Patna, Dec. 16: Twenty-year-old Sharad Vivek Sagar has got a call from the prestigious Tufts University in the US. The city boy has been selected for a four-year undergraduate course on international relations and diplomacy on 100 per cent scholarship.

Sagar’s classes would begin in September. He has been awarded a scholarship of US$62,000 per annum.

An elated Sagar, who passed out from St Dominic Savio’s High School in May this year, said it was a dream come true for him.

“There is a website called www.commonapp.org. It is a portal through which undergraduate students across the world can apply in universities based in the US. I had applied in the same more than a month ago and had to go through a lot of tests during the month-long process. First, one needs to fill in the common application form with all academic and co-curricular achievements. There are two essays, one in which the applicant has to write about the most successful thing he/she has achieved. The second essay is a long one in which there are some topics and the applicant has to choose one,” Sagar told The Telegraph.

Next, the admission board asks the applicants the reason for choosing the particular institution. After clearing these steps, the academic report card from classes IX to XII have to be uploaded or sent via e-mail.

“The entire system was online and I didn’t face much problem. The principal of the applicant’s school or college, in addition to the science and language teacher, needs to upload their recommendations and views about the applicant on the website,” Sagar added.

He said before applying for the university, he had appeared for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in Calcutta earlier this year.

“Anyone wishing to study in a US university or college has to appear in this examination conducted six times a year. I took the test in January,” he said.