Searching for Scholarships? Don’t Make These Common Mistakes

Scholarships are one of the most cost-effective ways to pay for college, and there are hundreds of them available if you know where to look. Finding a scholarship opportunity, however, is only half the struggle. Your application will determine whether or not you do the scholarship happy dance. To ensure you submit a winning application, we’ve listed the most common scholarship application mistakes that you should avoid and come up with a handful of strategies to prevent them below.

Don’t Miss the Deadline

Missing deadlines is one of the easiest scholarships mistakes to avoid. It can be tough to submit all of your scholarship applications on time, especially when each programme has a different deadline. Start researching eligible scholarships well in advance of your chosen study period (a full year ahead if possible), and then construct a calendar to organise your workload and prioritise the most urgent submissions.

Failure to Respond to the Scholarship Essay Question

Failure to address the scholarship essay question is one of the most prevalent scholarship application mistakes – and one that can severely reduce your chances of success. If you’re applying for many scholarships (which is a fantastic idea), you might be tempted to utilise the same essay or personal statement that you used for university applications. However, the scholarship essay committee will be searching for submissions that clearly answer the question given, so it is well worth the time to create a new piece for each scholarship application.

Failure to Capture the Reader’s Attention

Even if you’ve precisely addressed the scholarship essay question and removed every last fault from your text, you’ll face another challenge: the enormous volume of applications each committee will receive. To stand out from the crowd, you must ensure that your application captures the reader’s attention and keeps him/her engaged. Begin with a strong remark and keep your writing vibrant throughout. Keep paragraphs short and connected, and make them memorable by including pertinent details, quotes, or instances. For more info on how to avoid this scholarship mistake, check out our blog on how to write a great scholarship application.

Applying for Scholarships for Which You are Ineligible

There are thousands of scholarship programmes around the world, each with its own set of eligibility requirements. Sifting through the possibilities to identify those that are appropriate is a monumental process, and you may be tempted to submit some applications without thoroughly reviewing the requirements. Unfortunately, even if you write the world’s best application essay, you will not be successful if you apply for scholarships for which you are ineligible. Instead, use scholarship listings and databases to find programmes that are a good fit for you.

Uploading Incompatible Files

When submitting attachments, scholarship providers should ideally identify the type of file to upload, such as word document, pdf, etc. If they do, make sure you follow it or risk having your application rejected because the file is incompatible.

Submitting an Incomplete Application

It’s all too easy to overlook a question or forget to upload a document when working on an application, especially for scholarships with multiple prerequisites. To prevent making this error:

• Before you begin, carefully read the criteria.
• Create a list of all the prerequisites (including any specific documents that need to be included)
• Check your checklist before submitting the application to ensure that nothing has fallen between the cracks.

Go through this checklist for scholarship application to avoid this scholarship mistake.

Providing Wrong Contact Details

The most popular method of awarding scholarships is by email. Most scholarship givers will tell the winner by email, and if they do not hear back within a reasonable amount of time, they may attempt to contact the winner over the phone if they are feeling nice. More than likely, they will simply go on to the next student on the list. To avoid this scholarship mistake, you must supply accurate contact information as well as an email address that you check on a regular basis.

Not Applying at All!

Due to a variety of myths and misconceptions, a surprising amount of students do not apply for scholarships at all. Students frequently believe they have no chance of success, that the procedure will take too long, or that there is no scheme available that matches their experience and objectives.

So, were you guilty of making these common mistakes when searching for scholarships? Let us know in the comments below.

Scholarships can make your study abroad journey very cheap and easy, so always pitch for them while giving your best. To read more such blogs about scholarships, check Leverage Edu.