8 Common Problems Scholarship Applicants Encounter and How to Fix Them

I want to share with you a Guest Article I wrote on www.intscholarships.com (a Scholarship Website) on 8 Common Problems Scholarship Applicants Encounter and How to Fix Them. On interaction with scholarship aspirants, you'll get to realise that the most conventional problem potential scholars encounter while seeking financial aid to further their education, may not really be with finding a scholarship they are eligible to apply for. It could often be more of the attitude of approach, which is a problem most of us have to deal with in our daily lives.
In the article I outlined 8 possible problems that could result in scholarship applicants not achieving their goal and the possible solution. Here is one. You can read up the full article From the link below.

How a Kenyan Student Won a Scholarship to Study Pharmacy in 2010- What it takes to Win Scholarships.

Extraordinary Scholarship for a Kenyan Pharmacy Student

Myron Odingo- a young Kenyan student from a "humble background" was awarded what the Keele University called "the chance of a lifetime" to study Pharmacy at a UK university, through a unique sponsorship scheme offered by the Keele University and global pharmaceutical company sanofi-aventis.

10 things You Need to Know to Acquire International Scholarships

There are more to winning overseas scholarships than just applying without a plan... And there are many available scholarship programmes -- Both for Undergraduate and Postgraduate studies -- you can apply to as a Nigerian / African Student. The point then, is for you to follow through the application process with your best effort.
Here are 10 things you need to know about winning international scholarships to further your education. Gladly take 5 minutes of your time to read through. It could be worth all the time you've spent searching and applying for scholarships.

How to Find International Scholarships online in 2011- Do It Yourself

You might have nursed the dream to study abroad to complete your undergraduate or postgraduate education for some time, and even more predominantly, to achieve such with financial help, in the form of scholarship(s). Why shouldn't you? After all, you deserve it. You might also have heard from cynics that it is 'very very' difficult for African students to win a scholarship, let alone students from Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya. I want to assure you that that statement is more false than true. For instance, in 2009/2010, two Nigeria students won double scholarships worth a total of $8,000 from the University of Bath, UK:

Preparing for scholarship is like Football World Cup

As the Football world cup competition continue to unfold it's surprises, it will be nice for scholarship aspirants to learn a few lessons from this competition. Thirty-two (32) teams are struggling for the world cup, and only one out of them will end up winning the prize. All 32 teams have qualified to contest for the world cup, and The selection process is not really an easy one. All teams will have the chance to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that they truely deserve to win, but in the end, it's the best among them that would win.

How to Search for Scholarships online on Google

The first step towards a successful scholarship application is searching for your eligible scholarships in the right place. The Internet/online is indeed the right place to start. Google.com is the largest library on the internet with millions of websites in it's database. For your scholarship research, I'd bet, google.com is the right place to start. But to serve you best, you need to understand how this powerful search tool works.

How many Scholarships have you applied for this year 2010? Poll Result.

I asked a question on "How many Scholarships have you applied for this year", for readers to vote their opinion. The options provided to choose from included:
None
1
2 to 3
4 to 5
Over 6.

Advice for scholarship applicants. Don't get scammed.

If you are eager to acquire your advance education through scholarship, then you can guess how anxious you can be over information that relate to your pursuit. It's only natural to want something at all cost. But To add to the fact that, there are millions other aspiring scholars just like you, scammers/fraudsters are not taking a day off. In as much as there are people who genuinely want to help you achieve your dreams, there are also people who all they want is to have you part with some money. They may sound genuine when you read and listen to their sales pages, but try to read between the lines, you'll see where they are heading. It is for you to be smart enough to tell between a money-grubber and a public-spirited objective.
Of course, even genuine scholarship websites and providers deserve to make money to keep the service going but not at the expense of the applicants. Here are some precautions you should to avoid being manipulated.

1. You should never have to pay to search or apply for any legitimate scholarship.

2. Beware of third party services advertising "high success rates" for scholarship applications. These intermediates can neither guarantee or improve your chances of winning a scholarship because they have no influence over the decisions of the awarding committees.

3. Beware of any services advertising scholarships for which little effort is required on your part. Legitimate scholarship applications will almost always involve a substantial amount of your time in preparing an application.

4. Beware of any unsolicited offers of scholarships for which you did not apply. Most scholarship awards are very competitive, so no scholarship provider will out of the blues pick your for a scholarship you did not apply.

5. You should never give cash, cheques, credit card or your bank account details to third parties.

6. You should never give your bank account details to a scholarship provider prior to the award of a scholarship. In cases where scholarship funds awarded are to be paid by bank transfer you must take all reasonable precautions to ensure that you are dealing directly with the scholarship provider and not a third party.

7. If you are in doubt at anytime, please contact the scholarship provider directly using the contact details provided on the scholarship announcement pages.

Surely, there is more to discuss on this. If you have been scammed on scholarship applications or made to pay unreasonably for scholarship information, Please share your experience on comment below.


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Using Wikipedia for your Scholarship Essay Writing Research

The famous online, user-edited encyclopedia was launched in 2001, and have been considered a source of information for scholars and online information searchers. Most students and scholarship applicants tend to use this source for their school works and essay writing respectively.

