There are a variety of scholarships to which you can apply to finance your education and fulfill your dreams. If you or your workplace can not finance the education you want to pursue, a scholarship may be the solution. We have compiled five tips for you to write a winning scholarship application.
Every year, many institutions, companies, organizations and foundations offer billions of dollars scholarships. To get a scholarship, it is almost always necessary to write an application describing why you want to get your education paid and what makes you the ideal candidate for the scholarship. Often competition is tough to win a scholarship, but with a well-written scholarship application, you increase your chances of studying in your dream institution. Here is a compilation of top 5 tips to prepare wining scholarship application.
1. Monitor the Criteria
If you have not done a thorough preparatory work, there is a risk that all the time you put on the application is in vain. Does the scholarship be awarded to persons working in a specific industry or have some specific research background? If you do not meet the basic criteria like IELTS or GRE scores, it’s useless to spend time writing a scholarship application.
Before you start writing a scholarship application, you should check which attachments are required and what is the closing date. Set a deadline for yourself a few days before the closing date to have time to proofread and process your scholarship application.
It is always better to customize your scholarship application instead of writing an application that you send to several organizations or foundations. This takes a little longer, but it’s almost always worth it.
2. Formulate Clear Goals
Before you start writing your scholarship application, you should consider why you apply for the scholarship. Make a mind map where you write down your goals and your ambitions.
When you start writing your scholarship application, it is important that you describe both why you apply for the scholarship and why you should get it. Try to see your scholarship application from the reader’s perspective and be self-critical. Would you have given yourself the scholarship?
In your scholarship application, it is important to show that you are committed and that your skills worth to get paid for your education. Do not be too humble, when it comes to a scholarship application, you should be confident and convince the person who reads your application that you are the perfect fellow student.
3. Use Recommendations
Ask your employer, a former teacher or another credible person to write a letter of recommendation that you attach to your application. The recommendation letter should contain the name and phone number of the person who recommends you so that the scholarship provider can contact him if they have questions or want to know more about you. When using references, it is very important to prepare the person who recommends you to be ready for any calls.
If you have certificates that you think might increase your chance to get the scholarship, they should be attached. Examples of certificates that you can use in your scholarship application are diplomas, training, certificates that show your volunteer experience and extracurricular activities or certificate from past and present employers. Remember to always send copies and keep the original documents.
4. Ask a Friend to Read Through your Application
When you feel that your scholarship application is complete, you should let a friend read it. It’s easy to get home-blind and not be able to critically look at a text you’ve been working on for a long time. Ask for feedback both verbally and on your layout. Your scholarship application must be clear and not contain spelling mistakes. Even though many word processors have spell checking feature, they are not always reliable, so let someone, you know, look at your scholarship application before submitting it.
5. Do not Wait Until the Last Minute
Keep in mind that it takes time to write a scholarship application. Rather start too early than late – compiling an application over a weekend is rarely good. Use a checklist to easily make sure you do not forget a document or attachment. Always save a copy of your scholarship application, it can act as a template when you apply for scholarships in the future.