How To Become A Successful Applicant

Scholarship and Fellowship Preparation

1. Why should I consider applying for a scholarship?
The opportunities provided by these scholarships and fellowships are varied and diverse, but each of them is a gateway to new experiences and a way to open doors in the both the private and public sectors as well as in academia. Even if one is not ultimately successful in obtaining one of these lucrative awards, simply preparing for the application process pays off handsome dividends, by making you a much more desirable candidate, either for graduate or professional school, or for post-collegiate employment.


2. Why should I start preparing now if I don't plan to apply in the immediate future?
Many students fall into the trap of waiting until the last minute. Most of the successful scholarship winners, however, had been laying the groundwork for their applications semesters in advance of the actual deadline. The first thing you should do is to know what opportunities are available to you. Baylor has prepared a comprehensive description of all the leading scholarships. It is available on-line at http://www.baylor.edu/~Honors/scholarships/description.htm
While each scholarship has specific requirements and qualifications, there are some things which apply to all of them. Even a freshman, who may not make an application until the junior or senior year, can begin to prepare in order to become a viable and competitive candidate.

Nearly all scholarship and fellowship applications require the same three elements: 1) an academic transcript; 2) letters of recommendation; and 3) written proposals. [Since graduate school applications and employers may also request one or more of these from you as well, this is why scholarship application preparation can pay off even if one ends up not applying for any particular fellowship].

THE TRANSCRIPT

A transcript is more than just a grade point average. Keep in mind that minimum graduation requirements are just that: the minimum. The transcript is your academic road-map. It should be carefully constructed to show where you plan to go in terms of your studies. By the time that you are a senior, one would hope that your transcript shows a logical progression which culminates in your degree, rather than a collection of random electives.

Some points of advice:
1. Concentrate on finishing requirements first. If you entered Baylor with significant amounts of AP credit, use the "free spaces" that have opened up in your schedule to complete other required classes first. What this does is, especially in your junior and senior years, is to allow you to focus on your chosen course of study and take higher-level courses without being 'distracted' by requirements left unfinished in your earlier years.
2. Don't "waste" electives. Use your electives to bolster your major and minor courses of study. Don't limit yourself to the minimum requirements of your degree program. Specialization (through a minor or certificate program) or interdisciplinary studies are an excellent way to bolster your course of study.
3. Realize that not all college years are "equal." In other words, chose well when you plan to take courses. If you really have an interest in basket-weaving, but you are an international finance major, you might want to delay the basket-weaving elective until the second semester of your senior year, after the deadlines for scholarship and graduate school applications.
4. By your junior year, consider taking upper-level courses that will produce a concrete piece of scholarship--research paper, thesis, or project. This begins to provide you both with a "paper trail" for scholarship, especially if you can get work published, and gives you a springboard from which to make research or grant proposals.
5. Do not confuse minimum graduation requirements with requirements for scholarship. Fulbright scholarships, for example, require you to "be proficient in a language of the host country to communicate with the people and carry out the proposed study." Generally, that means, unless you are a native speaker, that you should have four solid years of college language training. The same principle applies to the sciences, or any other specialized course of study which requires mastery in specific skills.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Letters of recommendation are absolutely essential. One, however, wants to avoid the pro forma, one paragraph, generic letters. One also wants to avoid having a dearth of recommenders so that one must submit letters which are lukewarm or uninspired. The groundwork for letters should be laid down far in advance of any deadline. Moreover, recommenders should know what it is they are expected to highlight in a given letter. Marshall applications, for example, should stress one's academic potential; Rhodes, on the other hand, want to get, in addition to one's academic potential, a sense of the candidate's leadership qualities, community service, or athletic prowess.

Some guidelines:
1. Do NOT wait until the semester of the application to solicit letters. Letters should be solicited in the semester prior to when the application is to be submitted--this does not mean that the letter should necessarily be written at that time, but the promise and guarantee of a letter, as well as what the letter should stress and specify, should all be settled at that time.
2. If possible, solicit more recommendations than are required, and request that letters be sent to the scholarship coordinator. This allow someone sympathetic to your application to screen letters and choose which are most favorable. Even if a letter is not used, it can be cited by someone else or used as part of the institutional endorsement.
3. Make the job of your recommender as easy as possible by telling them what you need the letter for and what you would like them to stress.

