Your Scholarship Application Process and Strategy- Give yourself a little push

I expect that by now You should be ready to begin applying for one or more scholarships. Or you are already working on it. Or You have already completed and even submitted one or more. Whichever way, at least, You’ve determined which scholarships you are interested in and organized them based on their deadline priority. With that, I can tell you’re farther in motion than many scholarship aspirant.

It’s no news how confused one could get when there are a number of scholarship applications to choose from, especially when it feels like you don’t have much time or you feel like the effort is not worth it. It’s quite understandable that sometimes we need an extra push/motivation to get on tasks that seem a bit tedious. You need to understand that a high percentage of scholarships offered out there are not based on academic performance. Some just need you to be confident and in financial need. So if you are still contemplating on whether to give that scholarship application your best shot, My advice for you is, ‘just do it anyway’.

So, if you’re ready that is, The next step to take, after you must have selected some scholarships you are eligible to apply for, is to sit down and take time to actually applying for the scholarships. If there are a good number of awards you want to compete for don’t be in a hurry to apply for them all in one day. Pressuring yourself will only cause the quality of your applications and essays you submit to shrink, thus altering your chances of earning a scholarship. To avoid this mediocre result, you have to set a goal for yourself. Decide how many excellently completed applications you will send in a week and work towards your goal. It could be 1 or 11 per week. Whichever way, setting and working towards your goal for each week is paramount.

HOW to APPROACH YOUR SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION:

Meticulously PAY ATTENTION to detail.

When you are applying to several scholarships at once it is very easy to confuse one requirement for another and to overlook critical details. Take time to Read every bit of the information provided carefully. If you get confused along the way, make a phone call to the scholarship provider. It’s the right thing to do. Scholarship providers are people who enjoy helping students get the financial assistance they need to achieve their career education. Most of them will be very willing to answer your questions when you contact them.

Write a COMPELLING Application/ESSAY

When writing/answering your essay question try to read between the lines. In other words, take and keep note of every details you come across on the subject topic-at home, office, on your way home. Take the time to keep note of any reasonable responses, even when they seem informal. This will help you build and structure a creative essay write up. If your application require to be hand written, keep it clean and stainless. It does count.

Get a SECOND OPINION.

You don’t need to be too confident in yourself with completing a flawless application. Have a parent or friend review your application and essay. For the essay, it’s better to look for someone in the subject field to go through, correct and rate your work. And you should on you own part be open to criticism. If it is paper written, I think it will be a better idea to expose it to more than ‘one eyes’.
Have a teacher or a professional give you feed back on your essay and likewise a friend. If you can’t find someone around to do this for you, go online (may be facebook friends you can trust), find who can help. They can tell you if your work will have a pre-selling charisma on the reader or judge. You should know that Scholarship judges are people just like your parents and the people around you, so their feedback could be an invaluable resource.
Thoroughly edit your application. It doesn’t matter how much time it takes because your application is the only self-selling tool you have. It’ll pay to give it your best shot .

Ready to Submit? Carefully FOLLOW the SUBMISSION GUIDELINES.

Don’t eliminate yourself because you sent your application in the wrong color envelope. Scholarship providers typically outline very specific submission rules and it is important that you follow their guidelines. Find out whether your scholarship can be emailed, faxed or if a stamp and envelope is necessary. If you are unsure about a submission procedure, call or write the scholarship provider and confirm. Little overlooked step may cost you, the scholarship selection. Now go get to work.

Subscribe by Email for daily scholarship notifications and inspiration.