Three Tips to Applying for Scholarships

I received a few questions recently about how to apply for scholarships. Most of these questions ‎have to do with misunderstandings regarding an applicant’s relevant background, so I’m posting ‎a previous article below with a few updates.‎

Winning a scholarship involves both effort and time. Many people dream and talk a lot about what ‎they’ll do to get a scholarship, but find themselves daunted by the requirements. The result is ‎that they don’t even bother applying or, worse, they apply for the wrong program. All scholarships ‎are worth the effort but not all scholarships should be applied for. With some scholarships ‎valued at over $100,000, the months of effort are really worth it! So how does one apply for a ‎competitive scholarship?
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Tip #1: When you hear about a scholarship opportunity, read all of the available information about ‎the scholarship and its eligibility requirements. Make sure that you are applying for the right ‎scholarship. If you meet the eligibility requirements, then you should submit an application form ‎and all the necessary supporting documents. If you don’t meet the requirements, then don’t ‎apply. Special note: Keep in mind that most scholarships require high grade point averages. This ‎is the basic part of a candidate’s background and profile package. “Check if you are eligible to ‎apply for it or not. It is important to read and go through the conditions carefully and then check if ‎you are able to meet them.” Hamid Al Thairi, U.S. Department of State Fulbright grantee ‎completing his master’s degree study at Oakland University
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Tip #2: Be organized, complete, and neat. Once you have determined that this is the right ‎scholarship, read the scholarship’s stated conditions and instructions repeatedly until you are ‎sure that you have completed every step properly. If the application says fill out every question, ‎then fill out every question even if the question doesn’t apply to you. You didn’t have required civil ‎service? Then write “not applicable.” Don’t leave questions blank for the reader to guess the ‎answer, because chances are the reader has many applications to review, won’t bother to ‎guess, and will just put aside the application as incomplete. ‎
For the same reasons, don’t submit a messy, torn, bent or hard-to-read application. If you don’t ‎take the effort and time to fill out the application both completely and neatly, that sends a strong ‎message to the selection committee that you’re not very interested in the opportunity. “If you ‎have the credentials like good grades, you should be enthusiastic and ambitious. I worked hard ‎and I wanted it, so I got it! One of the most important characteristics is to be organized. No one ‎can help you with everything. You have to help yourself, and that prepares you for your program ‎when you have to be responsible and handle your life by yourself.” Ahmed Saleh, U.S. ‎Department of State Youth Exchange and Study alumnus
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Tip #3: Get good recommendations and follow the process for getting the recommendations. If ‎the instructions require that the recommendation forms are to be sent in a sealed envelope, ‎make sure the recommender seals the envelope with his/her signature and stamp. “The ‎recommendation letters are very important for scholarship programs…I think that my American ‎professors wrote good things about me that convinced the admissions here team to take me.” – ‎Farouk Al Salihi, U.S. Department of State PLUS alumnus, and MBI Al Jaber Foundation ‎alumnus of the London School of Economics

Extra Tip: Try again for the right opportunities. If you don’t succeed the first time, don’t worry. ‎Look back on the process and see what you can do to improve yourself for the next round. Or ‎check out a more appropriate opportunity. Keep in mind that every successful person has also ‎experienced failure and the truly successful always note that failure is the key to their success. ‎Real failure is only failure when we don’t get back up and try again. Yusuf Bamahra, a U.S. ‎Department of State Fulbright alumnus adds: “If you are qualified, don’t give up if you apply and ‎do not succeed; instead you should apply as many times as it takes to get nominated.”
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Good luck on your journey!‎