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How to get a Full scholarships (also known as full-ride scholarships) are the holy grail of university funding, covering almost everything for the entire three or four years. The provider will cover your tuition and living expenses, allowing you to focus on your studies and social life without worrying about money. Isn’t that fantastic?
Unfortunately, there aren’t many of these dream scholarships available. Full scholarships are uncommon, and those that do exist are highly competitive. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply for them; read on to learn how to improve your chances of receiving one of these prestigious scholarships.
How to get a full scholarship
First and foremost, How to get a full scholarship full scholarships? Your first port of call should be the official website of your chosen university, as they may offer their own funding opportunities for students from your location or in your subject, or they may list external scholarships to which you could apply.
As well as your university, you could check sites like InternationalScholarships.com or FastWeb.com, plus our own Scholarships to Study Abroad page, which lists funding opportunities in different study destinations, scholarships focused on particular subjects and scholarships aimed at particular student groups (e.g. African students).
How to Prepare in Advance
If you know you’ll need a full scholarship to attend university, it’s critical to start planning as soon as possible. This is especially important if you are required to attend an interview – some universities hold special scholarship weekends,’ where 50-100 students are invited on campus to interview a faculty member, answering questions about their goals and motivations, as well as how this fits in with that university and course. If you need to attend a scholarship interview, dress smartly and come well-prepared with good answers to their possible questions, as well as have a few questions ready to ask them when invited at the end of the interview.
Work hard and keep motivated
Although some full scholarships will be awarded based on financial need rather than academic excellence, others will consider both factors or be awarded only to exceptional students. You should work hard in your studies, but if you want to get that full scholarship, you’ll need to really put in the effort, as the majority are awarded to the highest-achieving students. In some cases, universities will automatically consider applicants for full scholarships based on your regular university application, so high grades are essential. While pushing yourself academically can be mentally exhausting, try to stay motivated by remembering your goals and taking breaks to relax (especially during and after exam season!).
Make yourself stand out from other applicants
With so many applicants striving for a full scholarship, it’s critical to stand out from the crowd by demonstrating a genuine desire to better yourself as an individual. This includes having a few extracurricular activities to show off to scholarship providers, demonstrating your passions and interests outside of the classroom, and examples of times you’ve gotten involved with the local community, perhaps by volunteering for a good cause.
Leadership skills are also hugely valued by scholarship providers, and you can demonstrate this by volunteering to lead projects in your extracurricular activities or community work.
Another thing that could really make you stand out from the rest when it comes to scholarship applications is a glowing report on your academic and personal qualities through your letters of recommendation, so it’s important to build strong relationships with your academic mentors – if a mentor knows you well, they’ll be able to provide a more personal and accurate reflection of you in their letter.
Read the application instructions carefully
This may seem obvious, but you don’t want to blow your chances by forgetting to include a document or piece of information that was specified in the scholarship application instructions. Read the application guidance carefully and repeatedly to avoid missing anything, and email the provider if you need clarification on anything.
Submit an exceptional scholarship essay or cover letter
Another thing that goes without saying, is that your application essay/cover letter must be of the highest quality possible. This includes ensuring that it is clear and concise, properly formatted, grabs the reader with a strong introduction, remains focused on its key theme or topic, and has flawless spelling and grammar. Don’t just proofread it hundreds of times to make sure it’s perfect; have a friend go over it and look for typos and sentences that don’t read as well as they could.
One of our QS scholarship winners wrote a very helpful article on how to write a winning scholarship essay, which you can read here.
Be realistic
Finally, as we mentioned earlier, there aren’t many full scholarships to go around, and they’re extremely competitive, which means that many candidates who meet and exceed the requirements for a full scholarship end up missing out. Don’t let this deter you from applying, but keep your expectations in check.
Remember, there is no limit to the number of scholarship applications you can submit, and there is usually no limit to the number of scholarships you can receive, so you may be able to build your own full scholarship out of two or smaller scholarships.
(Of course, be sure to check with the providers that you’re able to apply for and receive funding from other sources). If you do get rejections, try not to let them get you down – pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and don’t stop trying in life until you get what you want.
