General Information Kit for Scholarships and Bursaries
For most scholarship/bursary application (unless otherwise instructed) you will need, in the following order:
- A completed application form
- A covering letter
- A scholarship résumé
- A transcript
- Up to 3 letters of reference
- Some may require a statement of financial need or a proposed budget
1. Application form
- Make a copy for practice/rough draft
- Make sure all the information is correct and neatly written
2. Covering letter
- Use correct letter format
- Should be word-processed. You may use special paper, but try to stay conservative.
- Can be addressed to either the people personally or a general “To whom it may concern” or “Dear Scholarship Chairperson”.
- 3 paragraphs (a) introduce yourself and state your educational plans and goals (b) referring to your résumé; explain the activities, courses, school and community service you have been involved with in the last four years (c) state your specific reasons for applying for this scholarship including personal reasons of financial need and why it would be helpful to you
In your letter try to be original, personal yet specific, proud of your achievements, show understanding of the criteria for the award, be neat and presentable.
3. Résumé
This, together with the covering letter, is the most important part of the application. These represent you to the scholarship committee. The more you can tell the committee about yourself and your activities the better.
- Always start with your goal or your educational plans
- Include the schools you have attended and when
- List all of the courses you have taken in grades 11/12
- Include any academic/school awards
- Include any clubs, activities, teams etc you have belonged to *
- Include your community involvement
- Include any work experience, jobs etc. you have had
- List any other areas of interest, skills, achievements
- List the 3 people you will ask for letter of reference including their address and phone number
- Spend time to produce a good scholarship résumé which can be updated and form the basis for many award applications.
- Proof read it yourself and have someone else check it. You can use special paper.
- Always start with the most recent activities, dates, etc and work backwards. Usually going back to grade 9 is sufficient.
- Be consistent but attractive in your style
Note: the résumé should be no longer than 2 pages, but if you are applying for special fine arts, music, theatre or sports scholarships you may wish to add a separate “theatrical résumé”, “sports résumé”, etc.
The 10 qualities that most scholarship committees look for are: enthusiasm, teamwork, character, hard work, purpose, ability to overcome obstacles, enthusiastic, community service, perseverance and responsibility.
Some ideas for résumé headings include:
- academics
- athletic awards
- awards and achievements
- awards earned
- cadets
- career objective
- community activities
- community involvement
- community work
- cooperative education
- exchanges
- extra-curricular activities
- future plans
- goals
- honours
- honours and awards attained
- international experience
- leadership positions and offices
- militia
- music
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- sailing
- special licenses
- special skills
- special training
- training and special interests
- volunteer work
- work experience
- awards
- business courses
- certificates
- community service
- employment
- fundraising
- hobbies and interests
- interests
- memberships
- performing arts
- special recognition
- swimming
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4. Transcript of marks
These are normally obtained from your counsellor. Please make sure you give a few days’ notice. For the Local Scholarships, all transcripts will be available in the Counselling Office (ready for mid-March). Please make sure it is as current as possible and all the information on it is correct.
5. Letters of reference – two (unless three are specifically requested)
- Select your referees carefully, e.g. your advisor, a teacher of the subject area you are most interested in pursuing, your counsellor, an administrator, a sponsor of a club, team activity etc, a community person with whom you have worked or volunteered, your employer.
- Always ask them personally, give them a copy of your résumé (even if it is only a draft copy) and allow them a week to write it.
- If you use a community person always ask for their permission to photocopy it to use for several scholarships applications.
6. Thank you letter
- Take the time to thank each referee; remember a good letter of reference takes time
- Write a thank you letter to the donor of each bursary/scholarship won as soon as you are told you’ll be receiving it.
- If you cannot provide the proof of registration by September write a note explaining your reasons and ask them to hold the award for you for a year
- The donor organizations do like to hear how their money has helped in your first year of post secondary school and how you have done. Please share this with them.
7. Budget (if requested)
A Sample Budget is included in this package for University/College. Adapt it to fit your own needs. A financial plan can be done online at www.canlearn.ca
8. Procedure
- Spend some time to produce your master package.
- Check out all of the scholarship/bursary’s you can and make a master list with date deadlines.
- Ask Counselling Centre secretary for any special application forms.
- Obtain a copy of your transcript.
- Ask your referees for your 2 letters of reference (giving them a week to produce it and a copy of your résumé to help them write it).
When everything is ready – take your master package to Counselling and ask the secretary for however many photocopies you require (one per scholarship that you are applying for). The deadline for required photocopying is March 16th. The package should include:
- a completed application form
- a covering letter
- your résumé
- your transcript
- 2 letters of reference
Note: there will be a $5.00 charge.
If you wish it to be copied on special paper you can take this to her and ask her to do this.
Deadline for local scholarships is March 26th. Allow a week before the deadline to give you time to put each package in order and complete the application forms.
Completed packages will be collected on the 26th by the Counselling Office Secretary.
Note: All of the packages for local scholarships will be gathered and sent out by the school. DO NOT MAIL THEM YOURSELF.
Always keep a file of your scholarship information available so you can quickly add to it and update it when a new scholarship becomes available at any time over the next few years.
Websites for British Columbia post-secondary institutions
Check the Financial Aid Offices of post-secondary institutions to learn about the numerous entrance awards offered. This can usually be done via these websites:
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