Scholarship Preparation: Ready, Set, Go!
You’re a grade 11 student who is trying to get top marks between now and June. In the summer before your senior year, your plan is to use this time to properly consider college choices and options. In the meantime, you continue studying, and getting great marks. Your transcript is forever, and it needs to be strong. As Dory from Finding Nemo would advise, “Just keep swimming.” Right?
The problem with this approach is that students often do not realize how quickly deadlines strike in their senior year, both for college applications and scholarships. In the US, early applications are often due November 1 or November 15. In the UK, deadlines for medicine and dentistry are October 15. (And don’t forget that you can apply to medicine in the UK right out of high school, and save four years of academic life by avoiding the expense of pre-med and health science degrees.) The early admission deadline at The University of Toronto this year is November 7. Some large scholarships, such as the Loran Scholarship worth 100K CAD, have an early firm deadline of October 15. Essentially, as soon as you start your senior year, you can start applying for programs and awards.
This is why what you do and achieve in grades 10 and 11, your sophomore and junior years of high school, is epically important. These are the academic grades that you will be providing for early admission. On these applications, you will also be asked about your extracurricular activities and community service to date. If you have not done much outside of academics in grades 10 and 11, your applications will not be as fantastic as you would expect.
So you need to consider a “Ready, Set, Go” approach, and this should ideally start in grade 9 or 10. You need these years to develop your student profile to show that you are a solid candidate for your programs of choice, and for the awards that on offer. Selection committees are looking for well rounded candidates, who are going to enhance their campuses and new communities. Being a strong academic student is important, but it is also key to demonstrate that you are a strong person, and a capable human being.
We are happy to help you with this process, and save you a lot of time, helping students gain focus and clear direction. We give students personalized strategies, confidence and guidance to get them be ready for the application process. Then we help them through the application process, answering questions and editing essays along the way. Our students have an edge on their competition, and aim for their academic and scholarship targets early. This process is competitive, so it makes sense to get a good coach who can get to know you, and help you play to your strengths. Start early to make the most of your time. We charge for our service, but this is an investment in your student’s future. Better applications, lead to better opportunities and bigger scholarships.
