Table of Contents
Chapter 1 The Secret to Winning a Scholarship 13
You are 60 seconds away from the trash bin 14
The scholarship strategies you'll learn 15
Why we know so much about scholarships 17
Not just looking for straight A students 17
Chapter 2 Where to Find Great Scholarships 19
Exploring scholarship goldmines 20
Ambassadors wanted 22
Work experience & financial aid 25
Which scholarship is right for you? 26
When & where to find scholarships 26
Make learning their mission your mission 27
Making the match 28
Chapter 3 Judges' Roundtable: Inside the Selection Process 31
Meet the scholarship judges 32
What is the purpose of your award? 32
Who typically judges the scholarship competition? 35
How does your scholarship selection process work? 36
What qualities do you look for when selecting the winner? 38
What sets the winner apart from the runner-up? 40
What advice do you have for future applicants? 41
Participating judges & experts 43
Chapter 4 Essay Writing Workshop 45
Why the essay is critical to winning 46
The making of a powerful essay 46
Focus on solutions 47
Four common features of all winning essays 49
Hard to believe but true essay mistakes 50
How to find the perfect topic 54
Putting words on paper 54
Go beyond the superficial 55
Use examples & illustrate 58
The importance of editors 59
Recycle & reuse 60
How to write a great introduction or conclusion 60
Essays get better with each revision 61
Stay motivated 62
Chapter 5 30 Winning Scholarship Essays 63
The money-winning essays 64
Experiences & challenges 64
A scholarship support network 69
Essays about family 75
The intangible benefits of applying 79
Essay advice from the winners 81
National or international issues 87
The importance of getting editors 96
Community service & volunteerism 99
Career plans or field of study 106
Essays about leadership 115
Academic accomplishments 117
Seeking genuineness 120
Essays about athletics 125
Artistic talents 127
Chapter 6 12 Essays That Bombed 129
Learning from failure 130
Where's the point? 130
The attempted tearjerker 132
Miss America essay 133
The life-changing voyage 135
Convoluted vocabulary 136
Behold! My statistics 137
The most influential person in the world 139
Creativity overload 141
Be true 141
The future me 142
My life as seen on TV 144
Excuses, excuses, excuses 146
Complex problem, simple solution 147
Chapter 7 Judges' Roundtable: The Scholarship Essay 151
Meet the scholarship judges 152
How important is the essay to winning a scholarship? 152
What qualities make an essay powerful? 153
What common mistakes do students make on the essay? 155
Participating judges & experts 157
Chapter 8 Winning Interview Strategies 159
Face-to-face with the interview 160
Friendly & hostile interviews 160
How to ace the interview 161
Transform an interrogation into a conversation 161
Advice from a Rhodes Scholar 163
You are not the center of the universe 164
The group interview 165
Dress & act the part 166
What it's like to be an interviewer 167
How to make practice into perfect 168
The long-distance interview 169
The hostile interview 170
The disaster interview 172
Post-interview 173
Make sure you make your point 173
Chapter 9 Real Interview Questions & Answers 175
Giving the right answers 176
Achievements & leadership questions 176
Tip #1 from a scholarship winner 179
Personal questions 179
Misinterpreting the judges 181
Why you deserve to win questions 184
Education & college questions 186
Tip #2 from a scholarship winner 187
Academic questions 189
Tip #3 from a scholarship winner 191
Your career & future questions 194
Tip #4 from a scholarship winner 195
Activity questions 198
Opinion questions 200
Tip #5 from a scholarship winner 201
Chapter 10 Judges' Roundtable: The Interview 203
Meet the scholarship judges 204
How important is the interview in determining who wins? 204
What are some typical questions that you ask? 205
What are qualities of a good interview? 205
What common mistakes do students make in interviews? 206
How should students prepare for interviews? 207
Poor ways to begin an interview 208
Participating judges & experts 209
Chapter 11 Final Thoughts 211
A personal ending 212
Special request 213
Scholarship Directory 215
A directory of 125 scholarships including information on how to apply.
Index 251
About the Authors 256
