Scholarship Disadvantages
While the scholarship system aims to help those who need it, unfortunately, some people face disadvantages when applying. These generally center no provable financial need and poor essay writing ability, but can extend to things like a GPA that's lower than you like or international students that are limited in the scholarships they can apply for. Here are my own personal thoughts on how to start compensating for disadvantages like these, if you have one. While there are tricks for each specific problem, in my opinion the overall key here is honesty, without self pity.
The thing is, those who give out scholarships truly want to help those who deserve and need them, and they themselves know that the system isn't always fair. As a result, if you tell them what your problem is while proving that you're a hard worker who could use their money, you may well find they're more likely to give you the scholarship.
Before I go any further, I should remind you that this is just my own advice based on my own experience; you'll have to try it yourself to see if it works for you. For me, however, honesty seems to be what results in a scholarship. To earn a scholarship for those who are gifted, for example, I wrote about how the gifted system in public schools should be opened up to the general population, and how non-gifted students like myself (I made it into the gifted program based on the different standards for minorities) can also benefit from the program. To earn a study abroad scholarship for people with financial need, in the financial need section I wrote about how not having provable financial need (but still needing money) actually made me more deserving of the scholarship than people with Pell Grants, who have more options for scholarships than I do. Both times I was very honest - I truly believe what I wrote - and I wrote very candidly about problems I'd encountered. And it paid off with a combined total of $4,000!
The trick I've found is telling them your problem without dwelling on it too much. This is not your chance to rant and rave about how the scholarship system unfairly discriminates against you. In my opinion, simply stating your problem, and then stating how this obstacle you've had to confront only makes you more deserving of the scholarship makes you more likely to get it. For example, if your GPA is lower than you like, you might mention in the essay the reason for the drop in GPA (this only works if you have a good reason, eg death of a loved one, illness, etc), and how you're recovering from it/have turned your life around, etc. Of course, like with any scholarship essay, you'll still have to prove that you have need of the scholarship and have earned the financial aid.
Of course, you have to pick the scholarship you apply for carefully. If the scholarship has clear benchmarks, for example, is only for Latino students, for those with Pell Grants, or is an essay contest, it's almost a wasted effort to try and say that as a non-Latino student, someone without provable financial need, or a poor essay writer that you deserve these scholarships as well. Instead, my personal advice would be to seek out a scholarship that you may, in fact, qualify for and work your problem into the essay, without pity or bitterness.
The worst thing you can do is to assume that since you're at a disadvantage, you won't get a scholarship and simply not apply for any. Always keep trying. It does you little harm to apply for a scholarship you don't receive. But if you never apply, then you will never be able to reap the benefits.
The thing is, those who give out scholarships truly want to help those who deserve and need them, and they themselves know that the system isn't always fair. As a result, if you tell them what your problem is while proving that you're a hard worker who could use their money, you may well find they're more likely to give you the scholarship.
Before I go any further, I should remind you that this is just my own advice based on my own experience; you'll have to try it yourself to see if it works for you. For me, however, honesty seems to be what results in a scholarship. To earn a scholarship for those who are gifted, for example, I wrote about how the gifted system in public schools should be opened up to the general population, and how non-gifted students like myself (I made it into the gifted program based on the different standards for minorities) can also benefit from the program. To earn a study abroad scholarship for people with financial need, in the financial need section I wrote about how not having provable financial need (but still needing money) actually made me more deserving of the scholarship than people with Pell Grants, who have more options for scholarships than I do. Both times I was very honest - I truly believe what I wrote - and I wrote very candidly about problems I'd encountered. And it paid off with a combined total of $4,000!
The trick I've found is telling them your problem without dwelling on it too much. This is not your chance to rant and rave about how the scholarship system unfairly discriminates against you. In my opinion, simply stating your problem, and then stating how this obstacle you've had to confront only makes you more deserving of the scholarship makes you more likely to get it. For example, if your GPA is lower than you like, you might mention in the essay the reason for the drop in GPA (this only works if you have a good reason, eg death of a loved one, illness, etc), and how you're recovering from it/have turned your life around, etc. Of course, like with any scholarship essay, you'll still have to prove that you have need of the scholarship and have earned the financial aid.
Of course, you have to pick the scholarship you apply for carefully. If the scholarship has clear benchmarks, for example, is only for Latino students, for those with Pell Grants, or is an essay contest, it's almost a wasted effort to try and say that as a non-Latino student, someone without provable financial need, or a poor essay writer that you deserve these scholarships as well. Instead, my personal advice would be to seek out a scholarship that you may, in fact, qualify for and work your problem into the essay, without pity or bitterness.
The worst thing you can do is to assume that since you're at a disadvantage, you won't get a scholarship and simply not apply for any. Always keep trying. It does you little harm to apply for a scholarship you don't receive. But if you never apply, then you will never be able to reap the benefits.