Looking for outside scholarships is no easy task but it’s well worth the effort. I’m always on the look-out for money to put towards my tuition. Outside scholarships and loans are something I’ve applied to every year at MIT.
In my experience, November is the best time to start looking for scholarships – some scholarship deadlines are in December/January/February but most deadlines are in April/March. It’s important to start early so that you don’t miss any opportunities.
In addition to finding money to put towards school or gaining recognition from your hard work in college, going through the application process is also a great way to …
Stage I: Research. During this stage, you’re focused on identifying potential scholarships, making a table of requirements for each scholarship, and outlining the deadlines. Remember that the deadlines for your application are important but the deadlines for any recommendation letters is even more important. You’ll need to contact recommenders with plenty of advanced notice. Identify a core group of six or seven scholarships that you’ll be applying for. Any more than this may be overwhelming. Feel free to also apply to one or two scholarships, it’s completely up to you.
See section below “Hints & Tips for Findings Scholarships” for help.
Stage II: Put together an activities matrix/expanded resume. You can use your job-searching resume as a basis but this is a document you’ll reference when filling out different applications so you’ll want to make it more comprehensive than the typical resume. You should also pass your activities matrix/expanded resume along to any recommenders so that have a good picture of you as a student and can include details from this document in their recommendation letters. See Stage IV for more information on recommendation letters.
Stage III: Fill out the application and start a draft of any required essays. Get the easy stuff out of the way as soon as possible and get started on those essays. Your recommenders can benefit from seeing your essays so if you get a draft written as soon as possible, you can include that draft in the packet of materials you pass along to your recommenders. This should not be a rough draft – this draft should be refined and should have already gone through several revisions. But it does not need to be the final version of the essay you submit with the scholarship packet.
Stage III: Request recommendation letters and transcripts. For your recommenders, you should make it as easy as possible for them to write you a stellar recommendation letter and send it to the appropriate organizations. This means putting together a recommendation packet. The packet can either be physical or electronic but needs to be comprehensive and give the recommenders a clear picture of the deadlines and requirements.
See section below “Suggested Contents of Recommendation Packet” for hints & tips
This is also a good time to request official transcripts from the Registrar. Find out if the scholarships you are applying to require physical or electronic transcripts and make sure that the appropriate transcript reaches your scholarship organization in a timely manner.
Stage IV: Finalize your essays. Edit your essays and ask your advisor to read over them. You can also reach out to the Career Services Center or the Writing Center for some advice. The Centers offer appointments or walk-in hours. Consider also asking friends or family to read over your essays and give you feedback. You are looking to put forth cohesive statements that directly address the prompt put forth by the scholarship organization. Make sure that you show the prompt to anyone who is looking over your essay and giving you feedback.
The bottom line is that the more time you put into your essays, the better they will be.
A note on applying to scholarships via snail mail … Make sure you leave enough time for your application to reach the organization if you’re submitting by mail. If there are extraneous circumstances that prevent your application from going out in the mail, let the scholarships organizations know. They can sometimes make exceptions. I have been one of these exceptions before and while I was scared to speak up, I am glad I did so.
Good luck and happy scholarship searching!
- Jackie
Additional Advice
Now that you’ve been introduced to the five stages that I break my scholarship search into, here are some additional hints and tips for the process.
Suggested Contents of Recommendation Letter Packet
The following will make it easy for your recommenders to write and send out your letters. I suggest including all of these items in your recommendation letter packet. The more organized you are, the easier it will be for them to put your letters together.
I knew as a high school student that I would need outside scholarships to support myself at MIT and I started researching scholarships and loans as early as my junior year. I’ve found scholarships and loans in the form of direct scholarships/loans but also in the form of other support such as a laptop for college. Here are some places I’ve looked at during these five years of scholarship searching
**If you’re wondering to yourself, How do I identify companies with scholarship programs?During my scholarship searches, I’ve sat down and made a list of companies that work in a field similar to the work I’ve been doing at MIT and then I immediately start googling those companies to find out if they offer scholarships to students. It is a long process but it has been rewarding.
Original post found here: http://asme.scripts.mit.edu/home/scholarship-search/
In my experience, November is the best time to start looking for scholarships – some scholarship deadlines are in December/January/February but most deadlines are in April/March. It’s important to start early so that you don’t miss any opportunities.
In addition to finding money to put towards school or gaining recognition from your hard work in college, going through the application process is also a great way to …
- create a record of your achievements and projects at MIT
- start thinking about your goals in school and outside of school
- solidify your ties to a professional society
- get your name out there
- get some practice in for the job/graduate school application process
Stage I: Research. During this stage, you’re focused on identifying potential scholarships, making a table of requirements for each scholarship, and outlining the deadlines. Remember that the deadlines for your application are important but the deadlines for any recommendation letters is even more important. You’ll need to contact recommenders with plenty of advanced notice. Identify a core group of six or seven scholarships that you’ll be applying for. Any more than this may be overwhelming. Feel free to also apply to one or two scholarships, it’s completely up to you.
