Applying for Scholarships and filing out the application correctly can be a complex, time consuming, and confusing to say the least. As with so many other organizations in health care and the like, institutions rarely if ever have guidelines, rules, and deadlines as they applying to completing a scholarship application. We have not met a student yet who was not applying to multiple universities and for multiple college scholarships and school grants . But fear not, help is at hand and by following a few simple rules for submitting scholarship applications, you can make the whole process much easier to manage.
Being prepared is critical and important to the process and you can prepare in advance by developing your personal statement. Your communication approach and style will be particularly important. Write out your statement and refine its contents prior to applying for your desired scholarship. Developing a personal statement will not only help you in writing your statement, it will also help you to become familiar with who you are. When you deliver a compelling written statement and back it up with an even more sophisticated verbal delivery, you will be way ahead of the game and you will be developing important life skills applicable to your career and your life.
Once you have your personal statement prepared and written and begin researching the various options available to you, be sure you read, scrutinize and fully comprehend the application process and requirements therein. This will be an important rule to follow throughout life not only in pursuit of scholarships; reading and understanding all the fine print and implicit and explicit guidelines contained in mortgage and investment instruments as well as employment applications will be a lifelong skill you will use over and over again and you can begin honing your skill by applying this principle to filling out your scholarship application(s).
By not reading and following the prescribed guidelines and rules within each application, you will be unsuccessful in your endeavors. Be mindful of word limits and other application restrictions and instructions. You do not want to exceed, and you don’t want to fall short of what is expected in your completed application. For example, if the application requests a personal statement of 1000 words or less, you do not want to provide 1500. You also don’t want to fall short, so provide as many as possible to get as close as you can to the request. Be sure you include relevant examples and demonstrations specific to your statement and try not to use continuation sheets. Evaluators and assessors literally read hundreds of applications and can easily become bored and miss important and relevant information if your package is too long and drawn out.
Give them what they want, and always remain true to yourself. You will find that you may have to articulate specific examples of personal characteristics, such as integrity, honesty, values, etc. Always remain true to who you are and provide examples that ubiquitously demonstrate your personality and character.
Articulate the reasons why you are pursuing a certain degree or area of study. Many new students fail to convey this important information. There are reasons for all the choices you have made thus far, be sure you eloquently convey why you chose to pursue high education in your desired field.
Lastly, be sure you have read through the entire application several times before sending in your application. Better yet, have someone you trust read your application and ensure you haven’t missed including any pertinent, important, and required information.