According to a study by First Monday, an online peer-reviewed journal, which examined how prevalent the site has become on college campuses in particular, and how students have begun to rely on Wikipedia as a resource, more than half of all respondents use Wikipedia frequently or always for course-related research. Students in architecture, engineering, or the sciences were more likely to use the site in their courses than other majors. The study surveyed 2,318 students, and took qualitative data from 86 of those students who participated in focus groups.

Other major findings of the study include the following:
Most students said they used Wikipedia for a summary about a topic (82%), the meaning of related terms (67%), and to get started on research (76%).
About 52% of the respondents were frequent Wikipedia users, even if the Lecturer advised against it.
Only 22% reported that they rarely, if ever, used Wikipedia.
About 17% used Wikipedia because they thought it was more credible than other sites.
Only about 2% used Wikipedia toward the end of their research process.

Those enrolled in two-year campuses were less likely than those in four-year institutions to report that they used Wikipedia.

What then is the point?

Whether you're writing a college essay or applying for an essay scholarship, when it comes to citing Wikipedia as a reference, the right move is to either do is it appropriately or resist the temptation. While the site can be an excellent tool for you to kick off or round off your research, as the study above suggests, it simply isn't reliable enough to be taken seriously by some scholars and researchers. Anyone can add to and edit entries on the site (wikipedia.org), so it's always best to do some fact-checking after you get your Wikipedia summary prior to the start or the rest of your research. Anyone can edit articles on Wikipedia which makes it not as credible as your assume. It's more about anybody writing on a subject and other people agreeing with them. Of course, you can use the site to kick-off or round-off your Scholarship Essay writing, but you shouldn't rely on the informations you find on the site neither should you cite the site as your source of information without verifying the origin/source of the content.

Follow through to link sources, find out the individual, organization, company or institution responsible for the article and confirm their credibility/authority in your research field. This way, you know where the information is coming from. You have the entire web to yourself, so own it and use it like it's all yours.

Note: Always try to verify every information you find on any website. 95% of the websites out here are not 100% reliable. Most are owned and published by normal everyday people just like you, this site included. Your Scholarship essay reviewers are smart people who may detect shortcuts and manipulation, and reward defaulters accordingly. So Give your scholarship application your best shot.
Have you been using Wikipedia as a source for your project work? What research strategies do you use for your Scholarship essay writing? Please share below.


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Your Scholarship Letter of Recommendation

When acquiring a letter of recommendation it is most appropriate to ask the qualified person. You don't want to request a recommendation from someone who knows nothing about a subject. Like the old saying, "if you want to learn to sell gold don't take advice from a brick-layer". The actual reason scholarship providers ask you for a letter of recommendation, is to see a written back up supporting your personal qualification (a little like a reference on your CV/Resume or something but more). More like an approval, saying "this fellow is worthy of your scholarship award, you should give him/her a try". Here are some tips I suggest will be useful when acquiring your scholarship letter of recommendation.

Meet the most appropriate person
You wouldn't want to ask your parents to recommend your qualification for a scholarship or even a job reference. It'll rather sound unserious of you. Even more so, would explain that you don't have someone in the field that can vouch for you. Ask someone in a field relevant to the scholarship criteria or the course of study for which you are applying. For example, if leadership skill and experience is among the scholarship requirement, ask your supervisor from the organization where you have exercised your leadership skills.

Do the assignment yourself
Compile every possibly required material, and give your recommender enough resources to make the letter writing quick and easy for them to comply. Alternatively, you can do the writing for them and ask them to sign their name to it (subject to their approval). If they are truly qualified, they would likely want to admit and omit some points, to make the letter look more professional. At least, you have helped them with most of the work and they are actually doing you a favor.

A Letterhead will be more appropriate
Providing your letter on a letterhead from the office of your recommender will show a sign of authenticity and the scholarship provider is likely to appreciate it more. If your recommendes doesn't have one, create one for them (still subject to their approval).

When you are done and ready, thank them for their assistance and get on with other materials.

Have a question on acquiring a letter of recommendation? feel free to ask on comment below. Or if you have some experience to share, we'll love to hear it.


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Writing a compelling scholarship Essay.

An essay is a short piece of writing by a student or scholar on a particular subject, for the purpose of a course completion or publication. If you are familiar with applying for scholarships, then you already know that most scholarship applications requires you write an essay, which should be submitted with your scholarship application. The scholarship essay writing seems the scariest part of the application process and is often given a high priority by scholarship providers for candidates’ selection. In other words, a creatively crafted, interesting and informative essay will most likely give you a higher chance of being selected, all things being equal. This is why you need to devote enough time and resources in writing your scholarship essay. What follows are some steps you can apply on writing a compelling scholarship essay.

1. First outline essay REQUIREMENTS
The majority of scholarship application will provide an essay subject or subjects (although some will require that you choose a topic of your interest), and most will only allow a limited number of characters or words per entry. Gather all of the scholarships you are eligible for in one place and compare them according to topics and requirements. Keep each essay requirement within your reach when you are writing.

