AEF Scholarship Application

AEF term and year you plan to attend (eg. Fall 2023):

Scholarship Application Checklist


Materials must be sent to admissions@aefirenze.it via wetransfer.com

Personal Statement Instructions: 
Your personal statement is an important part of your scholarship application that will be used by our scholarship committee to score your overall application.   


The personal statement should be in a document format such as MS Word or PDF. The maximum length is 7,000 characters or less. The essay should be in paragraph form and present a coherent discourse based on the four prompts below. Do not simply provide a numbered list of responses.  
You must address each of the questions below in no specific order. 

  1. How will studying at AEF help you achieve your academic or professional goals? 

  1. Why did you select AEF and the specific program you plan to attend? (For example, if your main motivation for coming is to study Dance you should address this in your essay.) 

  1. AEF’s core values are Respect, Community, and Sustainability. Choose one of these core values and share an example of how you have exemplified it. 

  1. Studying in a foreign country is challenging. What skills, experiences, or knowledge will you draw on to face the challenges of being in Florence and studying at AEF? 


Two Letters of Reference Instructions: 

The letters of reference are another important part of your scholarship application. Ideally, the reference letter is an email sent to you buy the referee, but they may also be MS Word, PDF, etc. 

Although there is no rule on who qualifies as a good reference, it is best if the individual has supervised you in a professional or academic setting: work supervisors, sports coach, professors, etc. Avoid references from friends or family members.  

For greater consideration and higher marks from the scholarship committee your references should address the following points in their letter or email. 

Prompts for your Reference Letter writers. 

  1. How long have your known the scholarship applicant? 

  1. In what capacity do you know the scholarhsip applicant? (professor, sports coach, work supervisor, priest, etc.) 

  1. Based on your experience with the scholarship applicant, describe the applicant’s work ethic and personal motivation.  

  1. Provide an example of when the applicant went above and beyond to achieve a goal, submit an assignment, overcome a difficulty, etc.  


Instructions for Sumitting Proof of Financial Need (Optional): 

This portion of your scholarship application is optional. The scholarship application committee will consider this information when deciding between two or more similar candidates.  

If you are currently attending a university and are receiving financial aid in the form of grants, tuition waivers, or discounts then please provide some evidence of this. This could be a screenshot of your financial aid status from your univeristy website.  

This can be in original language.  


Program Specific Items: 

If your main motivation for studying at AEF is to attend performing arts courses then you need to submit extra materials according to the list below.  

  • Dance – Two short videos (3-5 minutes) of ballet or contemporary dance styles.  

  • Voice & Opera – Two short videos: one Italian Opera aria and one piece chosen from your repertoire.  

  • Drawing & Painting – 5 high-resolution professional pictures of your work. 


Unofficial Academic Transcript (Optional): 

If you attended or are currently attending an institution (secondary school, academy, university, etc.) please send an unofficial transcript of your course work with grades and if possible your score overall. You do not need to send all trascripts from all of your academic work. Prioritize transcripts that are relevant and more recent.  
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