Today, we are going to enlighten the scenario of scholarships. How one can enroll for the scholarships and who is eligible to apply for the scholarships? Every year nearly 20 million students approach college for their higher studies. Some are sufficient to pay the tuition fee and some have to go for the education loan.
Students are left with only a solution of the education load for pursuing their higher studies and they take the loan from the banks and complete the studies but in the long run that is after completion of the course, you have to return the whole amount of the loan along with interest. It turns out a burden on the shoulders of the recent passouts to pay the debt and do double shifts.
What if there is another option to apply for the scholarships? There are criteria for the scholarships like who can apply, some scholarships cover the socioeconomic background students, and some cover meritorious students, like that. Some students know about the scholarships but they did not enroll for them and the reason they said that is a lengthy process, a lot of paperwork, and takes time.
But we insist every student who is eligible for the scholarships must apply for that and earn free education. We cover every aspect of the scholarships like how you can find the scholarships and what is the process to get the amount.
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How to Find Scholarships for Applying?
In today’s world, it is not difficult to search for scholarships. You need a good internet connection and a laptop. You can search various scholarships online utilizing the services of search engines. The scholarships can be found by directly visiting the college website to which you want to apply or by visiting the govt website. Below is the complete guide, check now.
1. Websites for Scholarships
You will definitely get the kind of scholarship for which you are searching to pursue education on the scholarships website. The website that helps to enroll for the scholarships are Chegg, Niche, Fastweb, Going Merry, Student Scholarships, JLV College Counseling, Broke Scholar, Big Future, and many more.
You will find thousands of scholarships on these platforms. They will include an easy registration process, many filter options, and customized profiles of students. You will find it easy to search for the scholarships you are eligible for by visiting the websites.
You should keenly check the scholarship website details as these websites may have some scholarships that are obsolete now, so carefully study the details of the scholarships and then apply.
2. Search Engines
We all prefer Google for any kind of search we want to run. And within seconds Google will provide you with millions of results for the scholarships. While searching on Google you might put a lot of time searching for scholarships by visiting one website to another and finding suitable scholarships for you, it may cost you a lot of time. What you should do is search precisely so that you will get the links to websites as per your need and you will be able to cut the time.
The precise searching will help you to find good scholarships in a short period of time. It is better if you set criteria for yourself such as what is your gender, your socio-economic conditions, whether are you a scholar, your state of residence like tribal people, your family status like belonging to an army background or police force family, any disability, and others.
These points will help to shorten the search and get to the scholarships in a short time. It will become a roadmap for you.
3. Apps
You may get many apps that help you search for scholarships and it may be convenient for you to complete the search on a mobile phone. These apps let you customize your search for the scholarships. One of the user-friendly scholarship applications is the Going Merry App.
The Going Merry application will help to choose one of the best colleges to apply for the UG or PG courses and various scholarships offered by those colleges. Many other platforms also offer mobile apps that will give you a customized interface for searching and applying for scholarships.
4. Government Grants
The govt also helps the students to study free of cost by giving them financial support. The student has to fulfill the given criteria for applying for the govt scholarships. For example, the Pell Grant is huge govt support to students, and the students who are seeking Pell Grant from the federal govt are required to complete FAFSA first.
5. School
Many profit or nonprofit organizations are offering scholarships to school-going students to complete their studies. You may get the scholarships during the school days and they also have opportunities that may lead you to get the scholarships for the first year of your college. Schools organize tests for preparing the merit list for the scholarships and there are other criteria also for getting the scholarships in the schools.
Some scholarships are merit basis, some are sports basis, some are socioeconomic criteria basis, and some are from other non-profit organizations. You can consult your class teachers to know for which scholarships you are eligible.
How to Increase Scholarship Winning?
You can also get more than one scholarship. All you have to do is first shortlist the names of the scholarships for which you are eligible and then apply for all of them. It will increase your chance of getting more than one scholarship. Now you may think about completing several forms for the scholarships when it is difficult to fill only one. Don’t worry, there is an app ScholarshipOwl, that will help to complete scholarship forms behalf on your.
You have to complete only one scholarship form and the application will let you complete other forms quickly. Now, it will take less time and less labor to fill out the application forms for several scholarships.
You should apply for the less known scholarships also, as few people know about them and there will be less competition and your chance of winning increase there. If you get successful in getting more than one scholarship, you will be fantastically managing your finances during your studies.
How to apply for scholarships
We will discuss the application form submission process step by step below. The new students who want to apply for the scholarships first time can apply by themselves.
