Avoid these 5 Mistakes while doing your Scholarship Application 

The scholarship is a matter of prestige and support. Winning a scholarship is a reflection of outstanding academic performance and skills; also, it offers you significant respite from the expenditure on university and matters incidental to it. But, gaining prestige and support is not an easy task as scholarships are limited and applicants are too many. Competition is cut-throat so you will have to make sure that you have stepped up your resume game and fill the scholarship application very carefully. In this article, our attention will be on the application process.

The scholarship application process is not to be trifled with. Your future will be decided not only by what you write in your application but also by how you write. Every little detail required to be mentioned in the form and every other document to be submitted along with it requires your concern. Today, we are going to take a look at what we often do that ends up messing up our scholarship application.

Watch out for the following 5 mistakes!

1. Not keeping track of deadlines
   Scholarships are open for a number of months, generally. This also becomes a reason why many students become very reckless with deadlines. They end up thinking that long deadlines mean they have a lot of time to get things done; many start preparing for the process at the last moment. Those of you who are actually serious about getting through the process must keep a vigilant track of deadlines. You may have a month before the scholarship application window closes yet you can fail to meet the deadline.

2. Taking the essay question for granted
   One of the common aspects of any scholarship application process is the essay question. Generally, scholarship applications ask applicants to write down an essay on, say, what makes them the best candidate for the award or what their best qualities are. There can be a single essay question or multiple sets, depending upon the scholarship. You have to ensure that you write a to-the-point, grammar-friendly, and attractive essay. Moreover, if you are applying for multiple scholarships, do not think of copying and pasting one essay all over the forms. Try to customize your essays as per the requirements of the scholarship applied to as this shows that you have actually invested in the process.

3. Not meeting the eligibility criteria
   You might think who does that but there are tons of students who do that. Yes, I understand that reading the eligibility criteria is boring and time-consuming but that is the first step of the application process. First, yes, and also the fundamental! No matter how good your application is failing to meet the eligibility criteria will immediately throw you out of the picture. It is, thus, very important that you check the criteria carefully and apply only to those scholarships for which you are eligible. Believe me, scholarship application processes can be really prolonged and hectic and you should avoid wasting time where you need not invest in the first place.

4. Not Considering smaller scholarships as well
   Well, we all want to win a fully-funded scholarship. But, as I said earlier, there are only very limited scholarships and too many candidates; this is, especially, a case with the big names such as the Rhodes Scholarship. There are, however, many scholarships offering smaller funds. You might think that they are not worth it but think about it for a moment. Firstly, they are not very competitive. Secondly, apply to different such scholarships to cover varied expenses. So, yes, the process will be more tiresome than ever but it will certainly yield great results if done right.

5. Forgetting to proofread the application
   Committees that review scholarship applications expect flawless scholarship applications. Mistakes in your application show a negligent attitude towards the process. No matter how boring you find proofreading you must get your application, particularly the essay, proofread. Ask your friends, professors, or professionals to check your application. Do not send over the application after single proofreading because that is not enough. Remember, even a tiny punctuation error can shape a very poor impression of you. So, review, review, and review!