What to Check before Submitting your Scholarship Application

Full article from College Greenlight: http://www.collegegreenlight.com/blog/category/money/

You’ve finally finished that scholarship application and wow you’re ready to submit it. But wait! Make sure you double check all of these important things before submitting your application.

Follow the Instructions

One of the most important things to check before submitting your application is to make sure that you’ve followed the application instructions to the letter. Did you include all the required elements? Did you keep your essay under the word limit? When you follow the instructions, not only does it speak highly of you to the scholarship committee, it also automatically gives you a leg up over any other applicants who may not have followed the instructions. Many scholarship committees even go so far as to disqualify any applicants who don’t follow the instructions.

Final Presentation

Make sure that the appearance of your application represents you well. Thoroughly proofread everything you wrote and check for any errors. If any part of your application was handwritten, go over it again to ensure it is completely legible. If you’re submitting a paper application, make sure your pages are clean and neatly organized. Unless specifically requested, don’t use any special presentation materials, such as report binders or folders; these can make it difficult for the scholarship committee. Let the quality of the content in your application speak for itself without the bells and whistles.

Addresses

Before sealing your application, ensure that the address you are sending your application to is not only the correct one, but is correctly and clearly written. Scholarship committees usually specify an address to send your application materials to, and it’s not always the same address that’s listed in the Contact Us section of their website. If sending your materials electronically, take care to spell the email address correctly, or your application could end up somewhere in cyberspace instead of in the hands of the scholarship committee.

Deadlines

Finally, make sure your application will arrive with plenty of time before the deadline. Sometimes scholarship committees require your application to be postmarked by the deadline date and other times they require your application to be received by the deadline date. Whatever the case may be, ensure your application arrives on time. You don’t want all your hard work to go to waste just because you didn’t get it in on time!

After you’ve sent off your application, pat yourself on the back for a job well done! If you follow this checklist, you can be confident about every scholarship application you submit.