FINDING RECOMMENDATIONS

It is all well and good to say that you should solicit a number of letters, but where to find such individuals? Here are some pieces of advice:
1. Do NOT lose touch with your high school mentor. Keep your high school mentor informed of your continuing progress. Particularly for freshmen and sophomores, who may not have yet developed strong ties to professors, a high school mentor can continue to be an invaluable recommender if that person is kept up to date with your activities.
2. Make arrangements for a letter of recommendation before completing any job, internship, or shortterm academic program. For example, if you intern on Capitol Hill, several weeks before your internship expires, sit down with your supervisor and ask for a letter to be drawn up. Ideally, the Congressman or Senator should sign the letter, but if that is not possible, than have the letter be sent by your supervisor. Such a letter should detail your duties and accomplishments. Ask that the letter be kept on file in the office and request several copies addressed to "whom it may concern" to hold as backups. You don't want to go back two years later and ask for a letter because what you will most likely get is the generic one paragraph useless recommendation. The same rules should apply to any study abroad program or anything that you do where you do not plan to have continuing contact with a professor, mentor, or supervisor.
3. Don't be an unknown in your classes. In the larger, core classes that you take in your freshman and sophomore years, ensure that the professor has an idea of who you are. This does not mean that you should be obsequious or that you should constantly visit or pester the professor, but he or she should have some idea of who are you and the quality of your work. This is especially important in those core classes which are gateways to your major field of study (e. g. history if you plan to be a history major, etc.)
4. Seek mentors. As you move into the upper division, and as your coursework becomes more specialized, you should find mentors--professors from whom you are taking more advanced classes and who are monitoring your progress. Again, this is why you want to concentrate on getting rid of your requirements as soon as possible because in the upper division as you specialize it is likely that you will begin taking more than one course from a particular professor. You will also want to become better acquainted with advisors or those who help in planning your course of study--directors of specific programs, activities, etc.
5. Do not neglect your ties to the larger community. Ministers, pastors, priests, rabbis, employment supervisors, volunteer coordinators, and coaches are all excellent sources of recommendations.

WRITTEN PROPOSALS

The written proposal(s) may differ from program to program, but there are usually common elements in all of them. These are the types of questions you should be pondering well in advance of deadlines:
1. Why have I chosen to study what I have studied? What have been the formative intellectual experiences--travel, books read, classes taken, family background?
2. What are the key experiences that have shaped me as an individual?
3. Why do I want this scholarship and for what purpose? This requires you to know something about the scholarship, about where you might want to study, and about possible degree programs--their requirements, length of time, relevance, etc.
4. What are some of my core ideas and beliefs?
5. Why am I a good investment for this scholarship? How can I provide a benefit to the larger community by being given this money?

By: Dr. Nikolas K. Gvosdev, Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies

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Strategies for Applying for Scholarships

Getting Ready
1. Start gathering material on yourself and build a file or resume.
Things to include:
• Grade point average, class standing, courses selected (know area of study)
• School and community activities (high school and college)
• Honors or awards (high school and college)
• Hobbies or interests
• Work or volunteer experience; special or unusual learning experiences
*Talk with someone about what you've done. Many times what you think is insignificant could be valuable on an application


2. Continue to examine and refine your personal goals.
• What are your educational and career goals?
• Where do you see yourself in five years from now?
• What are your three best characteristics?

3. Research scholarships for which you can meet the eligibility requirements.
Utilize these resources:
• Search for scholarships at opsf.byu.edu/Scholarships/SearchForms.aspx
• Use other online databases to find scholarships
• Peruse the books in the Honors Lounge

*Narrow your focus to the scholarships you are willing to spend time on. Familiarize yourself with the eligibility guidelines, application requirements, submission procedures, and deadlines.

4. Contact the Office of Prestigious Scholarships and Fellowships early in the game. We can help you find ways to be more competitive and offer advice on your application itself.

5. Contact at least three individuals (generally full-time faculty) to act as references. The best references generally come from instructors who have taught you recentlly, and better yet, have had you for more than one class. Check to see if they would be willing to write a strong letter of recommendation for you. Be sure to allow them at least a month to prepare the recommendation, and be sure to let them know what the deadlines are.

References carry a lot of weight; don't take them lightly!
• Pick references who will give you a good recommendation.
• If you have to choose between a reference with a prestigious title and a reference who knows you well, choose the reference who knows you well.
• Pick references who will get their letter submitted on time.
• Give references adequate information to write a good letter of recommendation-a copy of the scholarship application, your resume, a bulleted list of things you think they might want to emphasize, etc.

Beginning the Application Process
1. Start early.
Most scholarship applications require one or more of the following:
• Application form
• Personal essay
• Copy of your academic transcript
• Letters of recommendation
*Allow at least one month to complete the process. For some, it may take as long as a semester.

2. Complete the application form
It it best to obtain several copies and fill out a draft form before typing your final version.

3. Draft your essay(s)
• Don't expect your first essay to be perfect. Allow enough time to evaluate and rewrite several times.
• Have professors, mentors, advisors, and editors look over your essays
• Read the application aloud and check for overall sentence flow and tone.

Completing Your Application
1. Type it. Unless otherwise specified, your application should be typed. Presentation is important.

2. Mail it early. Play it safe and mail your application materials before the deadline.

3. Retain a copy for your records. Many essays can be used for other applications, including graduate school applications.

