How to Improve Your Chances of Getting a Scholarship
One of the first steps to increasing your chances of getting a scholarship is knowing what scholarships are out there. Sometimes students make the mistake of only applying for well-known scholarships when there are plenty of scholarships out there that are not well-known, like local scholarships.
It is a good idea to start with your guidance counselor to find out what local scholarships are available. Some guidance counselors have a collection of scholarship applications that you can look through and decide to apply for. If they do not have the applications themselves, then they should be able to point you in the right direction on where to get them.
Be sure to ask around also. Many friends and family may know local businesses and companies that are giving out scholarships. Your friends may have older siblings that were once in your shoes and had scholarships they applied for. You never know who has been a scholarship winner, so it never hurts to ask. If you are planning to go to college, your college may even have freshman scholarship search tools that they offer through the school. Contact your advisor and find out what scholarships are available to you.
There may be the temptation to apply for scholarships that have a huge award amount, but smaller ones may give you a higher chance of winning because they have fewer applicants. Every amount counts no matter how big or small. Remember when you go to college, there are costs like books, living expenses, and school supplies that this money can be used for. You can also apply for multiple smaller amount scholarships, as winning those can certainly add up.
Look for those “odd” scholarships that are unique to you. There are plenty of scholarships for minorities, left-handed people, LGBTQ students, and vegetarians! Do your research and don’t be afraid to apply for those scholarships.
A lot of students run into laziness when applying for many scholarships. Most students will be looking for the scholarships that require the least amount of work to apply for. So that means fewer people apply for the scholarships that take a lot of work. You can use this to your advantage. To help alleviate some of the stress of extensive scholarship application create a deadline system that works for you. You can create a plan to finish certain parts of the application by certain dates and that way you are not bombarded with everything at one time. This also helps you stay organized, making sure you get all the application materials in on time.
One of the biggest mistakes an applicant can do is not complete all the requirements of the application. If you have to make an Excel sheet and check off each part of an application as you complete it, then do so. Some students have stellar applications, but forget to include their official transcripts. Scholarship award committees will more than likely toss out any application that is missing parts. You can disqualify yourself by also not following directions. Students may run into issues with this when writing their essays. Sometimes you can become so consumed with wanting to write the best essay, you fail to even answer the initial question.
Be sure to read carefully and understand what the essay prompt is asking. If it is a multiple part essay question, be sure to answer all parts of the question. Reread and proofread to make sure you answered it all. Your essay should be unique to you, not regurgitated from somewhere else or the exact same essay you sent to another organization. You want to make sure you tailor your essay to that particular organization giving out the scholarship awards. It does not hurt to do a little research about the organization and include some of their mission statement in an essay.
You can set yourself up for success if you submit your application early. You never want to be submitting at the last second just in case something happens. It is best to try to turn your application in at least a week before the deadline to work out any problems that may arise. You want to submit your application even earlier if you are turning it in via mail because anything can happen.
Even though they can be a lot of work, you want to try to apply to as many scholarships as you can. This is likely to increase your chances of winning. It is like a raffle ticket. You have a better chance at winning when you have more than one ticket in the drawing. If you start looking for scholarships early, this will help you find as many you as you qualify for. If you don’t win a scholarship, that is okay. You should keep applying until you do. If you give up, then you have absolutely no chance at all.