How to: Be a Serious Contender for a Scholarship

Scholarships are grants awarded to students to help them pay for costs associated with university and include tuition fees or living expenses or books or a combination of these. Typically, they are offered as a discount on tuition fees, but a fair number of scholarships cover tuition fees in full. Recipients don’t have to pay the money back to the organisation, as in the case of student loans, unless they fail to complete their course. For a lot of students, especially first-generation students, scholarships make going to university a more realistic prospect. You can make use of the My Academic Family University and Scholarship Application Tracker as a resource to log relevant details such as deadlines and eligibility criteria about any scholarship opportunities available to you, internally from universities themselves or externally from other organisations.

Unsurprisingly, scholarships have many applicants competing for the award, so submitting the best possible application ensures you are a top contender being seriously considered by the selection committee. There are several points you should keep in mind when applying for a scholarship:

Understanding the assessment criteria

Every organisation awards scholarships based on its unique set of parameters. The first thing you should do is to check that you are eligible to apply based on a number of applicable factors as set out in the eligibility criteria. This includes, but isn’t limited to, your fee status (Home or International), age, nationality, residence, study level and subject/department. Additional criteria might include specific circumstantial requirements, for example, being a refugee or asylum seeker or being the first in your family to attend university.

Once you have made sure you meet the basic eligibility criteria, it is hugely important to ensure you fulfil other requirements. These typically include academic, extracurricular or financial criteria or even a combination of these.

Academic requirements might stipulate, for example, that all applicants have a minimum of A*AB (for A Levels) to be considered for an undergraduate course. Some organisations may still consider your application if you don’t meet the academic requirements but can provide evidence of extenuating circumstances, such as severe illness or injury, bereavement or caring responsibilities. If so, they will make this clear in the eligibility criteria section of the scholarship webpage.

Some scholarships assess applicants on their demonstrated ability in extracurricular activities. These are productive activities students carry out outside the scope of academic work, including but not limited to athletics, performing arts, internships, part-time jobs and volunteering. Engagement in extracurricular activities reflects the capacity of applicants to be well-rounded individuals who value personal growth.

Financial need might be a criterion for certain scholarships. You should check that you meet any requirements concerning financial need associated with the scholarship. Usually, this is in the way of establishing a household income threshold. The guidelines might say, for example, that you would be eligible to apply if your overall household income is less than £19,802 per year. If, however, you have any additional financial circumstances that are relevant, such as coming from a single-parent family or having significant medical costs in your family, be sure to highlight this in your personal statement.

Submitting on time

Most scholarships will need you to have at least a conditional offer from a university to consider your application; however, some might not require this at the application stage. It is best to check whether this is true of the scholarship you want to apply for so you don’t have to miss out on opportunities you could have otherwise benefitted from.

It is essential that you submit your application by the deadline published. Set as many reminders as you need to make sure you submit your application in time. Start early so you have sufficient time to seek feedback from your tutors and peers, if you wish, and to edit until you have the best possible version of your personal statement.

Writing a strong personal statement

A key aspect of all scholarship applications is to submit a personal statement that tells the selection committee what makes you a unique candidate, how you envision your future and how being awarded the scholarship would facilitate your goals. Think of your personal statement as the meat of your application - this is mainly what the selection committee goes by when deciding whether you should receive the award. Remember, your personal statement for the scholarship application should draw from your personal statement for your course application to the university but it needs to specifically bring attention to your alignment with the scholarship’s vision, your potential to create impact and how the scholarship would help to realise your goals. You can access the My Academic Family University Personal Statement Course for comprehensive guidance on how to write a personal statement. Much like your course application, your scholarship personal statement needs to tell a compelling story about why you want to study what you want to study, what makes you a good fit to study it and what you want to get out of studying your chosen course at your chosen university. However, your personal statement for a scholarship specifically needs to show itself to be aligned with the mission of the awarding body and the specific selection criteria established by the organisation. Some scholarships, for example, are meant for applicants who show great leadership potential or who want to make a difference in the community. In this case you would be required to tailor your essay to the mission they want to support by writing about instances when you took initiative – to start a school club, for instance, or got involved with a charity to champion a cause.

Seeking strong letters of recommendation

Most scholarships will require at least one referee who could testify to your character, achievements and potential. These should normally be your tutors from your most recent academic course, although it could be someone from a professional context if you think their recommendation would be relevant to your application. For example, if you are applying for a scholarship that would support you to fund a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature, it might be useful to include a professional reference if you have spent some time interning at a publishing house. It is important to choose someone you are confident will speak enthusiastically about your abilities. In practice, some referees invite the applicant to draft the letter of recommendation themselves, which the referee could then sign and submit after they have made any edits they see fit. Should this be the case, you should remember not to undersell yourself. This is where you should market yourself in the best light possible, provided this is consistent with how you believe your referee perceives your abilities. For a comprehensive guide, check out My Academic Family’s post on How to Ask Someone to be a Reference for You.

Proofreading thoroughly

An otherwise strong application could be easily compromised by typos, so make sure you have checked it multiple times for mistakes related to grammar, spelling, punctuation and diction. If guidelines include instructions on formatting, be sure to stick to them. If possible, have a second set of eyes go over your application to point out any errors you may have missed.

Scholarships make higher education more accessible to students who would otherwise be unable to go to university. They not only reduce the financial strain of funding a degree but also provide students with the opportunity to network with scholars who have similar aptitudes and backgrounds. There’s nothing to lose, so make sure to apply for every scholarship you’re eligible for.    

This post written by My Academic Family volunteer Fatima A.