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How to Write The Best Application Letter for Scholarship / Scholarship Cover Letter
In this article, we’ll cover:
When students apply for scholarships, the admission team does not simply approve the request without further investigation of the applicant. Getting to know if the applicant is self-motivated, goal-oriented, and worth investing in is a basic routine before granting them a scholarship.
A resume is generally a basic requirement when applying for a scholarship, but many great applicants with outstanding performance and experience apply for the scholarship, making the decision hard to make. This is where a scholarship cover letter comes into play. A scholarship cover letter will give the applicants a chance to introduce themselves beyond their experiences, and help the reviewers not miss out on students who truly deserve the grant.
Why Are Scholarship Cover Letters Important?
Never underestimate what a well-written scholarship cover letter can do for you. Your scholarship application letter plays a major role in convincing the scholarship grantor why you are the best candidate for the scholarship.
1. It allows you to appeal with a more personal touch.
As you can only include limited information on your scholarship application resume, a scholarship cover letter is where you personalize the information with your style and show your personality in your sentences. A scholarship letter is a place where you can show your motivation before you can meet the interviewer.
2. Scholarship committees want to hear your story.
A resume may show your experience but it could not tell the full story. When auditing information, scholarship committees appreciate it when you can tell some personal stories other than your accomplishments, which you can write in your scholarship cover letter.
3. You can show your passion through your scholarship application letter.
An application letter for a scholarship helps you show your passion for the degree that you are applying to. By letting the committees know your passion for your academics, they can easily understand your future goals and determine if their scholarships will be of help.
Scholarship Application Format
The purpose of a cover letter for a job and a scholarship cover letter is different. One aims for an interview opportunity and the other aims for a scholarship.
Here’s the format that you should follow that makes up a winning scholarship application letter:
1. Letter header
Before starting any paragraphs, you should begin by stating your information, the date when you wrote the letter, and the receiver’s information.
The sender’s information consists of your phone number, email, and mailing address.
The receiver’s information consists of the organization’s name, address, and phone number.
2. Proper salutation
Your next step is to greet the scholarship cover letter receiver, who is always in a more senior position than you. The best way to do it is by including “Dear”, then addressing the name of the committee with a Mr. or Ms.
3. Opening letter
Now is the time to get into your paragraphs of the scholarship cover letter. In this paragraph, you should make a brief introduction of yourself including your experience. Then, tell the committees where and how you got the information about the scholarship and why you are interested in it.
📍Reminder: If you are applying for scholarships from different organizations, remember to tailor your scholarship cover letter to each organization.
4. Body paragraph(s)
After finishing your opening statement, you will get into the body paragraph where scholarship committees focus most. In this paragraph, you will have to tell them why you deserve the scholarship to stand out from other scholarship letters.
Make good use of activities as references to share your experience, accomplishments, and awards to impress the scholarship committees.
Helpful tips for writing your scholarship cover letter’s body paragraphs:
- If you have specific events or points that you want to focus on, you can use bullet points to make them stand out.
- Write according to the organization’s requirements and avoid oversharing information that does not help in the scholarship application.
5. Closing paragraph
Your scholarship cover letter does not end after stating all that precious information. You will need a closing statement to finish the letter.
The way to close the letter is to finalize everything by restating your need for the scholarship, showing appreciation to the committees, and including a call-to-action to invite them to review your resume and contact you.
6. Sign-offs
In the end, use a respectful tone with a formal sign-off by using “Sincerely” or “Best regards” to show that you are worth investing in.
Scholarship Cover Letter Template
Here’s a scholarship application letter template for you to follow:
[Your Name]
[Your mailing address]
[Your email address]
[Your phone number]
[Date]
[Scholarship organization name]
[Organization address]
[Organization phone number]
Dear [Mr./Ms. Recipient’s name],
My name is [your name] and I am currently a/an [educational background/major] student, pursuing my [degree] degree at [school/institution]. I will be starting my [the academic program you are applying for] in [school name]. I came across this scholarship program through [the platform’s/website’s name where you found the scholarship] and I believe that I am a great fit for the program.
During my high school academic years, I maintained excellent academic performance with a GPA of [your GPA] while taking on various internships/freelance work/part-time jobs at [company/institution]. These experiences opened my eyes to the world of [field/industry of interest] and has made me grow a dream to pursue this as a career in the future.
