Top Ten Mistakes Made on Scholarship Applications

Top Ten Mistakes Made on Scholarship Applications How you can guarantee that your scholarship application will NOT win! Forget to include your name and/or address! You would be surprised how many students do not include their name or address on an application!Submit an incomplete application. Make sure you include all required references, photos, transcripts, and essays. Be rude or abusive to the judges. Telling the judges that they will burn in Hades if they don't pick you, or that they are idiots because they don't accept applications from students in your major, is a sure-fire way to guarantee you will NOT be considered for this application, and that the judges will tell all their judge friends how nasty you are. Submit a dirty application. Use a plate for your lunch, not your application. Don't spill beer on your application!Apply when you do not meet their minimum requirements. If they require a minimum 3.0 GPA and you have a 1.2 GPA, don't waste your time!Send it "postage due." Oops!Mail the envelope but forget to put the application in it. Surprisingly common! Submit inappropriate supporting documentation, such as including a picture of you at age 6 months when the application asks for you to include a photo, or including a copy of your arrest record as a reference! (this really happened!)No one can read your application. The use of fancy, hard-to-read script typefaces on your essay, or handwriting that even a doctor would be ashamed of. Spelling errors! Even ONE spelling error can doom your application! Remember, if you do not take the time to spell-check your application, the judges won't take the time to read it!YES, I know that these seem like common-sense mistakes, ones that very few students would make... but these ARE the most common mistakes, made by 75% or MORE of all applicants! Last summer, I sat on a judging committee, and fully 96% of the applications contained THREE or more of the above errors. Why so many students make these mistakes is beyond me - but I hope after reading this, you will not be one of them!

3 Reasons You Have to Write

Writing a college scholarship essays may seem useless - until you understand why the scholarship committee needs them. This article will help you reduce stress and see the wider picture. Why scholarships to write an essay? Scholarships require essays on three simple reasons. As you can see below, the reason is quite simple: 1. Your literacy. Scholarship committee wants to award money to someone literate and educated - to a point. There is no need to be able to write like Jane Austen or Earnest Hemingway to get a scholarship. But writing essays shows solid you can communicate and use more education. 2. Their values. You will write what you think and what you believe, for the most part. You essays will be on your values, and the scholarship committee will see those. For individual awards, the value can be important. Scholarships may be an effort to continue the trip or reward certain ideas. If aligned with the mission, you stand a better chance to get a scholarship. 3. Your Character. You express your personality in your essays, as well as some of the show itself. When you receive private scholarships, your name is always on their list of recipients. To convey a good reputation, you will give them some confidence that you represent them well in the future. For example, you can call Rhodes Scholar? Showing at the scholarship committee that you are in your college scholarship essays, and by that I mean you have the best hand, the committee can get a sense of what you will do in life and if they will help you to a good end, a worthy goal. A few other pointers: You want your essays come good. Look essay samples to familiarize themselves with the winner of an essay. With others, such as teachers, and friends, check your essay to catch errors in grammar, spelling, word use, and style. Last and most important: “Apply”. No one will criticize you for the application of more scholarships. Take a few minutes to assess if you qualify, and, if so, go ahead and apply. Some need to have that scholarship, and get money for college, why not you?

Tips to write a good resume

A good resume is vital. It is your calling card to a prospective employer--one that lays out your qualifications and hopefully gets you a job interview. Remember, most employers will spend less than five minutes initially reviewing your resume. Follow these guidelines to make sure your resume gets you noticed Be sure to include these basics: Contact information: full name, phone number, school and permanent address, and e-mail address. Education: school, degree, date of completion, honors, and special course work. If you are still in school, provide your expected date of completion. Experience: In addition to work history, include relevant non-professional experience, such as internships, extracurricular activities, and significant volunteer work. Skills: List any computer systems, office equipment, and software programs you are familiar with, as well as particular office skills (shorthand, typing speed, etc.). Other Categories: If they are relevant, include publications, awards, leadership positions, or other notable achievements. There are many different ways to organize your resume. The most basic formats include: Chronological: To emphasize your work history, list your jobs and activities, beginning with your most recent experiences. Functional: To emphasize your skill sets, group your experiences under categorical headings, such as Leadership or Technology Support. The key is to pick a format that presents your achievements most effectively--as well as being easy to read and comprehend. Tips for a Winning Resume: Keep it brief. Limit your resume to one page. Instead of paragraphs, use bullet-pointed lists. Provide meaningful descriptions of your experiences. When detailing your job history, use short sentences or fragments to demonstrate your relevant experience. Use strong action words ("developed and implemented a new filing system "; "created two new membership programs "). Use formatting to help you out. Capitalize and use boldface, italics, or underlining to help organize the information. Proofread. Use spell-check, double-check your contact information, and make sure your formatting is consistent. Ask a friend or family member to proofread it as well. Custom fit your resume. Revise your resume for each job application to make sure it fits the opportunity at hand. The final test: Take a look at your resume from an arms distance. Is it confusing and text-heavy? Or is it easy to find the information you need? Please be sure your resume is reader-friendly