Step 1: Examine for Scholarships That You Qualify For
This will be the first step for everyone to find the names of scholarships that are eligible for you. This is a time-consuming process and a worthy one. When you keep yourself focused and search based on the eligibility criteria, you will get quickly the names of the scholarships that are eligible for you. You can search for the scholarships like the below-given parameters.
- Merit-Based Scholarships: These are the scholarships provided to merit holders, like toppers, or sometimes there are competitive tests for selecting the student for the scholarships.
- Need-Based Scholarships: These scholarships are for those who are financially not strong enough to pay the fees, or the students who come from a backward area, etc.
- Sports-Based Scholarships: Some scholarships are meant for sports persons, you can check the eligibility criteria for that.
Step 2: Acquaint yourself with the requirements for applications
Once you choose the names of the scholarships, the next step will be to check what you need to apply for those scholarships. Like the criteria for the scholarships, the paperwork you need to apply for the scholarships and other prerequisites of the scholarships. We have listed a list of docs that may required while filling out the form for the scholarships.
1. Scholarship Application Form
While filling out the application form for any scholarships, you should provide genuine details in the form and all info must be correct. You may need to upload a copy of the certificate such as school certificates, graduation certificates, etc You can get them from the school, or from your registrars/ teachers.
2. Recommendation Letters
Many scholarships will demand a recommendation letter from the superiors of you like from your teachers, or professors, showing that you deserve the scholarships. A recommendation from a great source will increase your chance of winning the scholarships.
3. Essays
Some scholarship applications may ask you to write an essay to distinguish your self why you deserve the scholarship and to write about yourself, originality, and motivation.
4. Information about Financial Aid
It is a compulsion for a few scholarship application forms to provide the info about your financial condition and family financial background to check whether you serve the financial aid for study or not. You have to fill out the FAFSA application form and show the family income in the scholarship application form.
5. Resume/CV
An updated resume will enhance the chance to show the authorities about your strengths, passion, qualifications, achievements, etc. You should prepare your resume in advance before applying for any scholarship form.
6. Portfolio
The scholarships that are applicable to arts and design courses may ask you to submit your portfolio.
Step 3: Start your scholarship applications
You should not be in a hurry while filling out the applications for the scholarship form. As the higher authorities do not have much time to reveal your data and they may not give you a second chance to apply. Any mistakes found in the form will indicate that you are not serious about the scholarships and the higher authorities will not grant you the scholarships.
Check the dates to submit the scholarship application form and apply within the available time. Sometimes there are Prom scholarship competitions that may include the tasks of preparing dress for the Prom Night and become the criteria to apply for the scholarships, Check every aspect before applying.
Step 4: Write a stellar essay
The application form for the scholarships includes the process of submitting the essay, you should take them seriously. An essay may lead to selection or rejection for the scholarship program. Check a few points to get a win for the scholarships.
1 Be sure to follow the directions! The directions are given to guide you, on how you should plot the essay, and follow every guideline like the number of word count, paragraphs, etc. You must consider every point.
2 Make time for yourself. You should plan in advance what you are going to write and arrange your thoughts properly so that you can represent your thought process in a meaningful way, Pre-preparation is better than rejection.
3 Get a head start on your essay writing! You should give proper time for writing the essay and have the last few minutes to correct any errors you may find in the essay.
4 Choose Your Own Course. When you are applying for scholarships there are many other students also who are fighting for the same competition. Think about the unique points that stand out in your essay from others. Think that way and then write the essay for the scholarship form. focus on giving unique contributions.
5 Draw out a plan. It is a crucial point to think before what you are going to write. Better to create a plan like a logical one for the thoughts you are going to write. And then write the essay step by step to make it more clear for the judges to understand what you want to say.
6 Review, edit, and repeat. You need to take a second look at the essay and what you have written As we are human and prone to errors, you should avoid any spelling error or grammar errors in the essay. Correct it thoroughly before final submission.
Step 5: Send in your application and any necessary supporting documentation
Now it is time to submit the scholarship form. Better to see the instructions for submission of the scholarship form like it is submitted online or through email.
Step 6: Verify Your Scholarship Status, but Take Your Time!
You should make a record of the scholarships you have applied for and write their status somewhere to keep checking about the response. Also not down the amount of money you have applied for.
Step 7: Don’t Stop Scholarship Applications
If you did not get shortlisted for the scholarships, don’t worry, check the applications who got selected and analyze the point why you did not get it. Then apply again for the scholarships. Do not lose hope. You may become eligible for the junior year or senior year scholarships.