Applying for a scholarship is a great way to get money for college that you don’t need to pay back. It can also feel daunting when you are just getting ready to go to college. Learning the steps needed to apply for a scholarship can help alleviate some of the anxiety and prepare you for the process. Here’s how to apply for a scholarship.
Research the Scholarship
After you’ve identified a scholarship that is of interest to you, it’s time to do some research. There are several important questions to consider. Who is offering the scholarship? Is it an organization or corporation? Does the company have a website? What has the company done in recent years, and how does this relate to its sponsorship of this particular scholarship? What are the requirements for applying for this scholarship? Are there any eligibility requirements such as nationality, grade point average, or age? Additionally, are they for a specific educational major, like a psychology scholarship or one for aspiring biology students?
Begin Your Application Early
As soon as the application is open, it’s important to get started. Many scholarship applications require you to submit your application by a certain date in order to be considered for the award. The sooner you apply, the more time you’ll have to complete your application. This will improve your chances of being accepted for the scholarship. It can also ensure that you get everything in on time, including supporting documents.
Be Mindful of Deadlines
Deadlines are important. They can be early, strict, and not flexible at all. This means that if you miss the deadline, even by a day, you may miss out on your scholarship opportunity altogether. If this happens to you, contact the organization to see if they will accept late applications or consider one submitted after the deadline has passed. It’s also important not to assume that an organization will give you a pass if something happens and causes your application to arrive after its stated deadline. You are responsible for getting the application in on time or early.
Meet Requirements, Especially Those That Need to be Verified by a Third Party
Meeting requirements may mean relying on someone else for documentation. Some requirements mean proving your GPA, proof that you took certain classes, or that you have a letter of recommendation. It’s important to gather together all of these things in advance so that you can submit them to the company or organization offering the scholarship.
Don’t Leave Anything Blank
Answer all questions completely and accurately. If you’re lying, you could forfeit the scholarship and have to pay it back if they find out about your deception. Use complete sentences and avoid typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors. If you need to type out your answers using a tool like Microsoft Word or Grammarly in advance to help identify issues, that’s okay. Just make sure that everything looks good when you copy and paste it into the document.
Avoid These Common Mistakes
When you are reviewing your application, watch out for typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors. Typos are embarrassing, and they look unprofessional. While high school students may get a little more leeway on these, college students who are looking for more scholarships should be especially careful to review their writing for typos.
Incorrect word usage and misspellings are a problem. Sometimes we mean to say “they’re,” but we write “their” instead. Other times we write “hails” when we should’ve written “heals.” This is one case where you don’t want autocorrect to try and fix your mistake. Instead, read carefully through your content to ensure that nothing gets missed.
Grammatical errors and another important thing to watch out for. You can even use tools in Microsoft Office, Google Docs, and Grammarly to help you catch sentences that don’t flow right and other less obvious mistakes.
Be Honest About Yourself and Your Achievements
When you’re applying for a college scholarship, most applications ask about you. Who are you? What have you accomplished? What are your goals? Don’t lie or embellish or exaggerate your answers. Telling them about yourself with pride, but not exaggerations, will help you stand out and get scholarships the honest way. Tell them about winning second place in a hard race even though you wanted first. Tell them about being 20th in your class of 400 people and how proud you are of your accomplishment. These are big things, and you should celebrate them even if they aren’t perfect.