Source: opsf.byu.edu

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The Keys to Gaining a Prestigious Scholarship

While graduation seems like an eternity away, it will quickly creep up on you. Prepare yourself NOW with the keys of success so that you will be competitive for graduate schools, scholarships, and employers.

There are important things that you can do right now to prepare for your future. Graduate schools, scholarship committees, and employers look for students who have applied themselves; they look for students with excellent grades in challenging course work, service experience, good written and oral communication skills, leadership, and a broad perspective of the world. It is best to start to develop these traits early, possibly as a freshman, so that regardless of what you decide to do with your education, all doors will be open to you!

FIRST KEY: Strive for excellence in challenging classes. Go beyond getting good grades. A lot of scholarship organizations look for someone with a 3.9 GPA or higher! Take honors classes and other challenging courses and learn a foreign language. Committees are far more impressed with the student who has taken challenging course work than with the student who has straight A’s with unimpressive classes. REMEMBER: EDUCATION IS NEVER WASTED! Even if you are unsure about what you want to do with your life; keep all opportunities open by doing well in school.


SECOND KEY: Get work, internship, and volunteer experience in your field.
Many scholarship organizations look for the student who is intelligent AND who is willing to give back to the community. Sure the Rhodes Scholarship looks favorably at applicants who spend their summers solving hunger problems in Ethiopia, but do what you can manage—maybe just a couple of hours of service per week. BYU’s Center for Service and Learning (2010 WSC) offers several service opportunities for students on and off campus while the Kennedy Center (273 HRCB) has information on international internships and volunteer ideas. Be sure your summer experiences are enhancing activities that build your future scholarship application.

THIRD KEY: Get to know people, especially professors, advisors, administrators, and other employees. It is never too early to forge good relationships. Initiate contact by going to their offices with questions or comments. Get to know professors even if you are in a class of three hundred students. Professors are an invaluable resource as they will write you much needed letters of recommendation. Also, they often have projects they are working on, and they are looking for research assistants or teaching assistants. These relationships provide opportunities for career and scholarship networking, mentoring relationships, and potential references for the future.

FOURTH KEY: Develop a global perspective. Expand your knowledge of the world, people, places, and events in any way you can. Keep up on the news and read a variety of opinions. Read the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc. Learn to defend your views while also admitting the strengths in another’s argument. Take advantage of travel opportunities such as study abroad, work internships abroad, or other special programs. Start investigating your interests. If you are in a class and are very interested in that subject, talk to your professor about possible research opportunities. Prestigious scholarship organizations like students who have worked with professors on research projects…but make sure it is something that interests you as well!

FIFTH KEY: Seek out leadership positions that are important to you. Many opportunities in leadership exist. For example, you could apply to be on the council for your dorms. Honors Student Advisory Council also has spots open for underclassmen. BYU Student Association also looks for students to fill some of their positions as well. These positions will also be good stepping-stones for other leadership positions later in college.

SIXTH KEY: Get involved in interesting extra-curricular activities that are meaningful to you. Students who live in the library are not nearly as interesting as someone who sky-dives and starts his own sky-diving club. Some scholarships, such as the Rhodes, look at sports involvement. So aim to be a well-rounded individual.

SEVENTH KEY: Work on your communication skills. Many scholarships require interviews with multiple interviewers, so learn to be at ease answering questions on the spot.

EIGHTH KEY: Apply for large and small scholarships. Also consider submitting essays to writing contests or to publish your writing. Each small scholarship and award is a building block to a larger one.

NINTH KEY: Start early! Many scholarships have application periods several months in advance of the actual award and require extra preparation. So, know the eligibility requirements and deadlines for scholarships appropriate for your interests and goals. Allow plenty of time to write and revise your application before the due date.

Obtain faculty reviews of your application and revise, revise, revise! Be flexible in your plans, and apply for multiple scholarships.

TENTH KEY: Don’t give up if you don’t receive the scholarship. Many highly qualified people are turned down because there are so few of these prestigious scholarships to go around. Just find another award or opportunity that suits your interests.

With these valuable keys, you will be able to unlock many doors of opportunity which lead to a bright future. Just remember to focus on your own interests, and always pray for your own inspiration to know how best to take advantage of these opportunities.

Source: opsf.byu.edu

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Scholarship Resume and Letter

Scholarship resumes valuable tools to use when applying for scholarships. An employment resume does not give the same information as a scholarship resume.

