Step-by-Step Guide to Scholarship Applications

Overview

This chapter helps you navigate the scholarship application process, focusing on a structured approach to scholarship applications that will help you to manage your time and to maintain an effective schedule. While this Guide is mainly targeted towards high school students, the overarching principles can also apply to undergraduate and graduate students. The goal of this Guide is to help students start thinking about the scholarship application process early.

Learning Objectives

• Summarize how to plan and develop effective time management techniques for scholarship applications across critical phases.
• Utilize relevant time management resources to track your scholarship applications.
• Differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Define plagiarism and describe how it relates to AI.

Keywords

#ArtificialIntelligence #EditingResources #EligibilityCriteria #FindingScholarships #InternetSafety #SkillsAndExperiences #SupplementaryDocumentation #TimeManagementResources

Introduction

Although the scholarship application process can be daunting, making sure you have a realistic and well-planned timeline can help you to stay on track of your applications. So, how do you start? First, you need to know the best way to read a scholarship application so that you can apply for the most relevant scholarships, which will help increase your chances of success. We review how to identify relevant scholarships in the chapter Navigating Scholarship Webpages. To summarize, you need to determine if the scholarship applies to your strengths, and if you meet the eligibility requirements. You also need to remember to check if the source of the scholarship is legitimate. Once you feel confident identifying the scholarships you want to apply to, it’s time to consider a timeline for your submissions. This is important for planning, so you can maximize the number of applications you submit, while still producing quality work.

Creating a Detailed Timeline

Set yearly and monthly goals and break them down so that you have precise tasks to work towards. For example, break down larger tasks into more manageable pieces, like when you aim to finish your brainstorming, your first draft, and your final product. These goals can also relate to the number of scholarships you want to apply to, and you can revise this throughout the year as needed. Other short-term goals might include getting involved in your community, while long-term goals could focus on personal, academic, and professional achievements. When making your timeline, consider how busy you are and what your work, extracurricular, and academic schedule will allow for.

When making your timeline, note the deadline and the required materials. Tracking important dates in your calendar, setting reminders on your phone or computer, and recording all the great work you’re doing will help you to stay organized. Prioritize on applying for scholarships that match your strengths and interests, rather than ones you’re less interested in or don’t fully meet the criteria for, but still want to apply to. Save these for if you have extra time. Use our Notion template to track the deadlines, required application materials, and more. See the Resumes and Cover Letters chapter in this Guide for a further discussion on the importance of tracking your extracurricular involvement.

The Research and Planning Phase

Start by identifying potential scholarships that you might be interested in applying to. While you can start your applications anytime, starting earlier will give you enough time to complete your application(s) carefully, look at more scholarships, and collect all the required supplementary documentation. When researching different scholarships, make a list of all the places you can look. You can start your search by regularly checking some of the scholarship databases shared in the Navigating Scholarship Webpages chapter. Different scholarships will appear at various points throughout the year, so check these sources frequently. As you’re tracking the scholarships you’re interested in, you can also start to become familiar with the materials you need to submit. Part of this research phase can also include calculating what it might cost to pursue higher education. See the Expense Calculations chapter in this Guide for a break down of associated costs. 

During this Phase, consider meeting with a school guidance counsellor or grad coach. They’re a great first resource for helping to guide you through this process and provide advice on applying to scholarships and post-secondary.

Scholarship Tracking

Some applications allow you to apply to several scholarships at once. This tends to be more common for College- and University-Specific Scholarships compared to others. Note that some scholarships require separate applications, which may take more time. Track these as you go so that you can create a timeline and set appropriate goals for looking into each specific scholarship.

Use our Notion database to track the scholarships you’re interested in, your application deadlines, and your progress. The database is also helpful for compiling all your application materials in one place, making applying faster and easier. In use, the Financial Aid Applications Tracker might look something like this:

Time Management Tips

Although the purpose of this guide is to help make it easier to find scholarships, finding them will likely still take time. Starting as soon as possible will allow you to apply to scholarships that have more complex application requirements (e.g., video submissions, creative design, etc.). When making your timeline, consider prioritizing working on scholarships that require more supplementary documentation, such as reference letters, video submissions, or Personal Statements of Experience (PSEs). These will likely take you longer and may rely on other people (e.g., reference letters). See the Scholarship Application Materials chapters for information on how to approach a referee.

The Application Phase

The Application Phase may overlap with the Research and Planning Phase. You may discover new scholarships as you’re working on applications for other ones. In this Phase, you will create drafts of your applications and acquire your other supplementary documentation. For example, you might need to send your reference letter requests. Make sure to also update your resume so that it reflects all your current credentials (see our Resumes and Cover Letters chapter for help). If you need to submit a transcript, connect with the office staff at your high school. The more people you involve in this process, the smoother it can be!

Enhancing Your Applications

A lot of highly weighted (i.e., large sum) scholarships look for innovative students. During this time, you can also get involved in clubs or begin volunteer positions relevant to the scholarships you’re considering applying to. Try to think of a new project, initiative, or fundraiser you can lead in your school or local community to solve a problem and make you stand out. This will enhance both your scholarship and post-secondary applications. Ask around your community for what might be a helpful initiative and see if you can make a difference while increasing your chances of gaining scholarships! Struggling to identify your skills? See the Resumes and Cover Letters chapter in this guide.

