8 Tips That Will Save the Day When You’re Applying for a Scholarship

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Career Advancement

The key to your educational future starts with the successful application of scholarships. It is one of the only ways to ensure that you aren’t saddled with crippling student loan debts. To create the most successful scholarship submissions, follow the eight tips below. You can also find more in-depth tips at recommended websites, so visit now.

8. You Don’t Need The Biggest Amount

It can be tempting to only apply to scholarships that have the largest award. As attractive as this may be, you’re missing the benefits of smaller scholarships. They can add up and surpass the amount of the big awards, and in some cases are easier to attain. Scholarship amounts matter, but should not be the priority during submission. Remember, the larger the award, the more competitive it is. A small scholarship may not be much on its own, yet it is still valuable for daily expenses. No one is going to turn down money that can pay for books, living expenses and supplies. The entire idea is to offset college costs, no matter how small the amount.

7. Pay Attention To The Rules

A good number of applications are automatically disqualified for not following the rules. Ignoring the rules will bring your scholarship chances down to zero, regardless of the quality. And this tip goes for all of the rules, not just some of them. You can’t just pick and choose which rules in a submission suits your style. This is the easiest way to get your submission thrown in the trash without a single person glancing at it. It can be tempting to try something different in the hopes that it will stand out from the other applicants. The only thing this does is put you in the discard pile with like minded hopefuls.

6. Check Out Local Scholarships

Local scholarships are easier to get since the talent pool is minimized. The only downside is that they’re harder to find. You have to actively search for local scholarships and fulfill their strict requirements. This is a little different from regular scholarships since it is made for the benefit of local education. For some potential students, getting one of these awards will decide their final college choice. Use local scholarships as a way to secure funding for one of your local college choices. Just remember to doublecheck all of the requirements for any significant changes that would affect your eligibility.

5. Stay Away From Quotes

Quoting people is a bit of a habit for students that have to submit essays for scholarships. Submission types for a scholarship will vary, but the general idea is that they want to know about you. That becomes increasingly hard when you are quoting a bunch of people instead of using your own words. Aspire to be the person that people quote, and you’re more likely to be awarded. There are multiple people in the running that will recycle the most popular quotes in an internet search. By avoiding that trap, you’ll stand out and look like an original application. Your submission will be more memorable than one that uses a bunch of canned quotes.

4. Go For The High Requirements

The higher the requirement, the less competition you will face. Applications that require a lot of work are ignored when students want a simpler submission. This is especially true for awards that require additional components like video, audio or other presentations. If time isn’t a factor, use this to your advantage. But don’t get consumed with the idea of only applying to scholarships with high requirements. This is similar to the #8 tip, so be wary of your other choices when searching for awards. Having a balance with your choices is much better than putting all your eggs in one basket.

3. Don’t Go Over The Word Limit

This is one of the most commonly broken rules with scholarship submissions. Technically, it is also one of the most broken rules with writing in all forms. Every organization has a reason for putting in a word limit. Your job as the applicant is to not question why the word limit exists. Try to get as close to the limit as possible, but don’t go over. Exceeding the word limit breaks one of the requirements and could disqualify your submission. Compact what you want to say so that it remains readable and within the listed requirements.

2. Be Yourself

Scholarships are awarded to the compatible, needy and unique. Plenty of people are compatible, and there are loads more that qualify as needy. Finding someone unique is what really wins over an organization. Try not to copy and paste answers when applying to multiple scholarships. The time you save by being uncreative will prevent you from showing why you actually deserve the award. The best way to prevent this from happening is by applying to scholarships that match your personal interests. By keeping things familiar, you’ll always have an interesting story to tell. It will also prevent burn out when applying for multiple scholarship programs.

1. Always Submit Early

Early submissions stop you from sending in rushed answers to an application. The due date can be tricky for procrastinators, so part of the game is to ignore it. Your personal due date should be a week before the deadline. This applies to all scholarships, even those that have an extended deadline for late submissions. You never know when showing initiative will grant you the luck of the draw with an award. If your submission is equal in performance to another student, which one do you think they will choose? Make a name for yourself by proving you respect and understand time management.

Wrap Up

After college, the last thing you want is thousands of dollars of debt. Scholarships make it much easier to leave school with a clean break. You get to focus on life instead of stressful crippling debt. Take your time with each submission to tactfully lower college costs.

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