The high cost of education has led many to give up so easily in pursuing their dreams. So, it’s important to know how to get a scholarship in order to make that dream of yours possible.
Getting a scholarship is a great way to cover for a lot of expenses and decrease students loan. In this article, we are going to look at the best ways on how to get a scholarship.
Before we continue, it’s important you understand the difference between a scholarship and a grant as most people use these interchangeably, as well as the different scholarships that are available.
Grant
Grants and scholarship are both termed “gift aid” because they offer money that doesn’t get to be paid back. Still, grants and scholarship still have their differences. In most cases, grants are based on need while scholarships are based on merit. Both forms of aid can come from private organization, universities, colleges and government. Let’s look at the steps on how to get scholarships.
Different Scholarships Available
There are various kinds of scholarship out there based on different factors. There are different ways to get scholarships, we are going to look at some of the most common ones available.
Academic Achievement
These scholarships are decided based on merit, that is, it has a minimum requirement for GPA and are very competitive. It is obviously important to have a good academic record in order to get scholarships.
Sports
These scholarships are based on your athletic skills, where you will be required to play for their team to get the scholarship.
First Generation
These scholarships are based on whether you are the first person in your family to attend college, this could earn you a first generation scholarship
Underrepresented group scholarship
These scholarships are reserved for minority groups, females, and refugees etc. These scholarships are awarded based on their demographics. In order to get scholarships, you need to be a minority in the area.
Finding the right scholarship for you
Just like anything you want to do, you must carry out a survey, a research, you can call it anything you wish but to get something you must be prepared for it and thus must research about it and this is no different. There are different ways you can go about finding the right scholarship for you. These include
- Searching online
- Taking to a counselor
- Register for a scholarship search
- Talk to people in Facebook forums
- Asking family and friends etc.
- Compiling the requirements
Applying for a scholarship can be tedious, but it is important to be organized and keep in mind that all scholarships have deadlines that must be met with its different requirements.
The best thing you can do is to keep the various universities you are going to apply for organized in a spreadsheet along with its deadlines and requirements. Here are some common documents most scholarship request for.
Cover letter
These are written to the committee assessing the scholarship to help them get background information on the applicants, and this provides you an opportunity to explain why you deserve to get the scholarship.
Transcript
Most scholarship usually request for a transcript from your high school or from your previous university to help them look at the list of your entire coursework along with its accompanying grade. It is important you have high grade in order to get scholarship.
Essays
Some scholarships usually request you to one or two essays with a given word count. These will give you a chance to really stand out from your peers. A good, compelling and honest story is usually what it takes to get scholarships.
Resume
it is usually necessary to have a well organized resume when applying for scholarships. This offers a documentation on everything you are good at doing.
Recommendation letter
It is usually easier to trust someone that is recommended, you will need to find someone that knows you well that will write a recommendation letter for your scholarship as most scholarship require this.
As earlier stated, each scholarship requirement will vary and so you must be prepared with whatever requirement that may be needed.
Use human resources
Having a mentor during your scholarship process and indeed throughout your university is very important as their will guild you on how to get scholarships and other academic pursuits. When you are applying for the scholarships, you can ask this person to review your scholarship and provide feedback. You can also contact the university that you are applying for or even the founder and ask any questions you may have.