[Talk about your upbringing and values, and how it aligns with the program’s/institution’s values].
[Talk about your goals for the future and what changes/impact you want to make]
[Talk about how the program’s objectives can help you achieve this goal].
I would be honored to be considered for the [scholarship organization name]. Thank you for your time and consideration.
[Best Regards/Regards/Sincerely],
[Your signature]
Scholarship Application Letter Samples
Do not worry if you have no idea how to write one because here are some scholarship application letter samples that you can refer to.
🔖 Scholarship application letter sample (high school student)
Patrick Mason
75139 Helen Trace, Port Marcellus Mouth
[email protected]
202-555-0118
June 3rd, 2022
The Rotary Foundation
14280 Collections Center Drive, Chicago, IL 60693
1-866-976-8270
Dear Mr. Williams,
My name is Patrick Mason and I am a high school graduate from Marcellus High School. I will start my freshman year in the Data Analytics program in 2023 at the University of Portsmouth. I came across this scholarship program through my teachers’ recommendation and after some research, I have decided to seek financial aid from The Rotary Foundation.
During my high school academic years, I excelled in my academic performance with an average of 87.6 and worked part-time as an intern at the high school’s administration department. Throughout the years, I have developed significant communication skills when facing students and visitors in need. I am confident to say that I am now a patient learner who also works hard for my future goals.
I came from a small town that has suffered from pollution and hygiene issues with the environment. Hence, I want to use the knowledge that I will learn from the University of Portsmouth to solve these issues by analyzing big data and finding possible solutions to avoid causing more harm to the environment. Furthermore, I hope to use these abilities to help prevent the earth from suffering more from global warming.
As you are aware, university tuition fees are very costly and I know that I will be needing loans to support my college education. I am sure that I will be taking part-time jobs to earn some monthly allowance but I believe that your scholarship support, would greatly cover some of these fees and allow me to focus on my studies.
I would be grateful to be considered as a recipient of The Rotary Foundation’s scholarship. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best Regards,
Patrick Mason
🔖 Email for scholarship application
Scholarship Application Letter
by Calvin Ray
Dear Scholarship Committee Ms. Brown,
My name is Sarah Johanson and I am currently an undergraduate student at Middlebury Institute of International Studies, pursuing my studies in International Education Management. I was looking for scholarship programs through MIIS’ website and I found this program that helps students who need financial aid. I believe this would be the perfect opportunity for me to advance my goal using the help to build up my reputation in teaching, then join the education management team of a university.
During my years at MIIS, I have maintained a GPA of 3.8 and have excelled in all of my classes. I am currently working part-time at a preschool education center named Joyous Planet. I learned various precious skills such as interpersonal communication, teamwork, and lesson planning skills that gave me an idea of the type of education style that I want to approach.
Joyous Planet had a yearly volunteer mission to teach in remote areas in Asia. I was lucky to be given the opportunity to contribute my skills and time to these missions every year, and it has been nothing but a rewarding and eye-opening experience for me. Through this experience, I came to know that there were thousands of children who had no chance of getting an education, which limits their future development. This inspired and motivated me to put more effort into my studies and work to help these children to have the chance of receiving the privilege I had.
I would truly appreciate the opportunity to meet with the committee and share about my passion and future plans on how I would like to contribute to education in developing countries. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my application.
Sincerely,
Calvin Ray
[email protected]
🔖 University scholarship application letter
Tristan Wu
99352 Richland, Washington
[email protected]
202-555-0145
June 3rd, 2022
Amazon
440 Terry Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109, United States
855-539-0461
Dear Mr. Wilson,
My name is Tristan Wu and I am pursuing my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Washington in the upcoming academic year. I came across this scholarship program through Amazon’s career choice website and I believe my goal to be part of Amazon in the future and my hard work will make me the best candidate for your scholarship.
In my high school years, I was given the chance to visit Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle. I came across one of the manufacturing processes regarding how hardware reliability engineers ensure the sold products work under different conditions and satisfy customers’ needs when using the product. This experience left a deep impression on me and lit a passion to pursue the goal of working at Amazon once I graduate. I aim to study mechanical engineering at the University of Washington to learn skills and gain experience in the field to work for Amazon in the future.
