Applying to several scholarships at once

Because no single award is guaranteed, it makes sense to apply for several. The difficulty is that a long list, handled carelessly, produces thin and rushed applications and a tired applicant. What follows is a way of organising the work so each application still gets proper attention.

Start with a shortlist

Filter first. Keep only the awards you qualify for and have a realistic chance at, then rank them by how well you fit what each one rewards. A modest list of strong matches is easier to manage than a long one, and you are more likely to do each of them justice.

Read the eligibility rules line by line before an award goes on the list: nationality, subject, level of study, work experience, age limits and whether you must already hold an offer from a university. An award you are not eligible for wastes the hours you spend on it, however good the application. Our guide to finding scholarships you are eligible for covers where to search.

Keep one tracker

Once you have more than a few applications on the go, memory stops being reliable. A spreadsheet is enough, with a row for each award and columns for:

• the deadline, and any earlier admission deadline it depends on
• what the application requires
• which documents you have ready
• the status (not started, in progress, submitted)

With everything on one sheet, deadlines are harder to miss and it is obvious what to work on next. A few rows might look like this. The awards and dates are invented for illustration:

Award	Deadline	Depends on	Needs	Ready	Status	Fit
Foundation award A (Masters, any field)	10 Nov	None	Essay 500 words, 2 references, CV	CV	In progress	High
University B merit scholarship	15 Dec	Admission form by 1 Dec	Personal statement, transcript	Transcript	Not started	Medium
Government award C	6 Jan	University offer	4 short essays, 2 references, proof of work	CV, references asked	In progress	High
Department D bursary	31 Jan	None	Form, 1 reference	None	Not started	Low

Two columns earn their place. “Depends on” catches the awards that need a university offer or an admission form first, which in practice moves your deadline earlier. “Fit” stops you spending the most time on whichever award happens to be in front of you. Our scholarship application checklist is a printable version of the per-award document list.

Write a core version once, then adapt it

Many applications ask for the same material in different words: your background, your goals, what you have achieved. Draft a solid version of each of these once so you are not starting from nothing with each form. Then rewrite that core for each award, using its own criteria and language. Reusing raw material saves hours; sending the same text to every funder usually wastes them.

A practical way to do this is a single document of building blocks: a 150-word account of your background, three or four short examples of things you have done with the result of each, a paragraph on your plans after study, and a list of facts you keep looking up (dates, grades, job titles). For each application, pick the blocks that match what the funder asks for and write the essay around them. The motivation letter planner is a good place to draft the plan paragraph.

Work in deadline order

Sort the list by deadline and start with the earliest. Within that order, give the best-fit awards the most time. If time runs short, five careful applications are a better use of it than six mediocre ones, so be prepared to drop a marginal award.

Brief your referees once

If several applications need references, give your referees the whole picture in a single message: the list of awards, the deadlines and the details for each. That is easier on them than a series of last-minute requests, and the letters tend to be better for it. An example, with invented names:

1. 1Subject line: says how many requests and over what period, so it is easy to find later.
2. 2One list: each award with its deadline and how the reference is submitted.
3. 3Material to work from: your CV and a note on what each funder values, with a suggested example.
4. 4Reminders and results: a promise of a reminder and of letting them know how it went.

Our reference request email template and guide to asking for a recommendation letter cover the first request in more detail.

Pace the work

Writing applications is tiring, and fatigue shows on the page. Where the deadlines allow, spread the work out and take breaks rather than trying to finish everything in one long push. A rough plan for a season might run like this:

1. Three to four months before the first deadlineBuild the shortlist and the tracker. Check eligibility. Ask referees.
2. Two to three months beforeWrite the core building blocks. Request transcripts and any certified documents.
3. Six to eight weeks before each deadlineDraft that award's essays from the core material. Brief referees with the details.
4. Two weeks before each deadlineFinal edits, a reader's comments, and a check against the funder's criteria.
5. A few days beforeSubmit. Do not leave it to the last day, when portals can be slow and help desks busy.

Keep notes as you go

Each application shows you something: which sections you keep reusing, where you get stuck, what feedback comes back. Over a season your core material improves and the process gets quicker. Our list of common scholarship application mistakes is worth reading before your first submission.