1.To develop relevant and truthful information consider the following categories:

• Academic Achievements – include awards, principal list/honour roll standings, competitions entered and how you placed and courses taken outside of school. Include everything. You may discard some in your final draft.
• Athletic Achievements – include both school and community sports. List all awards, organizing events, participation in solo and team events, provincial/national teams, MVP awards, coaching, refereeing, scorekeeping, etc.
• Achievements in Visual and Performing Arts – record involvement in competitions, events and roles performed in drama, music, dance and art. Include competitions entered, awards won as well as art shows or exhibits in which you displayed your work or helped organizing.
• School involvement – include membership in any school-based clubs or committees such as leadership, students' council, peer tutoring, peer counselling, school volunteer experiences, graduation. List them into participant, president and initiatives taken.
• Community Involvement – list groups or clubs you are involved with outside of school. These might include: Scouts, Girl Guides, cadets, church groups, choirs bands, interest groups (Sierra), volunteer work. List them into participant, president and initiatives taken.


• Seminars/Conferences /Workshops – list date, event, place. Include leadership conferences, Encounters with Canada, Shad Valley, Deep River as well as sport workshops, theatre workshops, retreats, etc.
• Skills/Personal Attributes – list computer skills, languages spoken, Food Safe, First Aid, Squirrel, Super Host, Service Plus, lifeguard etc.
Interests – list anything which contributes to you being an interesting person such as reading, chess, music, carpentry, motocross racing etc.
• Work experiences and employment – starting with the most recent; list the year, name, phone number and a very brief summary of your position and duties.
• Career Plans – briefly describe short and long-term goals. Short-term plans are anything up to 1 year after the completion of high school; long-term plans include up to 5 years after high school. You may want to include post-secondary training and where you see yourself working in the long run.

2. To categorize your information and develop the correct order, consider the following:

• Academic Achievements – start with the most recent. If there is more than one achievement in a given year, list the most significant one first. If some achievements span several years (e.g. Honour Roll standing 2000-02), put the longest-term achievements first. Remember that achievements that are most current go at the beginning.
• Athletic Achievements – group by sport or activity. Within each grouping, begin with the most recent achievement or activity.
• Achievements in Visual and Performing Arts – group by category (dance, music, drama, photography) and within each grouping, begin with the most recent achievement or activity.
• School Involvement – group by activity. Within each activity, begin with the most recent involvement.
• Community Involvement – group by activity. Within each activity, begin with the most recent involvement.
• Seminars/Conferences/Workshops – begin with the most recent.
Work experiences and employment – begin with the most recent.

3. To edit your draft information, consider the following:

• Eliminate data that falls into the padding or exaggeration category.
• Be concise.
• Do not include any negative information or weaknesses.
• Interview questions are based on the information that you have included.
• Be prepared to discuss anything you have written about.

4. To format your final document:

• If possible, keep it to one page.
• Use bullets, underlining, bold fonts, capitals and italics to highlight significant information unless sending the info electronically. If creating a letter, use full sentences.
• Be sure there is enough white space throughout.
• Use a laser printer if possible.
• SPELL CHECK and PROOF READ. Have someone else proofread your work!
• Use good quality white or neutral coloured paper.
• Do not use more than 2 different fonts and use size 12 for main text.

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How to find scholarships through the internet

This is information on how to find scholarships through the internet.

Step 1: Write down all clubs, extracurriculars, volunteer projects, awards that you were given. Remember! Make yourself stand out. If you have worked in a soup kitchen every Thanksgiving for four years let them know! Colleges love to see applicants who stick with projects throughout their high school careers. If you were a officer in a club this is especially important as well.

Step 2: After gathering up your qualifications go to your perspective colleges website. Most colleges will have a financial aid section on their website. Check there first, scholarships are considered financial aid.

Step 3: Secondly, look for the department that your major falls into Ex. Criminal Justice. Go to their section of the schools website they will have scholarships and honor programs listed there.


Step 4: Also, you can check a popular website called www.Fastweb.com This website is recommended by www.finaid.org which is full of useful info. You will create an account on fastweb, but it is worth it because it narrows down what you qualify for and presents them to you with deadlines!

Step 5: Lastly, apply apply apply! This will probably require writing essays and really putting yourself out there, but in the end it is worth it!

By ehow.com

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How to Prepare for a Scholarship Interview

Applying for college scholarships takes organization and preparation. Once the process of evaluating your scholarship application is done, you may get called in for an interview. The interview is extremely important because the scholarship board determines how much you deserve a scholarship. How well you prepare for the interview determines your success when meeting with the scholarship board.

The following tips by ehow might be useful for those who attending the scholarship interview.

Step 1:
Research important aspects of what you plan on majoring in during college. Find out how well this field is growing and what you can offer once you graduate. Interviewers want reasons for why you are choosing a specific field of study.

Step 2:
Write down why you deserve a college scholarship. List your positive attributes and contributions and practice talking about them with a friend or family member.

Step 3:
Know your personal philosophies and beliefs. College scholarship interview panels want proof of dedication to your field of study by checking that you’ve given some thought to your future major.

Step 4:
Prepare for questions about your financial standing if interviewing for a need-based scholarship. These questions may seem embarrassing, but the interview panel needs proof that you do need financial help for college.


