Every year, post-secondary education costs seem to rise, forcing many students to struggle with their expenses. This is why students turn to scholarships! Of course, like all the best things in life, scholarships aren’t awarded easily, and the process can be laborious. This is why I have put together the 5 things every student should remember when applying for scholarships.
Scholarships Require Motivation
Applying for scholarships can be difficult and time-consuming. Managing your everyday workload and completing scholarship applications seems almost impossible to complete all at once. This is why motivation is key. The only person who will enable you to win scholarships is, you guessed it, yourself. No one else will be able to submit your applications for you, that’s why you must genuinely want your scholarships in order to complete them.
Creating the desire to win scholarships and get applications done is the first step to really begin your scholarship journey. Once you are in the right mindset, the task seems beyond achievable!
Time Management Will Be Your Best Friend
There are a variety of scholarships available for every kind of student to apply for. Because of this, there are multiple scholarships that you will qualify for. However, many scholarship applications require essays and references, and it will seem as though they will take a lot of time to complete.
That’s because they will.
With that being said, it is possible and can be pulled off with the help of good time management. The more time you are able to organize specifically for scholarships, the more applications you will be able to complete! Setting aside at least 3 hours a week for scholarship applications will help ensure that you send out the best quality applications to those judging your file. The more scholarships you are able to finish, the more chances you have at paying for your post-secondary education through grants.
Millions of Dollars in Scholarships are Unclaimed Each Year
Like I mentioned before, there is a vast variety of available scholarships that almost everyone will qualify for. However, most of these scholarships will go unclaimed simply because no one applies for them. This causes millions of free potential dollars to go undeclared.
The low rates of students applying for scholarships give you a higher chance of winning them. The truth is, you won’t win any scholarships if you don’t apply for them, and for many of these scholarships, your competition is quite low.
Sure, essays and references seem like a hassle to complete for a few scholarships. But lowered tuition at the expense of completing them seems much more beneficial!
Smaller Scholarships are Important
You and I both know that a $15,000 scholarship is more desirable than a $1,000 one. With that being said, the larger scholarship will have more competition, making your chances of winning it pretty slim.
Smaller scholarships have less competition, increasing your chances of winning them. If you apply for a variety of smaller scholarships and win a few of them, you are more likely to receive that $15,000. So, the winnings can be the same if you are able to see the value of smaller opportunities!
You Have Plenty of Resources
It is true that you are the only one who will enable yourself to win scholarships that will help you pay for your post-secondary education.
However, no one said you won’t have some help along the way.
Not only are your teachers constantly available to answer questions and complete references for you, but your guidance office and student success teachers are there to guide you! Take advantage of the help they offer and don’t hesitate to ask questions.
Online websites are also large platforms that will provide you with scholarship information and tips. Familiarizing yourself with these sites will be a huge benefit to your scholarship application process, especially because of how accessible it is.
Scholarship applications can be seen as very intimidating and slightly unachievable, but with these 5 things in mind, the process is easier and definitely worth the time!