Tips for applying to a scholarship

By Patmos Zen •  Updated: 06/17/14 •  2 min read

Want a scholarship here are useful tips for applying for a college or university scholarship

With tuition becoming increasingly more expensive and college education less affordable, there is increased demand for scholarships that are now tightening the rules for who they can be awarded. Here are four tips that will help you complete the application and increase your chances of winning the scholarship you want and facilitate your way through high education.

Be organized and respect deadlines

As you probably know by now, having a complete file and sending your documents at the right time are two very important factors to remember when you apply to anything, colleges and scholarships included. Make sure you read and understand all the scholarship requirements and complete your application exactly as demanded. Even more importantly, consider sending your application a week or two before the deadline so it can be reviewed before everyone else sends theirs as well.

Inquire early

Consider sending letters to scholarship providers inquiring about the application and the requirement, before the information is available online. You may want to include one or two return envelopes with stamps that could be used to mail you the application and the instructions documents. That way you can have it ahead of time and start working on the application process before other students do.

Capitalize on your talent and extra-curricular activities

Athletes especially and sometimes students excelling in other extra-curricular activities may be eligible to special scholarships that other students may not be. Check those out and see if you may qualify, you may even have a higher chance of receiving it because you will be competing with a lower number of students.

Same thing applies for program specific scholarships.

File an FAFSA

This is the Free Application for Federal Student AID that is open every January for students. It will tell you what kind of grants and free assistance you are entitled for and it may even qualify you for certain scholarships. It is also important as you will have all your documents already organized and some of which can be reused while applying for other scholarships.