Step 5:
Gather and organize all necessary material you plan on bringing to the interview. The scholarship board may tell you what they want but if they don’t, then bring along a portfolio, extra recommendations and a resume if you have one.

Step 6:
Review answers to basic questions the night before your interview. Make sure that your answers show why you deserve a college scholarship.

Step 7:
Dress for success by planning your outfit the night before. Don’t wear anything trendy or sloppy. Men should stick with dress pants, dress shirt and tie, while women should choose a dress or pant suit.

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How to write a recommendation letter

Recommendation letters are letters written by professors who know you, assessing you capacity to meet the requirements of a program you are applying for. They're supposed to help decision-makers to get a better picture of your potential. The sure thing is, if you apply for a Master program, or for a PhD, sometimes even for a summer school, you can not avoid them. Another part of the harsh reality is that due to different reasons, if you are a student in Eastern Europe you will often find yourself in the position to write these letters yourself. The professor will, in this case, only proof-read and sign the text. Incase you belong to the lucky ones who don't have to write recommendation letters themselves, you should still read this section.You will find useful hints about how to handle properly this delicate part of the application process.

How to deal with them. Usually, recommendation letters have to bewritten on especially designed sheets of paper that come as part ofyour application form. In some cases, letters on letterhead will beaccepted, if for some reasons, you can use those special pieces ofpaper. Read carefully what has been written in the application booklet about such situations. Fill in the fields at the beginning at the formthat ask for your name, department, etc. Take the forms to a professor who knows you and is familiar with your skills or activity. Allow the professor as much time as possible (ideally 2-3 weeks) to write yourletter.


Try to make sure the professor is aware of who you are, whatyour interests are and understands what you are applying for. A small talk when you are handing the recommendation forms or a printed summary of all that that accompanies the forms can help to this respect. Try,with politeness and attention, to make sure the professor will write you a recommendation in warm terms. Recommendations tend to be, eventhough not always, somewhat bombastic in vocabulary. If you ever get your eyes on such a text, you might upgrade the opinion you had about yourself. Be prepared with envelope and stamps, in case the professor wants to send the letter him-or herself. You should also read the related lines from the application booklet about this point. Some universities prefer to receive the recommendation letters together withthe rest of the application, while some would rather get them separately, sent directly by the professor who recommends you. It isusual practice that envelopes are signed by the professor over the lid,in such a way that one cannot open the envelope without deteriorating the lid. In order to increase the confidence the recruiters put in theletter when you have to send the recommendation together with the restof the application, we advise you to request such a signature and/or anofficial seal.

Content. Sometimes, a busy professor will suggest more or less directlythat you produce a first draft of the text that he or she will correctand sign. In other cases, this is the only way you can get a letter that differs from the standard text every student gets from that professor. Our goal is not to discuss the reality of Eastern European campuses here. Still, if you think you might be offended by the practice of writing your own recommendation letters, it is probably better that you do not read the rest of the text.

A recommendation letter ideally starts by stating the name of the professor who writes the letter and his/her title, together with thename of the student for whom the letter is written. The professor should also state since when has s/he known the students: year, classor other activity. It should in any case be clear that the professor had the opportunity to get to know the student well and assess his/her capabilities.

The assessment of the student's capabilities should be made from amultiple point of view over the next 3-4 paragraphs. From aprofessional point of view, it should give account of the student's knowledge, interests and capabilities, activities and results, workcapacity, etc. Personally, it should assess the student's personal characteristics, character, social skills, his or her relations withthe students and professors. Same as in other application documents,the direction should be from facts/experience to qualifications, andfrom those, to value judgments. Especially those skills relevant forthe desired program should be outlined throughout the paper.

The final paragraph should provide an overall assessment of the student's potential to fulfill the requirements of the program, eventhough partial judgments can and should be provided in the body of theletter.

Some of the graduate study programs supply you with forms for the recommendation letters that ask the professor to ask a number of specific questions about your skills and qualifications. Sometimes, space for the answer is allowed after each question, and there is where the answers should be written, rather than on a separate sheet of paper. Other times, the questions come as a block, an in this case youhave the option to answer the question still in the form of a letter. Should you chose this option, make sure the letter answers clearly every single question, preferably in the order in which they are askedon the form.

Don't forget to write the date and the name of the home university. The name of the program you are applying for should come out explicitly inthe body of the text, in order to make clear that the letter has been written for that occasion. Unless the format of the paper on which the letter should be written makes this difficult, you can print the text.Even better, have the text on a disk with you, in case the professor will consider any changes necessary. Be ready to give the professor time to read your draft and make those changes.

Most recommendation forms contain a certain number of fields, themultiple-choice kind, where the professor has to assess, by checking cells, your abilities. Make sure those fields are checked and inser tthe text in the place left for additional remarks. We strongly suggest that you do not leave blank that portion of the form, but use itinstead as a self-standing recommendation letter.

Good luck.

