Easy Tips to Complete More Scholarship Applications

Most international students are always on the lookout for new and viable scholarship opportunities provided by various institutions. Since, a number of such opportunities surface every month or so, students, have to be both vigilant and efficient. Applying for and keeping tabs on various scholarships is no easy feat, but with a little discipline, you can be on your way to getting the most out of the available options. Following are some tips to help you complete more scholarship applications. 1.  Prioritize: Since many scholarship opportunities may knock on your door at the same time, it is important to rank them in order of importance and urgency. The three main parameters to judge a scholarship are; submission deadline, length of essay(s) required and amount awarded. Ideally, scholarships that have the shortest deadlines, longer essay length requirements and greater awards should be put above the rest. This does not mean that scholarships that offer a lower award should be neglected. Prioritizing this way just helps you pay more attention to the applications that will take more time to complete. 2.  Get Smart: Every scholarship application comes with specific requirements including letters of recommendation, activities lists, and essays. Most of these requirements will overlap across scholarships. Recognize these requirements and tackle them smartly. For example, almost all scholarships will require letters of recommendation. Ask your teachers or mentors to write the letters at the same time instead of going back for each one every time. Similarly you can write your essay in a way that you can tweak to serve different applications, hence, â€Å"What are your Future Goals?† can easily be modified into â€Å"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?† Save both time and energy by being smart about your applications. 3.  Set a Schedule: You’ll be able to get more done if you take some time out every day to tackle the applications. You cannot possibly get everything done on the same day so it pays to list down all the things you want done, make a schedule of when you’ll do them and stick to it. 4.  Don’t get distracted: In order to concentrate and get more work done, you have to get rid of all the things that may distract you from working. This means putting away your cell phone, turning off the television and putting off meeting your friends till your applications are ready to be mail out. 5.  Delegate: Each scholarship application requires some run of the mill activities like copying, addressing the applications, filling in contact information and so on that can be done by members of your family or close friends. Delegate this work so you can focus on the more important elements of the application. If you are able to break the application process down to a science, pretty soon you’ll be filling in scholarship applications like a pro. Remember, these applications will show universities or colleges how good of a candidate you are, so make yourself stand out on paper.