Have you ever wondered how Scholarships are judged, or what factors they consider before making a final decision or awarding a student?
I bet you will love to know what exactly scholarship providers look for in an application, before awarding a scholarship. So, the first step is to ensure that your application is acceptable to the scholarship committee.
The committee’s decision-making process for scholarships
An Overview
When the judges first see the submission, they will usually not want to go into depth, so their first judgment will be brief—usually about 10- 30 seconds. Many applications do not make it past this brief yet crucial first point.
The judges can only read your application if it is interesting to them, so make sure you give it one more look to ensure it gets through. Also, make sure your presentation is fantastic and worth reading, as it is the secret to your success.
Do You Meet the Minimum Requirements?
Your criteria should include meeting the scholarship requirements, it would be easy for the judges to consider your application if you can meet the correct requirements; for example, if you followed the guidelines and submitted your application in the proper format, it would be difficult for them to say “no.”
How Neat is your Application?
Neatness is one way for the committee will be comfortable to read through your application, if your application are having some food stain or your handwriting are just messy, like writing in an disorder manner, writing some letters up and some down, this will totally mean a NO from the judges.
Are all of the Relevant Documents Present and Accounted for?
Ensure that all of the records are in good condition, that they are organized, and that nothing is missing, such as references, transcripts, passports, photographs, or anything else that our application needs.
Are All Questions Answered?
Reread your application to see if you’ve left any questions unanswered; some of these questions are things the judges look forward to seeing so that they know exactly who they’re dealing with, so make sure you answer all of them, including the ones you’re simply asked to tick.
Wondering if your application made it to the next round?
If your application makes it through the first round, the judges can typically distinguish between “OKAY” and “great.” This ensures that only applications that have been thoroughly and well-thought-out responses will be accepted.
It is critical that you write logical, full answers that address the question. It’s also important that your grammar and spelling are right, so double-check everything. This is true for the vast majority of students, depend on the spelling correction program built into your computer’s WPS; even though you use this software, you can still double-check your spelling.
Printing out your essay and reviewing and editing it in hardcopy format is one way to do this; it would be much easier to spot mistakes in print than on video.
Final Decision
This part can be terrifying for both judges and students, but for judges in particular, it is the most difficult part of the process. This time, they’ve finished reviewing all of the applicants’ applications and essays, and they must now make a decision by narrowing it down to a few highly qualified students. They have finished comparing the details of each applicant this time.
What they do now is concentrate on a few key points that I will discuss below in order to select or announce the few chosen winners; in short, they pay attention to these few points.
Points That Determine The Winner
- Education
The judges often take into account how difficult your course load and school are; they want to know if you’re taking the right courses to achieve your objectives and how well you did in the courses you chose to study.
Your sense of leadership is one of the criteria the judges are searching for, and the judges will want to hear about your activities. They’ll also be on the lookout for a variety of leadership roles.
They also want to hear about what makes your school experience special or what makes you different from every other applicants.
- Your level of creativity
Most judges genuinely want to know if you are a creative person, so as a tip, you can demonstrate your creative side by writing stories, painting pictures, or acting in plays. The goal is for you to demonstrate your abilities by informing the judges that you have a better chance of winning the award.
- Special Circumstances
The judges want to learn about your life experiences, so let them know if you’ve faced any hurdles or difficulties to reach your goals. So tell them how you were able to accomplish what you have amid the challenges you’ve faced.
Every scholarship program are open for many student to apply, and the committee in charge for the sponsorship are out for the best student to win.