Source: http://www.eastchance.com/howto/rec_let.asp

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To Be Good Candidate for Scholarship Competition

Being competitive for a scholarship competition generally requires the same type of preparation asked of strong graduate school and job applicants. As a result, if you are laying a strong foundation for the career you intend to pursue, you will likely be a good candidate for scholarships in your field.

Start early! Many scholarships have application periods several months in advance of the actual award, and require extra preparation. Check out those lines below for further information on how to be a good scholarship candidate and maximize your chances of winning.


How to be a good candidate for scholarships?

» Strive for excellence in challenging classes. Go beyond getting good grades.
» Get to know people, especially professors, advisors, administrators, employers. These relationships provide opportunities for career and scholarship networking, mentoring relationships, and potential references for the future.
» Get work, internship and volunteer experience in your field or in other fields of interest to you.
» Expand your knowledge of the world, people, places and events in any way you can- by reading traveling, or participating in intercultural events, etc.
» Get involved in interesting extra-curricular activities that are meaningful to you.
» Seek out leadership positions within groups/activities that are important to you.
» Keep up on the news, and read a variety of opinions. Learn to defend your views and and admit the strengths in others’ arguments.

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Top Ten Tips for Winning Scholarship Applications

Ever wonder what the folks who award the scholarships want to see? FastWEB has polled scholarship providers across the country, asking for their tips on applying for scholarships.

Tip #1: Apply only if you are eligible.

Read all the scholarship requirements and directions carefully and make sure that you are eligible before you send in your application. Your application won't make one bit of difference if you are not qualified to apply.

Tip #2: Complete the application in full.

Be sure to complete the entire application. If a question does not apply, note that on the application. Don't just leave it blank.

Tip #3: Follow directions.

Provide everything that is required, but do not supply things that are not requested - you could be disqualified.

Tip #4: Neatness counts.

Make a couple of photocopies of all the forms you receive. Use the copies as working drafts as you develop your application packet. Always type the application, or if you must print, do so neatly and legibly.

Tip #5: Make sure your essay makes an impression.

The key to writing a strong essay is to be personal and specific. Include concrete details to make your experience come alive: the 'who,' 'what,' 'where,' and 'when' of your topic. The simplest experience can be monumental if you present honestly how you were affected.


Tip #6: Watch all deadlines.

To help keep yourself on tract, impose a deadline for yourself that is at least two weeks prior to the stated deadline. Use this 'buffer time' to proofread your application before you send it off.

Don't send the materials in late; the committee will refuse late applications. We do not allow extensions.

Tip #7: Take steps to make sure your application gets where it needs to go.

Before sending the application, make a copy of the entire packet and keep it on file. If your application goes astray, you can always reproduce it quickly. Make sure your name appears on all pages of the application. Pieces of your application may get lost unless they are clearly identified.

Tip #8: Give it a final 'once-over.'

Proofread the entire application carefully. Be on the lookout for misspelled words or grammatical errors. Ask a friend, teacher, or parent to proofread it as well.

Tip #9: Ask for help if you need it.

If you have problems with the application, visit the school's Scholarship Office.

Tip #10: Remember: Your scholarship application represents you!

Your ability to submit a neat, timely, complete application reflects on you. It's your face to this organization. Take pride in yourself by submitting the best application you can.

Kay Peterson, Ph.D. at FastWeb

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Winning the Scholarship Award

Searching for and finding scholarships is only the first half of the process. You still need to apply for each scholarship you are trying to win. Applying for scholarships can be time consuming and takes dedication and motivation. But the thousands of dollars you could receive makes the effort worthwhile. Below are some hints to help you apply for and win scholarships.

Be proactive

No one is going to track you down to give you a scholarship; you need to do the legwork yourself. So when you find awards with eligibility criteria that you can meet, contact the provider and request a scholarship application packet. Whether you have to request the application via email, phone or by sending in a self-addressed stamped envelope, do it. There’s just no other way to get the ball rolling than to be proactive and assertive in requesting information for yourself.

Be timely

Almost all scholarship providers set deadlines, and you MUST adhere to them. Make sure you have all materials submitted before the deadline. If the scholarship deadline is approaching and you have not yet even received the application packet that you requested four weeks earlier, follow-up with the provider and request the application packet again. You do not want to miss a deadline, as most scholarship providers do not consider late applicants.


Be organized

Good organizational skills can really pay off - literally! Keep your applications ordered by deadline date and give yourself plenty of time to complete them and send them in well before the due date. Keep letters of recommendation and transcripts on hand so you don’t have to obtain new ones every time they are required for an application. Make copies of your completed applications before sending them in, and file them in folders labeled with the deadline date and the mailing address and phone number of the scholarship provider. Call before the deadline to see if your scholarship application was received. If it got lost in the mail, (the postal service is not perfect!) you still have an extra copy you can send in.

