Close, but no cigar

It was this time last year, when I was feeling depressed working in a law firm, that I started applying for my LLM (Master of Laws) studies abroad. I did the TOEFL thing, went to my profs for Referee Letters or Letter of Recommendation, and all the other application requirements. Laki-laki pa ng ginastos ko sa pag-FedEx ng applications ko.

Of the 4 universities that i applied to, I got accepted to 3. I was admitted in the University College London in the United Kingdom, and Leiden University and Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Sadly, I didn't make it to the only American law school I applied to, the University of Michigan. Still, 3 out of 4 ain't bad, right? Moreover, UCL is the 3rd best school in England and is in the top 20 in the world rankings.

I then applied for scholarships. Surprisingly, I was granted a 50% scholarship in Leiden. Okay yun ah. so far, so good, I told myself. Pero, malaki pa rin yung other half. Eh yun lang yung pinakamalaking grant meron sa Netherlands. So I shifted my focus sa England.

I tried my luck sa British Chevening Scholarship kasi full scholarship yun, complete with lodging, plane fare and stipend. My grades weren't that impressive, pero what the heck, fight! So nagrequest nanaman ako ng Referee Letters. Nagsubmit ako sa British Embassy, and hoped for the best.

Alam kong, mahirap makapasok, so all i wished fro was to be interviewed.

That wish came true when the embassy officer phoned me to schedule an interview. Wow, na-shortlist ako!

Pinagaralan ko ang England at UCL sa wikipedia. I really tried to prepare for the interview. the day came and I did my best to try to impress the panel.

Bahala na si batman. Pero sa loob-loob ko, sana mapili ako.

Today, I received a letter from the British Embassy informing me that I didn't get selected.

Sigh...

Oh, well.

Close, but no cigar.