2. Gather MATERIALS (Research)
Take your time to visit libraries and the internet, whichever is more within your reach, (the most efficient of which is the web) for your research writing. Most of the scholarship providers have a website, and many use it to post essays submitted by previous scholarship winners. Read through these essays for inspiration and ideas. Notice their grammar structure, the way they approach the subject, the effect it had on you, the word-crafting and whatever appeals to you. Get a clue of what scholarship providers generally seem to want in an essay, and then give it to them in your own tone.

3. Be the CREATIVE you
While you are gathered information to construct your selling essay, it'll be profitable to keep your personally right by you. It's easy to want to sound like a good essay work you likely come across, but that would either make your work rigid or toneless. Be you. Be creative. Writing in a slightly humorous tone could help ease the stress the judge who has a lot of work on his table. That could give your application an extra attention.

4. WORK a little HARDER
Scholarship award applications, once made public becomes a competitive exercise, of which no applicant knows what the other is doing. It is left for you to assume that every other applicant is working hard on their application, even when most are not. Then work harder on yours.

5. Recheck the RULES
After you are done with your work, you would want to recheck to see if your work still falls within the rules. If a scholarship provider feels that you ignored the rules, you may not stand a chance at winning the scholarship award, no matter how good your essay.

Writing a compelling and winning essay may not be as difficult as it seem. You just need to write in your natural tone, with some little spices. Every little detail towards a clean and professional presentation will make an impression on the person reading your essay.


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Your Scholarship Application Process and Strategy- Give yourself a little push

I expect that by now You should be ready to begin applying for one or more scholarships. Or you are already working on it. Or You have already completed and even submitted one or more. Whichever way, at least, You've determined which scholarships you are interested in and organized them based on their deadline priority. With that, I can tell you're farther in motion than many scholarship aspirant.

It's no news how confused one could get when there are a number of scholarship applications to choose from, especially when it feels like you don't have much time or you feel like the effort is not worth it. It's quite understandable that sometimes we need an extra push/motivation to get on tasks that seem a bit tedious. You need to understand that a high percentage of scholarships offered out there are not based on academic performance. Some just need you to be confident and in financial need. So if you are still contemplating on whether to give that scholarship application your best shot, My advice for you is, 'just do it anyway'.

So, if you're ready that is, The next step to take, after you must have selected some scholarships you are eligible to apply for, is to sit down and take time to actually applying for the scholarships. If there are a good number of awards you want to compete for don't be in a hurry to apply for them all in one day. Pressuring yourself will only cause the quality of your applications and essays you submit to shrink, thus altering your chances of earning a scholarship. To avoid this mediocre result, you have to set a goal for yourself. Decide how many excellently completed applications you will send in a week and work towards your goal. It could be 1 or 11 per week. Whichever way, setting and working towards your goal for each week is paramount.

HOW to APPROACH YOUR SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION:

Meticulously PAY ATTENTION to detail.

When you are applying to several scholarships at once it is very easy to confuse one requirement for another and to overlook critical details. Take time to Read every bit of the information provided carefully. If you get confused along the way, make a phone call to the scholarship provider. It's the right thing to do. Scholarship providers are people who enjoy helping students get the financial assistance they need to achieve their career education. Most of them will be very willing to answer your questions when you contact them.

Write a COMPELLING Application/ESSAY

When writing/answering your essay question try to read between the lines. In other words, take and keep note of every details you come across on the subject topic-at home, office, on your way home. Take the time to keep note of any reasonable responses, even when they seem informal. This will help you build and structure a creative essay write up. If your application require to be hand written, keep it clean and stainless. It does count.

Get a SECOND OPINION.

You don't need to be too confident in yourself with completing a flawless application. Have a parent or friend review your application and essay. For the essay, it's better to look for someone in the subject field to go through, correct and rate your work. And you should on you own part be open to criticism. If it is paper written, I think it will be a better idea to expose it to more than 'one eyes'.
Have a teacher or a professional give you feed back on your essay and likewise a friend. If you can't find someone around to do this for you, go online (may be facebook friends you can trust), find who can help. They can tell you if your work will have a pre-selling charisma on the reader or judge. You should know that Scholarship judges are people just like your parents and the people around you, so their feedback could be an invaluable resource.
Thoroughly edit your application. It doesn't matter how much time it takes because your application is the only self-selling tool you have. It'll pay to give it your best shot .

Ready to Submit? Carefully FOLLOW the SUBMISSION GUIDELINES.

Don't eliminate yourself because you sent your application in the wrong color envelope. Scholarship providers typically outline very specific submission rules and it is important that you follow their guidelines. Find out whether your scholarship can be emailed, faxed or if a stamp and envelope is necessary. If you are unsure about a submission procedure, call or write the scholarship provider and confirm. Little overlooked step may cost you, the scholarship selection. Now go get to work.

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How to Apply for Scholarship and Grants

Before and while applying for a scholarship opening there are laid down procedures and guideline you must follow. At least, you have to be sure you are eligible before applying, so you don't waste your time, as well as the time of the institution or organisation offering the scholarship.