Be persistent

The scholarship search process doesn’t just happen overnight. You must be diligent about looking for new scholarships to apply for. Plan to spend several hours each month reviewing the scholarship programs with deadlines approaching, preparing application packets, and getting the applications in the mail on time. And then the cycle should begin again - finding scholarships, sending away for application information, and applying in an organized, timely manner.

Be positive

Finally, believe in yourself and in your chances of winning a scholarship. Hard work and time spent on the scholarship process will pay off eventually. Keep your chin up and think about how great the reward will be if you can land even one of the scholarships you’re trying for! After all, your education depends on it!

Scholarshipexperts.com

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Tips for Winning that Study Abroad Scholarship

Want to study abroad in college but don't have the cash to do it on your own? Check out scholarship opportunities for scholarships - just about every study abroad program offers them to college students.

Here are some tips for finding and getting the study abroad scholarship for college students.

1. Spend an afternoon researching study abroad opportunities for college students. Many opportunities are available to students of a certain year, major or for a particular destination. If you don't have a destination in mind, then you are certainly the most flexible in that regard. Since most scholarship programs require either a suitable GPA or a well-written essay, you may need to spend a few semesters working on your grades.

2. If you have your heart set on traveling to a particular country, you can narrow your search down by searching for scholarships that are unique to study abroad college opportunities that enable students to travel to that country. Many private organizations make funds available for this purpose.


3. Look into scholarships for students that have your major. Especially is you major in a foreign language, then a whole world of study abroad opportunities for a college semester become available to you. Narrowing your search not only helps you identify applicable and likely scholarship opportunities, but it helps you to narrow the competition as well.

4. Consult the study abroad office of your college or university. Chances are, your school offers scholarship opportunities only for matriculating students. Usually, these scholarships are only for a few hundred dollars, but combined with another scholarship, they can be particularly useful for students who wish to study abroad ... at least they'll purchase a plane ticket!

5. Look for scholarships for education that are not limited to study abroad programs. Many opportunities for funding abound in the form of work-study, scholarships and grants. It may take some investigation, but with a little hard work, you should be able to tap into the wealth of funds available for students wishing to study abroad while in college.

6. If all else fails, why not look into work abroad programs. For both graduates and undergraduates, many schools have information on work abroad programs in the study abroad office. These programs vary - from connecting you with organizations that provide temporary labor to educations organizations that require you to teach English to the natives in a foreign country. Enrolling in a study abroad program might be the most common way for college students to travel abroad, but it's not the only way. Look into which options are best for you and your financial situation.

By Shawbelt

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How To Determine the Best Graduate Schools

You thought deciding to go to graduate school was hard? Wait until you start to narrow down the schools to which you want to apply. With the proliferation in programs across the United States, the increased competitiveness of the job market, and the downturn in the economy, applications to graduate schools are skyrocketing. Therefore, it's crucial to pick the right schools for you and for your goals, and to manage the application process masterfully in order to maximize your chances for success. Here's how to start the ball rolling by creating a list of the top schools, according to your needs and goals:

1.Clarify your goals. Why are you going to graduate school? What do you hope to accomplish with your master's degree? It's crucial to know this with certainty in order to ascertain whether a given program can help you get there.

2.Start by ruling out the "undesirables." Are there qualities or traits of a school's location that might be deal-breakers for you? For instance, if your spouse is an air traffic controller and needs to find work, you don't want to consider a school in a city without a major airport. If you have asthma, you probably want to focus your search on schools that aren't in cities with high concentrations of air pollutants and smog.


3.Next, list the traits and qualities you'd prefer to see in your school choice and location. These aren't needs so much as they are "wants." You may have to abandon one to get another, so it helps to really examine your priorities. Do you prefer an urban environment or a smaller town? Are you more interested in a coastal location or a mountainous one, or do you not care? What about cultural events and social opportunities, such as museums, professional ball teams, the opera, ballet, night life, etc.?

4.Now that you have a picture of your "dream school," it's time to get to work narrowing down the field of candidates. Consider using an online tool, such as that offered by Princeton Review. These tools can assist you in identifying the factors that are most important to you, bringing you closer to forming a list of schools to consider. You will make progress narrowing down a huge field of potential contenders to a more manageable list.

5.Next, assess the academic integrity and prestige of each candidate school. If you want to study philosophy, you will want to consider a school with a brand new philosophy department with some caution. Use print and online resources to evaluate a program's academic rigor. Assign a numerical value to each school based on your research, such as 1 through 10, with 1 being "unacceptable" and 10 being "top-ranked."

6.Evaluate the faculty. Do you have a subspecialty or topic you're particularly interested in studying? Look for schools that employ professors who have published in this area or topic. Again, assign a rating to the school based on what you find for this factor, 1 through 10.

