Tuesday, January 27, 2009

College Scholarships: What Makes a Good Candidate

By Mary Poodel

It is no secret that attending college can be expensive. Whether you have been saving up money to pay for your college tuition, or you have little money to put towards your education, it can be hard figuring out how you are going to pay your tuition bill each semester.

Many students use student loans to pay for their college tuition. The unfortunate thing about student loans is that you will have to pay that money back after graduating. One great way to pay for college is to use college scholarships.

The good thing about college scholarships is that, unlike student loans, you won't have to pay them back after graduation. Another good thing about scholarships is there are many available to apply for-which increases your chances of being awarded one or more.

In order to apply for a college scholarship, you will likely have to fill out an application and you may even have to go through an interviewing process.

One way to increase your chances of being chosen as the recipient of a college scholarship is to thoroughly read the application before completing and submitting it. Most scholarships have stipulations on who can apply, so be sure that you meet all of the qualifications before taking the time to complete the application. Also, be sure that you fully answer each question in the application before submitting it.

If you are involved in any extracurricular activities, be sure to list them on your application. Scholarship reviewers like to see what accomplishments and awards you have received, so list all that you can think of on the application.

It is best not to use the same responses on all of your scholarship applications. The scholarship reviewers will be able to tell if you have submitted a generic application letter and will be less likely to award you the scholarship.

Take some time to think about what sets you apart from the other applicants and highlight this in your application letter. Think about what makes you unique and how you can showcase this. The application reviewers will be reviewing many applications and will be looking for a unique candidate that stands out from the others.

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