Common scholarship application mistakes

At a glance

The mistakes, in order

1. Starting too late, which removes the large awards entirely before you have written a word.
2. Applying while ineligible, usually on work experience counted differently from how you counted it.
3. Answering a different question from the one the prompt asked.
4. Generic content that would fit any applicant and any award.
5. Weak references, from senior people who do not know your work.
6. Ignoring university awards while chasing only the famous ones.
7. Missing destination-independent funding — Indian trusts and government schemes.
8. No plan B, so a refusal ends the year rather than changing it.

The two that are entirely avoidable

The first and the second cost nothing to avoid and cost everything when they happen. Reading the eligibility guidance properly takes twenty minutes, and knowing the earliest deadline takes ten.

• Write the earliest deadline you have found at the top of your plan.
• Write each eligibility criterion down and answer it honestly.
• Do both before you write a single essay.

Nearly everyone who loses a year to this did the work. They just did it for awards they could not hold, or after the dates that mattered had passed.

The awards we list

Showing 12 of 100, most searched first. Each one carries its own deadline, eligibility and the source we read it from.