This scholarship would grant me access to learning from experts in the field and get a chance to put my knowledge to good use in the future. I welcome you to arrange a meeting to discuss my qualifications and how my goals align with Amazon’s. Please take your time to review my resume and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.
Regards,
Tristan Wu
🔖 Sample scholarship application letter for master’s degree
Samantha Wilson
85621 San Francisco
[email protected]
202-555-0101
June 3rd, 2022
San Francisco Bay University
Fremont, CA 94539, USA
510-803-7328
Dear Miss. Parker,
Having a year of experience in the computer science field and a bachelor’s degree in computer science, I am currently pursuing my master’s degree at San Francisco Bay University. My name is Samantha Wilson and I am a positive, self-motivated, and innovative person who loves to learn new knowledge. I researched and found out that SFBU is providing scholarships to Master of Science in Computer Science (MSCS) program graduates.
During my time in the field, my team and I developed an application together. The application is named Green Bin, allowing users to find the nearest recycle spot so that they can recycle waste instead of throwing all trash into the general bin. This was invented to inspire and provide convenience to the community to care more about the environment.
I have been working as a software developer at The Silver Logic for a year and I believe there is more that I can learn from SFBU. I hope to continue my studies, to be inspired continuously, and to give back to the environment by putting my knowledge and skills into effective use.
In this application, I have also attached my curriculum vitae for your review. I believe that the skills I have gained through my experiences make me the perfect candidate for this scholarship. I would also be honored to be allowed an opportunity for a meeting with you to further discuss my candidacy. Please feel free to reach out to me at any time should you have any other inquiries. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Samantha Wilson
Tips on How to Write a Letter for a Scholarship Application
After reading those scholarship cover letter examples, you might have an idea of how to create one. You will not want to miss out on these tips that can help you when writing one.
✅ Only include information that is relevant to why you deserve the scholarship.
You might have many things you want to share with the scholarship committees, but never forget that they have limited time to review your application letter for a scholarship. Only including relevant information will not distract the committees’ attention to other parts that might not leave a good impression.
Take a look at this paragraph:
“I have an excellent academic performance with an overall score of 80.5. Hence, I always spent time celebrating with my family after receiving my report cards. It is always a pleasure to be at the top of the class.”
Try to put yourself in the reviewer’s shoes and imagine if you read that in an applicant’s letter. Not a very good impression, is it?
✅ Use a clear structure.
When writing a cover letter for a scholarship application, you should always follow the formal structure of a letter. Having paragraphs and information all over the letter will show your unprofessionalism to the committees.
Here’s the structure that you should follow when writing your scholarship cover letter:
- Headline (sender and receiver’s information, date)
- Salutation/Greeting
- Introduction
- Body paragraph(s)
- Closing paragraph (CTA)
- Sign-off
To ensure you have a clear structure that allows the committees to understand your statements easily, use transition words like:
- Then,
- In contrast,
- Next
- Hence
- Therefore,
✅ Engage the readers with clear and easy-to-understand language.
You might think that using complicated phrases and vocabulary can grab the attention of scholarship committees but it can also make it difficult for them to understand the story you are trying to tell. Hence, using easy-to-understand language is important when writing the scholarship cover letter.
✅ Personalize each scholarship to cover letters.
Different scholarship organizations have different requirements for applicants. Using the same scholarship request letter is not recommended because you might not be able to meet the requirements of different organizations. The best way to do it is to write according to the scholarship organization’s requirements to fulfill your needs.
✅ Spend more time on self-introduction.
The first thing that committees evaluate is your self-introduction. Therefore, do not summarize your introduction. The main information that they want to know firsthand should be in the introduction. You may also use an interesting hook to grab their attention to continue reading the scholarship request letter.
🔑 Key Takeaways
That’s all the information that you should know when writing yours. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Share your story in the scholarship request letter and keep it related to your academic or goal.
- Tailor your scholarship cover letter into different versions if applying for scholarships from multiple organizations.
- Only include relevant information in your scholarship cover letter and avoid oversharing information.
- Follow the scholarship cover letter structure if you do not remember which information comes first.
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--- Originally written by Ryan Goh ---
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