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Thank you again so much @cowgirlsdontcry & @TakeruK for your detailed advice... You're truly wonderful people. Ok, I will definitely try to look for both fellowships + programs, just in case

Thank you so much for this detailed explanation takeruk you're very helpful. I will definitely show this to my friends as well, because we're looking for programs together. I wasn't aware that most North American fellowships' deadlines are September:November! An Egyptian friend of mine who has studied Master's in the US & is currently looking also for PhD, has told me that applying for PhD programs in the US is much easier than in Europe, because it doesn't require that one searches for an independent scholarship or fellowship, as most of these programs are fully-funded through fellowships & assistantships, & just getting accepted at the program would sequentially secure me financially with any fellowship provided in the program. But what you say is giving me a different view. Do I have to apply to an independent fellowship next September:November before applying to American & Canadian PhD programs next December:February? Are most of these programs not fully-funded already?

PhD one-year preparatory courses are an obligatory part of PhD programs in some departments in Egypt. The political science department in Cairo University is one of those departments that has this one-year courses in its program. This one-year courses is part & parcel of the PhD program; it's obligatory, & it's not related to the applicant's qualifications. And anyway, no one is accepted into a PhD program here, unless s/he has completed the Master's program. I did complete my Master's of course, nevertheless, all PhD applicants have to take these one-year courses.

Hi Nickybert,,, I didn't apply before in York University. But I'm currently also looking for PhD scholarships abroad. Each time you view a university's website, you have to scroll over to the sections of "Prospective Students", "Financing Tuition", "International Students", "Awards & Scholarships", "Fellowships & Assistantships", etc. Read the content & make sure that the Graduate Program (M.A in your case) offers a range of scholarships for international students. Browsing takes a bit of time & perseverance to reach this information, but with time, you'll get the hang of it. You can also email the university to ask them, but from my experience, this usually doesn't help, it's better to browse the university site to find the info yourself. You usually have three choices to fund your studies (not all universities offer all three choices, that's why you have to look over the university's site to find out): 1* The best choice: Is for you to apply for assistantship or fellowship. That means that you will work as a teaching or research assistant in the university, while studying there. This assures that "all" your tuition fees are exempted, plus you are paid a salary for your work to finance your sustenance needs (residence, food, books, etc.). PLUS you get experience in teaching & researching, which boosts your CV tremendously! 2* The second best choice: You get a full scholarship + stipend. That is the scholarship explicitly mentions that it covers ALL your tuition fees PLUS provides you with additional money (stipend) so you can spend on your sustenance. 3* The least best choice: You get an incomplete scholarship, either that the scholarship mentions that it ONLY covers your tuition fees, BUT you have to find a way to fund your sustenance, or the scholarship mentions that it ONLY covers PART of your tuition fees. In my opinion, just skip universities that only offers this choice, & fund universities that offers one or two of the above choices. If you still want to apply for this university, you can apply to this kind of scholarship, but keep searching for other organizations & institutions that offer other scholarships to cover the rest of the tuition fees + your sustenance. Another point is that I found some advice on the net from students who found scholarships, & are saying that finding scholarships for MA is very hard, & finding them for PhD is easier. So you can apply for Graduate Programs that combine MA & PhD together in one program, many North American Universities offer this. BTW, I found the "Student Finances" page on York University here: Student Finances / Prospective Students / Faculty of Graduate Studies / York University

Hey everyone,,, I'm currently looking for PhD scholarships abroad. My desired research is multi-disciplinary & specific, so it's not easy to find professors who are specialized & willing to supervise me. It's something about human cultural evolution, & children's value formation. My current scheme in searching for scholarships is: search for professors who have relevant research interests --> find their universities --> find out if their universities offer fully-funded PhD programs & stipends so I can apply to them --> email the professor to see if she's interested, so I can apply to the university. However, sometimes I find announcements about university scholarships, like for ex., the Swiss government scholarships for international students. Do you think if I apply to such scholarships, & if I get accepted, would it be easy to find professors then (assigned in the university(s) of that scholarship) who are specialized & willing to work with me in that kind of research? Or should I only stick to the first scheme of applying to universities?

Thank you so much for your advice takeruk... it's much valuable

I'm not specialized in those areas (instead, I'm specialized in social sciences). But I agree with snowangel that you may research job prospects for each field in the country of your interest. For ex., here in Egypt, the engineering specializations have higher career prospects than sciences (including environmental sciences). I think that applied sciences (ex., medicine, engineering) have higher prospects in general, anywhere, than natural sciences. But this is understandable, because businesses & companies have more interests in applied sciences than natural sciences (especially environmental sciences, which harm their exploitation of natural resources). But I'd generally advise you to "follow your heart" rather than "career prospects". I think it's better that you specialize in what "you" - & not companies - are interested in. Because when you study & work something that you love, you will gladly give it your whole time & energy, & will excel in it, & therefore you may better succeed & be creative in this field

Thank you so much for your reply takeruk If I register for PhD here in Egypt, I will have a one-year of preparatory courses (8 courses in total), which will require me to study for those courses, do their required assignments/research, & take their final exams. Applying for PhD programs abroad require me to search for relevant professors, send them emails, prepare application papers, besides improve my research plan to increase my chance for getting accepted. That's why I'm hesitant whether I could be able to work on both (besides my work) next year

Hi everyone,,, I'm a newbie here, & I hope this will be a great experience on the net with you... As a first post here, I'd like to seek your advice, about a critical decision I have to take these days... I'm currently working in research at a center, while also searching for PhD scholarships abroad (outside of Egypt!), & developing a PhD research plan to improve my chances at getting one. All people, except for one, are telling me I should apply next year for PhD here in Egypt, while searching for scholarships abroad, so as not to waste another year searching for scholarships, which I may or may not find! But I'm afraid to do this because this would mean that next year I will have a huge load of doing 4 things: study the PhD preparatory courses here; search for PhD scholarships abroad; work in the center, & develop a PhD research plan! I'm afraid that pressure from all this, could cause me to suffer a psychological breakdown (I already suffer from psychological problems that make me so slow in accomplishing things & very poor in managing stress & time!). Especially that I have a bad experience in this... while studying my one-year Master's preparatory courses before here, while also working in another center (though my work was less intensive), I suffered a psychological breakdown from the pressure of studying, & had to postpone taking the 2nd term courses to next year! Though my load was much less, I was only studying & working Despite my problems, I'm very ambitious. I want to get done with PhD quickly so I can focus on doing independent research later. I'm so determined on getting a scholarship abroad, because I want to experience some radical change in my life & educational/research context. But I also don't want to lag behind (I'm currently 31 years old, which is a bit late)... I don't know what to do! So do you think I should register for PhD here this year? Or should I give myself another year focusing only on finding a scholarship & developing a research plan, & if I don't find one by next year, I can register here in Egypt the year after? Or should I just get on with it this year while doing the other tasks too?