Preparing a well-written scholarship application is often a difficult process. Below are 13 essential tips for perfecting your scholarship application. The tips included here will help you meet the deadlines, please the scholarship sponsor, perfect your essay and more!
Identify and meet the sponsor’s goals
Who wins scholarships? The student who best meets the sponsor’s formal and informal requirements. Therefore, to win a scholarship, you need to meet a sponsor’s goals. As simple as this may seem, many students simply meet the sponsor’s bare requirements and hope for the best. Do not do this! Read through all the scholarship information watching for details and clues about what the sponsor’s formal and informal requirements. By meeting the sponsor’s goals, you increase you chance of winning exponentially!
Explore your study options
Most scholarship applications will ask candidates to state the programme of study or research topic which they intend to pursue. If you are successful in receiving a scholarship the offer of the award will probably be conditional on you enrolling on the programme/ research area stated on your scholarship application. Before you submit your application for a scholarship you should explore all the options and ensure that you select the right programme for you from the outset and that you satisfy the entrance requirements for that particular programme.
Study your funding source
All funding agencies will have their own criteria for deciding how their resources should be allocated. So, it worth spending time on familiarising yourself with these and making sure your application clearly addresses the particular requirements of your targeted source of support. If you are applying for a particular university, then you must obviously intend to study at that particular University and not at any other institution.
Start your search for funding early
Give yourself plenty of time to gather information, references and other material – and don’t leave the preparation of your application until the last few weeks before the deadline. Many awards require you to have been offered a place at the University before your application can be considered. If you intend to apply for funding, whether awarded by the University or from an external source, you should therefore apply for admission to the University earlier than most students to secure your offer of a place before making your application for a funding award.
Participate in extracurricular activities
Surprisingly, most scholarship committees do not simply choose the student with the highest-grade point average (GPA) or SAT score. Instead, most scholarships are equally interested in student’s extracurricular activities. Is he involved in his community? Does he have an after-school job? Did he start his own business? What hobbies does he have? The scholarship coordinators are interested in giving the award to the person they consider the most well-rounded student. Grades are important, but they are only half the story. Therefore, it is to your advantage to participate in extracurricular activities. Volunteer at your local library.
Watch the deadline like a hawk
We will never know how much scholarship money is lost simply because the applicant missed the deadline. When students are applying to many scholarships at once it is easy to confuse the deadlines and send the applications on the wrong date. To avoid this danger, students should keep a calendar either on paper or online. On you calendar, write the name of each scholarship in red on its deadline, and in black one week before the deadline. Try to get scholarship applications in before the black (early) deadline but make sure that you get it in before the red (final) deadline.
Complete the application form in full
Spend time on completing your application and avoid any ambiguities. If you feel a question does not apply to you, then you should make that clear on your application. Never leave a question blank. Remember that every question is there for a reason and the panel could look unfavourably – even suspiciously – at any application that has not been completed in full. Be honest and use the application form to explain any gaps or delays in your previous studies.
Proofread your application one more time
How can you increase your chance of winning in less than 5 minutes? By proofreading your application. Most scholarship committees do not even consider scholarship applications that have major blunders. Did you get your address right? Did you get the scholarship name right? What about the coordinator’s name? Once you have verified the information on the application.
Search, Search, SEARCH!
Persistence is the key to getting a scholarship. Finding good scholarships is often a difficult job. I know for myself, when I have spent two hours looking through scholarships without finding one for me, I feel like giving up. Don’t. You can stop for the day if you get too tired, but keep on looking the next day. Think of it this way. The harder a time you have finding a scholarship; the less competition you will have! So, keep on looking and eventually you should get a scholarship.
Organize your surroundings and your time
Keeping organized is one of the most important habits all college students should develop. It helps with study time. It helps with scholarships. When your surroundings are organized, is easy to concentrate on your application. On the other hand, when your surroundings are disordered, it is easy to get distracted or loose important papers. Organizing your time is equally important. When your time is well-scheduled, you can reduce “dead time” and meet your deadlines. However, when your time is not ordered, it is easy to miss important deadlines or schedule two things for the same time. Keep organized!
Ask for references well in advance of the deadline date
Most externally funded awards will require you to submit one or two references in support of your application. I suggest that you ask for these references well in advance of the funding deadline date and that you provide some basic details to your referee on the kind of information that would be useful to include. Please remember that a reference from an academic who knows you and your abilities well is much better than a reference from a senior Professor who may not know you as well.
Watch for scholarship scams
Sadly, there are many scam artists who try to make money off gullible students. College scholars loose millions of dollars every year to these scholarship scams. That is the bad news. Now, here is the good news? Most scholarship scams are easily recognizable if you know the signs. The cardinal rule of scholarship scams is ‘If it takes money to get money, it is probably a scam’ After all, aren’t scholarship sponsors supposed to be giving you money? Strictly following this rule will help you escape most scams, but some scams are not so easily caught. Certain scholarship scams do not ask for money. Instead, they request personal information, so they can commit identity theft or other crimes.