Practical Tips

For applicants:

• Look through available lists of scholarships to find those that fit your profile and interests: Prestigious Scholarships | Search Engines .
• Review the specific requirements of the scholarships you are considering. What are they looking for? Does the scholarship support certain activities? Which? Make a list and compare them to your own background.
• Review the application: Is a personal essay required? Must you have a detailed project proposal? Do they require a sponsor (either an individual or an institution)? Note whether a program requires an on-campus evaluation process.
• Letters of recommendation: Who have you worked closely with? Who knows your work well and can comment in detail? Who works in the field you are interested in?
• Prepare a dossier of prior work: Have it available for professors who are willing to write letters of recommendation examples of prior work that you have done for them or others to make it easier for them to write more specific letters on your behalf.
• Contact past recipients on campus. Professors, students or alumni who have received a scholarship might be willing to share their experiences and offer their own tips.
• Find experienced readers for your essays and project proposals. Style matters. Scholarship committees read hundreds of similar essays. Ask your readers to help you discover what will make your narrative stand out from the pack?
• Proofread carefully. Don't let bad prose or sloppy editing torpedo your application. Review the application essays very carefully for clichés, verbiage and typographical errors. Do not rely on spell-check!

• For more helpful tips go to:
  http://scholarships.berkeley.edu/tips.html#finding