Balancing the Application Load

This period is extremely busy with the number of scholarships you can apply to, so prioritize a healthy work-life balance. Think of this process as long-distance run, not a sprint. Once you’ve applied for a few scholarships, you will come across other written scholarships with similar prompts. You can reuse these as a starting point, but make sure to edit them so they are specific to the scholarship you’re applying for. This will save time and help you reach your application goals more efficiently.

It can be challenging to balance work, extracurriculars, and school. Adding scholarship applications to your ‘To-Do’ list may be overwhelming and stressful. Create a reasonable plan that’s within your capabilities and reflects all the other commitments you have. Don’t feel pressured to apply to many scholarships if you don’t have the time. The number of scholarships you aim to apply for has to be reasonable for you. This will also help ensure that you can create high-quality and competitive applications.

Common Mistakes While Planning

People tend to underestimate the time they need to finish a task, which is called the Planning Fallacy (Buehler et al., 1994).

Avoid underestimating completion time by:

Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

As you’re likely aware, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) software has increased for both professional and personal use, as well as in schools. You can use AI to help you with planning your scholarship application timeline and your writing in several ways. At the time of this publication, there are free versions of ChatGPT, CoPilot, Gemini, Perplexity.ai, and more. These all have different advantages and drawbacks, some are better suited than others for specific tasks. Programs like these often require you to provide an email when signing up. You can log in and use the service if you’re comfortable doing this. We discuss how to stay safe online in the Navigating Scholarship Webpages chapter.

Navigating AI

Learn about some different ways you can use AI software throughout the scholarship application process by clicking on the drop down bars below.

Using AI Software Appropriately

Although AI software is a good tool to help you learn, never rely entirely on it. To have it be as helpful as possible, think critically about each point it generates because it’s not always correct. Remember, AI is not a completely reliable search engine because it sometimes makes information up. For this reason it’s important to be selective about the feedback you implement – not everything it provides is the best for you. Although it can be accurate, it can lack depth and understanding that only you and other people will know, so ask for feedback from your family, friends, and teachers, before you submit anything.

Scholarship committee members are very skilled at their job and can tell when an applicant used AI to write their application. Rather than submitting a response with generic statements, which is typically what AI generates, make your application stand out by developing your own writing style. You can personalize your writing through story-telling and discussing specific experiences.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism involves presenting the ideas, words, or work created by others or with technological assistance as if they’re your own, or without proper attribution or citation.

Within academic institutions, AI software is considered a generative tool. Although some courses allow the use of AI, others will not. In cases where it is permitted, you still need to indicate that you used the software. For example, if you’ve written something in your own words and then AI re-worded it, you need to list the AI software as another writer since you did not create the final product by yourself. Citation guidelines on how to reference AI using APA 7 formatting are available online.

In cases where using AI is not allowed, doing so would be considered a departure from academic integrity, and can be considered plagiarism. Make sure to check the scholarship’s rules on using AI before you use it to help with any element of your application. Please note that most institutions have online databases and programs that are now being updated to detect plagiarism through AI, such as Turnitin. Please note that plagiarizing can have serious consequences, such as being expelled from your school. For more information, read this external chapter to learn more about the importance of academic integrity.

Check Your Learning

Before you proceed, take a moment to review some of the content you’ve learned so far.

Glossary

Academic integrity
The moral code and ethics expected in academic settings.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)
A computer program capable of high-complexity tasks (e.g., learning, decision-making, problem solving).

College- or University-Specific Scholarships
Scholarships offered by a college or university in addition to entrance scholarships, and which require an additional application.

Drafts
The first few outlines of your application that you create before the revising and editing processes are complete.

Editing
The detail-oriented process of making changes to your writing piece to address wordiness, grammar, and punctuation, etc.

Extracurriculars
Activities, associations, clubs, teams, and volunteer work that you participate in.

Innovative
Demonstrating creative and original thinking.

Personal Statement of Experience (PSE)
A written piece that allows you to describe some of your relevant personal experiences and what you have learned from them.

Plagiarism
Presenting ideas, words, or work, created by someone else (which can include Artificial Intelligence software) as your own, without proper attribution or citation.

Planning Fallacy
Underestimating how long it takes to finish a task.

Referee
A person who knows you well and agrees to provide a reference on your behalf.

Reference letter
A letter written by someone who knows you well and can speak to qualities the application is looking for.

Resume
A summary of your skills and experiences.

Supplementary documentation
All the documents required as part of an application (e.g., resume, transcript, PSE, income statement).

Time Management
Organizing and dividing your time to meet the requirements of your various responsibilities.

Transcript
A track record of the courses you have taken and the grades you achieved in those courses.

Scholarships
A type of financial assistance to help pay for post-secondary education that you don’t have to pay back.

References

Buehler, R., Griffin, D., & Ross, M. W. (1994). Exploring the “planning fallacy”: Why people underestimate their task completion times. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(3), 366–381. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.3.366

Kruger, J., & Evans, M. (2004). If you don’t want to be late, enumerate: Unpacking reduces the planning fallacy. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40(5), 586–598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2003.11.001

Li, P., Yang, J., Islam, M. A., & Ren, S. (2023, April 6). Making AI less “thirsty”: Uncovering and addressing the secret water footprint of AI models. arXiv.org. https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.03271