7.Talk to current and former students. What is the student life like? What opportunities exist for internships or other work experience? If teaching assistantships will be necessary for your funding package, explore the availability of this type of position. How have graduates of this program been received in your field? Assign a numerical rating to the school based on each factor that's important to you.

8.Finally, assess the cost. Don't forget to include items such as room and board, books, travel requirements, and fees. Rank each school from most expensive to least. Now that you've amassed this collection of information, you'll need a way to assess it in order to come up with a short-list of schools which you will visit and explore further, and to which you will eventually apply.

9.Rule out the schools that do not meet your academic needs. If the school doesn't offer a PhD program and you will require that option, strike it from your list. Likewise, strike schools that are located in areas that are not under consideration.

10.Rank the remaining schools based on your evaluation factors above - the wants, the academics, the faculty, the student life, and the cost. Take into consideration the factors that are more important to you. Academic concerns should be of utmost importance. For instance, if you prefer a coastal area, but really ought to have a school with a particular research facility, then put the inland school on the list.

Now, you should have a better idea of which schools are your top contenders. You can proceed to visit the schools and manage your application process to each of them. Hopefully, it will be a simple matter to pick your highest-ranked choice from all the many schools that accept you.

By Sheryl Schelin

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How To Win a Scholarship Essay Contest

How to win a contest in scholarship eassy? hundreds of scholarship essays have been established and can provide an excellent source of funds with which to finance a college education. But to get those funds, you have to submit a winning essay. Here are some tips to help give you a winning way with words:


1.Take it seriously. Treat this as seriously as you would any school requirement for graduation. Don't expect to simply jot off a few lines the week before the entries are due and expect to dazzle the judges with your brilliance. Sloppy work shows in the finished product. Attention to detail, on the other hand, and mastery of technical elements can mean the difference between a good winning essay and a brilliant, but losing, one.

2.Pay close attention to deadlines. Enter all deadlines in your calendar, PDA, or day planner, and schedule reminders of those deadlines in the following increments: 1 month, 2 weeks, 1 week, and 2 days. Every week, review the upcoming deadlines to ensure that you do not miss an entry postmark deadline and thereby waste all your hard work on an ineligible entry. Also schedule deadlines on an interim basis for your use. Include deadlines for topic generation, drafting a thesis, drafting an outline, a first draft, marking revisions, a 2nd draft, readings by others (if permitted), and a final draft.


3.Note carefully all requirements. If the rules specify double-spaced, 12 point type, and a 2 page limit, then even the most brilliant essay will lose if it's single-spaced 10 point type and clocks in at five pages. Therefore, it's a good idea to establish your document parameters first thing upon opening your document in your word processing program. When you save your document, you will then lock in those requirements, and it should be a simple matter of keeping track of word count and page numbers thereafter.

4.Brainstorm ideas. Go for quantity, not quality of ideas. That may sound counterintuitive, but a surefire way to lose an essay contest is to lock in too early on what seems like a winning thesis, but which later turns out to be a dud incapable of generating sufficient excitement and heat.
List as many ideas as you can in one one-hour brainstorming session. Then take a break - do something physical and repetitive, such as walk around the block or lift weights or shoot hoops. Then return to your list and go for another hour. You'll be surprised how many more ideas simply "pop up" after the break.


After your brainstorming session, take a break of a few days or more, then return to the list with a fresh and critical perspective to select the point you will develop into your thesis. Repeat the process with your thesis statement, as well, after you select the idea behind it.

5.Do your research. Whatever time you estimate it will take for research, consider starting earlier and doubling it. It is far easier to do too much research and winnow your content down than to desperately search for a needed quote the day before your entry is due to be postmarked.

6.Organize your notes. Attribute quotes and sources meticulously. If you have questions about how to do this, talk to your current English teacher, or seek assistance from a homework website. This is a crucial point; failure to attribute properly can turn into an allegation of plagiarism at worst, or sloppy scholarship at best, and will cost an otherwise meritorious essay the winning slot.

7.Develop your essay with the donor in mind. This does not mean to slant your views to curry favor with the judges. It simply means to keep in mind the donating entity's purpose and identity when drafting your essay. Look to the history of the group or any individual with whom it is associated for potential "filler" material, such as quotes or anecdotes. However, do be sure that the filler suits your essay and doesn't appear to have been thrown in casually just to score points.

8.Be absolutely meticulous about grammar, spelling, and typography. Errors in these departments are easy to miss, but also easy to fix, and extremely costly. Take at least three critical read-through opportunities to catch them all. Use a red pen to make your correction notes. Use one read-through for spelling or word choice mistakes, one for grammar, and one for typographical errors. Finally, it should go without saying, but do not under any circumstances rely on your word processing spell-check software.

9.Raise the bar for yourself. Challenge yourself to exceed your past standards with this essay. Aim for elegant prose that embodies your best, truest voice. Do not attempt to mimic another person's style, but do allow yourself to be inspired by other great writers.

By Sheryl Schelin

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