, and that the students once spent a whole month there because of ship repairs, so they probably have good relations with local tourism companies… but that still doesn’t overshadow the fact that SAS should address this decision directly!

[@jessshorst]

but (i’ll talk about this in a video too once i make it), something great about my classes on the ship for SAS (specifically my media/journalism one) was that we talked about the political conflicts and stances of every country we went to, their past leaders, past wars, and genocides. so it’s not *exactly* like a “vacation” that’s straight tourism, SAS is more of an educational trip, where you apply the things you leaned on the ship in your classes about the history of the countries you’re visiting to the interactions and evidence of the past that you see once you’re on land.

[@successfulperson7657]

@@jessshorst Thank you so much for addressing this, and I look forward to your videos on these topics. The main thing for Israel specifically is that the genocide and ethnic cleansing going on there isn’t a part of the past. It’s basically apartheid happening right now, so it really has made me doubt the ethics of SAS as a whole (and yes please talk about the environmental impacts of cruise ships as well!). I just don’t know if it’s a program I want to support if they think this violation of human rights is okay, but it sucks because I really wanted to go on a voyage with them and take the classes they offer on the ship as well. I emailed them about it and have yet to hear back. I wish they would just replace Israel with one of the alternate ports, but I also don’t know if anyone else has voiced concerns about this that would make them want to even consider changing it because everyone else seems fine with it for some reason. 😭

[@jessshorst]

:((( i’m so sorry that this has affected your decision, it’s tough not to feel heard! keep me updated if they respond, and maybe DM them or leave a comment on insta? i’ve noticed they reply there faster especially if it’s left as a comment since it’s public and they’re held accountable!

[@jessshorst]

haha i worry i won’t be able to make a super good video about it all, because i won’t know the right decision/what to say, but i can give tips for the decision making process/it’ll draw more attention to it i’m sure if i bring up the fact that SAS doesn’t always defend their decisions of countries to visit!

[@charliem6986]

Thanks for a great video. Now I remember in a past video you mentioned that classes go by A day and B day. How do classes work when you are in country? Does anything change? Or regardless we would have to be back on the ship in time for class?

[@jessshorst]

heehee the cool thing is that there are NO CLASSES WHEN YOU ARE IN COUNTRY!! so basically, you have A/B classes alternating everyday while you’re at sea (with no weekends, just A/B classes) and then like a 5 day break every time you get to a country!

[@jessshorst]

like one time i had class for 1 day and then got to get off the ship again. and the highest number of days we were on the ship in a row was 8 or 9 when we were crossing the atlantic ocean, but if you have a long time on the ship they give you a rest day or sea olympics or neptune day…. like one of the semester at sea holidays to switch it up so you don’t get burnt out 👍🏻

[@charliem6986]

@@jessshorst thank you so much

[@lucyguerrero7883]

Hello! Awesome video. Can you please explain what the NCSC and The Society of Torch & Laurel are? Also does each scholarship, grant, etc. only give it to ONE student or can a scholarship be given to multiple “winners”? lol idk if that is the right word. Thank you again for the great vid and information 😃

[@jessshorst]

the two associations that you asked about are honors groups that would need to have a chapter at your school in order for you to apply! you can definitely look up a list of schools that are a part of those groups online, and then beyond that i think you need above a 3.0 gpa to apply to the associations… and then if you’re a part of them you’ll qualify for the scholarships! and i think the majority of scholarships are given to more than one student! maybe not the couple at the end that payed $30,000, but tons of merit ones are given out, tons of financial grants and tons of alumni scholarships!!!

[@Lolsss50]

Is there anyway that you could qualify for a full scholarship. The tuition is very expensive but it’s something I really want to do when I am in college

[@jessshorst]

i definitely knew people that had close to full rides, or full rides! it is mostly based on your income, so if you have a FAFSA scholarship for college, you’re likely to get financial aid for semester at sea too :)

[@bailey1396]

Do scholarships only go towards tuition? Like for example, say you get a lot of scholarships and they were to cover more than your tuition, could you use that extra money for things like fuel fees, food, etc? Or would that not work/they wouldn’t give you that extra scholarships you don’t need?

[@jessshorst]

i don’t think you can use the extra scholarships for those things, but you can use them to pay for field programs through the trip! like overnights and awesome stuff like that 👍🏻

[@kealeyhorner3677]

Can you please make a video on how many bags you took on SAS such as duffels and suitcases, did you bring even bring a suitcase, how many suitcases and duffels you can bring on the ship, and etc.?

[@jessshorst]

I probably can, and I can just tell you now too! I brought one roller suitcase (medium sized) that I unzipped and laid flat to slide under my bed for storage, and one really large soft sided duffel bag that I put all my clothes in! Then when I unpacked those into my closet I just smushed that bag under my bed as well, folded up. I then brought a backpack to carry things for classes, etc., and also used that bag as my "small duffel" for off-ship travel! So I'd empty out my school stuff and put in clothes and toiletries, etc. And then I just had a compact but spacious crossbody purse for day trips!

[@kealeyhorner3677]

Ok thank you 😊

[@ay.shk28]

I absolutely loved this videoo Thankyou Jess !

[@jessshorst]

thanks! 💕💕💕

[@annaberkowitz4231]

thank u!! very informative

[@esmeturner7607]

Such a great vid! Just wondering if international students are able to fill out the EFC form?

[@jessshorst]

i think so! you can email SAS to check, but i think that’d make sense that you’d be able to!

[@jessshorst]

and thanks ☺️

[@esmeturner7607]

Thank you so much!

[@Okay_00_why]

Do u have to fill out applications for scholarships and Financial aid after u are accepted for SAS

[@jessshorst]

yep, you do all of that after you apply/are accepted to your voyage!

[@ankitamani775]

hey jess! i wanted to know as to what marks do they look at during the application process and for the scholarships, by marks i mean do they look at the marks during our final year or throughout my whole 3 years of college? this is for an applicant who stands as a post grad student

[@jessshorst]

it’ll be all of college!!!! and if you were applying as a gap year student, it’d be your high school grades :)

[@vrutii]

Can you get multiple scholarships from sas?

[@jessshorst]

yes for sure!! which really helps tuition be lower :)

[@Okay_00_why]

Can u apply for more than 1 scholarship? And financial aid?

[@jessshorst]

definitely! i’d say you should apply for as many as possible :)

[@Okay_00_why]

Okay thx so much 🥰

[@camronwayne7549]

How much does the average student receive in total? Great video btw!!

[@jessshorst]

hard to say! so sorry i really don’t know, it definitely depends on your income/tax information for a lot of it

[@jessshorst]

you can assume if you have financial aid at your home college, you’ll get a similar amount from SAS

[@camronwayne7549]

@@jessshorst awesome!! Thank you so much!