How to apply for a PhD in the US

Have you always wanted to see the letters Ph.D. after your name? Heres how to apply for graduate study in the US, with an emphasis on Biological Sciences and on foreign applicants. Steps 1. Choose your major. This will be determined by your past research experience, your interest and your undergraduate coursework. 2. Get hold of a list of universities with those programs. There are several helpful websites listed b3. Assess your chances of getting into a particular school of your interest. You will need to take into account the following factors: - funding - your college GPA - your research experience - your citizenship status - geographical location preferences - whether you want to go into a research institute or a full university 4. Take the GRE General Test, TOEFL and the GRE Subject Test as needed by the programs that you are thinking of applying for. Visit the ETS homepage (also listed below) for more information on the pattern of the examination, scoring and score reporting. 5. Choose the people you want to write the recommendation letters for you. Ask them if they want to do it online or on paper. Some universities do not offer the choice between paper and web-based recommendation letters. Inform your references well in advance and keep reminding them till it is done. 6. Write a statement of purpose (SOP) for your interest in each program. While it might be a pain, its better to write out a different SOP for each school, indicating a fit between you and the program. In your SOP, you can also explain any shortcomings or issues that cannot be dealt with in rest of the application. 7. Arrange for transcripts from each post-school institution attended. 8. Have the scores reported to your university. You will need the institution codes, department codes, your credit card number and its date of expiration and of course, our test registration number and date of testing. 9. Use a Calendar program and an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of what documents are needed, which ones of them have been sent and which ones are pending. Also keep a list of the tracking numbers, date of posting and the contents of every packet that you send to universities. Tips - Some schools/programs are not so popular on rankings but have great grad programs. Why they are not popular is because they are post-doc places. Examples from biology are Scripps Institute, Salk Institute, Sloan-Kettering Institute. - The UC (University of California) system has very little funding for international students. - Get an international credit card - you will need it for the GRE/TOEFL registration and to pay application fees. - Often people ask the order of importance of GPA, GRE scores, research experience, reference letters in the application. Well - there is none. Grad admission committees typically look at the candidate as a whole, and see if he/she can withstand the rigors of graduate research. - Unless absolutely urgent, do not email/call your university regarding petty issues. All you will receive is an automated reply or an answering machine. Try to find the answers on the university website. Warnings - Use a reliable courier service to send documents to universities - FedEx, DHL, UPS etc. Do not use a service for which you cannot track your package. - The December season is a rush season due to Christmas, so postal delays occur quite frequently. Moreover, a lot of the graduate offices remain closed from Dec 23 to Jan 2. - Wherever possible, put everything into one packet and send. If you are sending your documents in different packets, clearly mark your name, address and any reference number on each of them. Underline your last name. - Keep your address consistent throughout - do not abbreviate or introduce variations. This makes it all the more difficult for the graduate office to file your documents. - Do not make errors in writing your institution/department code while reporting scores. This may seem very obvious, but this mistake happens more often than you might think! Things You'll Need - GRE General Test Score - TOEFL Score (often) - GRE Subject Test Score (sometimes) - At least 3 Recommendation Letters from scientists and/or teachers who can assess your ability to perform research. - Transcripts from all post-high school institutions attended. - A credit card (preferably Visa or Mastercard; Discover doesnt work on some websites). - A passport is needed for taking the GRE in some countries. elow under External Links. Or, you can try searching the web for "NRC rankings