Few things I have learned about scholarship/fellowship applications/interview

Few things I have learned about scholarship/fellowship applications/interview

1. Document your best experiences - Sometimes we have done a lot and we want to add everything into our essays or response. One thing I have learned is to understand what I am applying to and document the best story that fits in. When I applied to the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship program in Edinburgh, I focused more on the story that is quite related to Africa and development. I shared my regional work with Peace First and courses I have taken relating to development. I also spoke about empowering young people in under-served communities to design solutions to the problems they face within their communities. I noticed my course was big on social good and I focused on the youth empowerment aspect of it.

2. Qualify and quantify your work experience and achievements - When I was 15 years old I taught in a school in Igbogbo, Ikorodu. I was teaching the nursery class. I also organize remedial classes for the students. So rather say I taught nursery class. I had to say, “I spent 700 + hours teaching nursery school children basic arithmetic and verbal reasoning. Another example was getting into the Carrington fellowship in 2018. Rather than say I got into the Carrington Fellowship, I would say, “I was one out of the 20 Nigerians selected for the Carrington Fellowship where I received a $5000 grant with other 4 young people to train 280 low-income private school teachers on contemporary pedagogy and innovative teaching methodologies.

3. Read the question prompt- Ensure you answer the question and break it down into elements if they carry more than a question and answer them. E.g. Tell us about how you have demonstrated leadership, giving examples from your life and work. Two elements; talk about how you have demonstrated leadership and back it up with examples from your work or lived experiences. You don't need to beat around the bush, just go straight to the point.

4. Be professional in your response - understand the sector or program you are applying to and when you quote a fact or data, cite them.

5. Drive your response from a policy angle - if you work in development, I think this is more important. For me, my policy solution was supporting teachers in training and fostering collaboration between local and global education agencies. Another policy solution was ensuring young people lead development projects and aids, and raising funds to help them do good work. You must also understand the problems that lead to these policy solutions.

6. Understand key and basic terms of your industry. For example in education- alternative education, per-pupil funding model, complementary basic education, global partnership in education, etc. Understand the terms and weave them in your response in a simpler term.

7. Let your why to reflect in your essay or response. Why do you do what you do? It must show. It's like the driver of your response. Our why can come from observation, personal experience, our story, etc. But our why is personal. Personalize your why.

8. You don't have to be a grammarian to get into a program but be a good communicator. This has worked for me in many ways.

9. Be logical and thoughtful- Don’t go around saying you have reached 50,000 when you have not. How? You have to show your approach and be able to defend any numbers in the interview. It's very easy to spot lies in essay applications. Although some people get away with this. I will suggest you stay true to what you have done. It gives you a sense of I truly deserve it and boost your confidence. If you have reached 6 people. Mention it confidently and talk about the impact you are making in those people's lives.

10. Don't be a lazy applicant- Research about the program. Who are the alumni? Why was it created? What change are the alumni making? What events do you get to attend as a prospective scholar or fellow? Research! Research! Research! It helps you stand out in interviews.

11. Understand the needs of a particular scholarship or fellowship- why was it created? Is it related to what you want? Is it related to your aspiration? If your why aligns with their why or your needs align with their criteria. Then you have scaled the first step of winning.

Bonus: Do not doubt yourself. If you are in the room or you manage to get an interview. It’s an opportunity to sell yourself and let them know how amazing you are beyond what you have written. You must leave an impression. However, you must do this with the utmost sense of humility.

This is not absolute but basically what I felt worked for me. It may or may not work for you but you can learn one or two things.

Hammed Kayode Alabi (c) 2021