Maintain academic excellence with GPA of 3.7 and above (minimum 3.5)
Many scholarships indicate an excellent academic record is necessary without defining an exact GPA. A very compelling and well-written scholarship application can be a winner, but most national, prestigious scholarship competitions are won by students with a 3.7 or above.
Work toward professional experiences through internships & research
Experiences that are related to your field of study and future career plans help define what you want to do, and how you are developing skills and knowledge in your chosen field. These professional experiences often give your application an edge if you can write about specific and specialized examples in essay questions posed on applications. Some scholarships require involvement in research in your field to be competitive.
Choose wisely how to become involved in organizations & activities
Scattering yourself across campus in many organizations without really getting involved in any of them is not helpful. Screening committees for scholarships are not looking for a laundry list of every organization you have joined or every activity you have done. While they are looking for what you have chosen to do outside of the classroom, they want to know how you are involved; what drives your participation? Is your passion for a cause or desire to help shape an organization evident? Are you gifted in organizational skills or good behind the scenes doing the tasky things? Have you found your niche on campus or in the community?
Develop leadership skills and a record of community service
While not everyone is a leader in the sense of being president of an organization or chairperson of a committee, followers who get involved rather than sitting on the sidelines, pick up leadership skills. If you can garner an enthusiastic commitment to something so that others want to help get things done, you are leading. Your actions and advice guide others and you are using leadership skills. Civic engagement, community service, and a commitment to something outside yourself are beneficial when applying for scholarships. Importantly, in the process, students find there is a community outside their residence hall rooms, their classrooms and the bounds of Illinois State University.
Get to know your professors so that you can obtain excellent references
You will often need three letters of reference from professors who know you well enough to attest to your ability to succeed in your chosen field; or to do the research you say you will do if you receive the scholarship. You need references who know your character, your personality, and your skills, and possibly your ability to adapt to another culture if an international experience or scholarship is being pursued. How will you do this? Begin by sitting near the front in your classrooms and being involved in the discussion and engaged in your learning. When you connect with professors, visit with them during their office hours about their research or about your aspirations. Look for opportunities to do special projects or research. Sometimes scholarship screening committees read interesting and important things in reference letters that come from the professor or advisor’s interactions and perceptions of students, and these additional written comments can be quite effective in selection proceedings.
Sharpen your writing skills & seek feedback on scholarly writing
English 101 essay writing assignments may be the start of your college writing experience, where you receive feedback and make revisions. Many students hate it; where a better attitude would be to accept that you can sharpen your writing skills; that you can learn something from this process; and besides, it is only the first of many courses where students are asked to write papers and make revisions. Make the most of it and don’t wait until the last minute to write papers if you want to gain something from the writing process. I know someone who said he once turned in a paper and received it back with the written comment, “This paper will need to be entirely rewritten before I can in good conscious give you an F.” or something to that effect. While my husband, and that is who received this feedback, didn’t like such a pompous statement, he realized that he would need to spend more time writing his papers and taking his written assignments more seriously, if he wanted to receive the A or B he expected. As you get into more research-type courses or assistantships, you will begin to write more scholarly works. Take advantage of your professors who have been writing scholarly articles and get their feedback. This is absolutely necessary if you are applying for a prestigious scholarship which requires you to write a scholarly proposal or statement.
Know the application process and timeline well in advance of applying:
Start early exploring which prestigious scholarships interest you; then review their websites. Meet with Becky Mentzer in the Honors Program to learn more and ask questions about scholarships. She can share the best way to prepare for those that are most appropriate for you. Realize that contacts are made with departments and professors and advisors often make referrals or nominations. If students are interested in certain scholarships, they can initiate the process, too. The prestigious scholarships require a Campus Screening Committee, which meets to review applications, in some cases, to interview candidates, and then to make suggestions to the candidates. In some competitions, there are limits to the number of candidates we can nominate. That fact is another reason to begin early; to get to know your professors; to seek opportunities to improve your skills; and to maintain an excellent academic record.