See section below “Hints & Tips for Findings Scholarships” for help.
Stage II: Put together an activities matrix/expanded resume. You can use your job-searching resume as a basis but this is a document you’ll reference when filling out different applications so you’ll want to make it more comprehensive than the typical resume. You should also pass your activities matrix/expanded resume along to any recommenders so that have a good picture of you as a student and can include details from this document in their recommendation letters. See Stage IV for more information on recommendation letters.
Stage III: Fill out the application and start a draft of any required essays. Get the easy stuff out of the way as soon as possible and get started on those essays. Your recommenders can benefit from seeing your essays so if you get a draft written as soon as possible, you can include that draft in the packet of materials you pass along to your recommenders. This should not be a rough draft – this draft should be refined and should have already gone through several revisions. But it does not need to be the final version of the essay you submit with the scholarship packet.
Stage III: Request recommendation letters and transcripts. For your recommenders, you should make it as easy as possible for them to write you a stellar recommendation letter and send it to the appropriate organizations. This means putting together a recommendation packet. The packet can either be physical or electronic but needs to be comprehensive and give the recommenders a clear picture of the deadlines and requirements.
See section below “Suggested Contents of Recommendation Packet” for hints & tips
This is also a good time to request official transcripts from the Registrar. Find out if the scholarships you are applying to require physical or electronic transcripts and make sure that the appropriate transcript reaches your scholarship organization in a timely manner.
Stage IV: Finalize your essays. Edit your essays and ask your advisor to read over them. You can also reach out to the Career Services Center or the Writing Center for some advice. The Centers offer appointments or walk-in hours. Consider also asking friends or family to read over your essays and give you feedback. You are looking to put forth cohesive statements that directly address the prompt put forth by the scholarship organization. Make sure that you show the prompt to anyone who is looking over your essay and giving you feedback.
The bottom line is that the more time you put into your essays, the better they will be.
- Career Services Center: http://gecd.mit.edu/services/appointment
- Writing Center: http://writing.mit.edu/wcc/appointments
A note on applying to scholarships via snail mail … Make sure you leave enough time for your application to reach the organization if you’re submitting by mail. If there are extraneous circumstances that prevent your application from going out in the mail, let the scholarships organizations know. They can sometimes make exceptions. I have been one of these exceptions before and while I was scared to speak up, I am glad I did so.
Good luck and happy scholarship searching!
- Jackie
Additional Advice
Now that you’ve been introduced to the five stages that I break my scholarship search into, here are some additional hints and tips for the process.
Suggested Contents of Recommendation Letter Packet
The following will make it easy for your recommenders to write and send out your letters. I suggest including all of these items in your recommendation letter packet. The more organized you are, the easier it will be for them to put your letters together.
- a table or list of different deadlines and the addresses (email or physical) of the scholarship organizations
- recommendation letter requirements or forms – if a scholarship mentions that the letter should demonstrate certain qualities, list these qualities for your recommender and if a scholarship requires a specific form to be used for the letter, make sure to give your advisor an electronic or physical copy of this form
- your activities matrix/expanded resume
- any scholarship-specific essays or personal statements
I knew as a high school student that I would need outside scholarships to support myself at MIT and I started researching scholarships and loans as early as my junior year. I’ve found scholarships and loans in the form of direct scholarships/loans but also in the form of other support such as a laptop for college. Here are some places I’ve looked at during these five years of scholarship searching
- Professional societies such as ASME* (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), SWE (Society of Women Engineers), MTS (Marine Technology Society), SNAME (Society Naval Architects & Marine Engineers). You typically have to be a student member of these societies to apply for their scholarships – check to see if they have this requirement and if there is a certain number of months you must have been a member to qualify for the scholarship. This usually costs a small amount of money but is well worth it. There are also numerous other benefits to being a student member.
- Online scholarship databases or search engines. A word of caution: do not pay to join one of these. There are plenty of free services such as FastWeb! which I have personally used and recommend.
- Other Groups / Societies with scholarship programs (such as the Masonic Foundation, Key Club, Rotary Clubs, Boy or Girl Scouts, etc)
- Companies with scholarship programs.** This category includes technical companies, such as Toshiba or Shell, as well as large companies that sponsor scholarships as an outreach/community support effort such as McDonalds or Coca cola or Disney.
- Local scholarships from your home town, county, or state.
- Companies that your parents or other immediate relatives work at.
- Military scholarships if you have relatives in the military.
**If you’re wondering to yourself, How do I identify companies with scholarship programs?During my scholarship searches, I’ve sat down and made a list of companies that work in a field similar to the work I’ve been doing at MIT and then I immediately start googling those companies to find out if they offer scholarships to students. It is a long process but it has been rewarding.
Original post found here: http://asme.scripts.mit.edu/home/scholarship-search/