Scholarship Master Application
The search for scholarships and financial aid can be a long, demanding process. To increase your chances of receiving financial aid, you should apply for as many scholarships as possible. However, many applications will require a lot of time and effort. By preparing a master application beforehand, you can save yourself time with each application. This will also allow you more time to apply for various scholarships.
A master application is a “blueprint application” that will be your guide to filling out scholarship applications in the future. It will provide all the information you need for any application so that you need not be delayed when applying. All of your awards, recognitions, and accomplishments will already be listed in detail on the master, which will help you be accurate and efficient every time you apply. Your master application should also have five to seven pre-written essays that will supplement the ones you may need to write for your applications.
Part A: Personal information
The first section of the master application will contain your personal information that is likely to be requested by scholarship applications. After you write the detailed answers in your master application, simply copy and paste the requested information into a scholarship application. Since you have already edited the document, your chances of errors and typos are decreased. If an application requests information that is not on your master, be sure to add the newly acquired information to your master for future use.
Most applications request the following information:
| Information about You |
|
| First Name |
Middle Name |
Last Name |
| Street |
City |
State/Country |
| Zip Code |
Mobile Phone |
Home Phone |
| Email Address |
Age |
Citizenship |
| Date of Birth |
Career Interests |
Field of Study or Major |
| Social Security or Personal ID Number |
Gender |
Ethnicity |
| Information about Parents, Guardians, or Spouse (if applicable) |
| Name |
Address (if different) |
Email Address |
| Member of Military |
Present Station/Address |
Phone |
| Married/Single/Divorced, Widowed |
Membership in Organizations |
Occupation or Work History |
| Schools Attended |
Current Student |
Ethnic Ancestry |
| School Information |
|
|
| High School: |
| Name of High School |
Address |
Website Address |
| Type of School |
Dates Attended |
Hours attended/or planned |
| Completion Date |
Completion Document (certificate, degree, or other) |
| College or Institute (attended or hope to attend): |
| Name(s) of College or Institute |
Address |
Website Address |
| Type of School |
Dates Attended |
Hours Attended/or planned |
| Completion Date |
Completion Document (certificate, degree, or other) |
| Work History |
|
|
| Name of Business |
Type of Work |
Supervisor's Name |
| Address |
Email Address |
Telephone Number |
| Your Position/Duties |
Dates Employed |
Reason for Leaving |
| Volunteer History |
|
|
| Organization Name |
Type of Organization |
Supervisor's Name |
| Address |
Email Address |
Telephone Number |
| Service Performance |
Type of Service |
How Many Benefited |
| Number of People in Service Group |
Days/Hours of Service |
Who Served |
Part B: List of classes, grades, awards, recognitions, and more
This section documents all of your awards, activities, and academic merits. Brainstorm to list many of your achievements that would be impressive to a scholarship committee. Also, you should obtain an electronic copy of all academic transcripts (Scan it if you have a hard copy). Unless otherwise noted, you do not need to have an official transcript sent with each scholarship application. You should use the information in Part B whenever an application asks for lists of accomplishments, classes, grades, activities or similar information.
List the following in your master application:
- Awards or championships
- Honors
- Competitions, performances, or recitals
- Special Recognitions
- Copy of high school, college, or other transcripts
Part C: Essays
The third section of the master application will assist you in writing your scholarship essays. It is recommended that you write 5–7 essays in advance to help speed the essay-writing process. Though these essays may not perfectly fit the questions for every single application, you can adjust them to meet the requirements. Read the article "Topics for Scholarship Essays" to get an idea of the type of articles you should be writing. Focus on specific strengths that you have developed in your own life and magnify them in your essay. For more ideas on how to magnify your strengths in scholarship essays read the article “Emphasizing Strengths in Scholarship Essays.”
