getting scholarships the easy way 👀

for the year 12s <3

hey year 12s or whoever else may be reading this,

*❗️little disclaimer i suppose u could call it - i’ve decided to write this blog post in the style of how i message friends, because i want this blog to be natural to read, fun + easy to grab takeaways from - also all opinions are my own and what i’ve learnt from experience (they may be wrong so take everything with a grain of salt) 🧂*

my “qualifications” / why u should listen to what i say - im currently studying the Bachelor of Information Technology under the Co-op Scholarship program at UTS, i was also offered a scholarship for Women in Engineering and IT Co-op at UTS, i got a conditional offer to UNSW for both the Software Engineering & Computer Science Co-op, and got an offer for the UNSW Women in Engineering Scholarship. i also have spoken to lots of friends studying under different scholarships and have made friends with scholarship admission ppl 😇

to continue now… firstly i want to say, congrats - you made it! even tho it might not feel like it and it’s very different than what u expected thanks to covid, make sure u still absorb each moment and reflect upon that fact that from all this lead up since u were in primary school ~ you are here, a year 12 + wow now ur gonna be getting urself a scholarship 😉 get keen!

ALSO: top tip, the most likely reason u don’t get a scholarship is u never applied! i promise there are no downsides to applying, if anything it’s a great experience for one day when u go to get an internship or job 🙌

STEP 1: see what scholarships u want to apply to + when they close

personally, i’m very chaotic about this and just have many tabs open on my laptop and write down on a sticky note when they close… whatever this step means to u, u want to first start by introducing urself to the idea of what scholarships are out there

i’ve made a list of some i found in a quick google search for u 👀

what u can apply for (organised by closing date cause don’t miss this!!):

• closes 5 sept - UTS Bachelor of Information Technology Co-operative Scholarship Program - info + application

• closes 5 sept - UTS Bachelor of Accounting Co-operative Scholarship Program - application

• closes 5 sept - UTS WiEIT Co-op & FEIT Female scholarship - info + application

• closes 30 sept - UNSW Co-op for… Accounting & Business Management, Computer Science, Marketing, Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications, Finance & Banking, Business Information Systems, Chemical Engineering, Software Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Actuarial Studies - info + application

• closes 30 sept - UNSW Women In Engineering Scholarship - info

• closes 30 sept - UNSW General Merit Undergraduate Scholarships for Commencing Students - info

• closes 30 sept - UNSW Indigenous General Merit Undergraduate Scholarships - info

• closes 30 sept - UNSW Sport Scholarships - info

• closes 30 sept - UNSW Engineering Rural Scholarships Program - info

• closes 30 sept - UNSW Science Undergraduate Scholarships - info

• closes 30 sept - UNSW School Of Mathematics & Statistics Undergraduate Scholarships - info

• closes 30 sept - USYD Sydney Scholars Awards - info + application

• closes 12th dec - UOW Vice-Chancellor's Elite Academic Scholarship - info + application

• closes 18th dec - USYD Sydney Uni Sports and Fitness Sporting Scholarships and Elite Athlete Program - info + application

• closes 28th feb (2022) - UON Shaping Futures Scholarships - info

• no closing date atm - UTS Indigenous Relocation and Accommodation Scholarship - info

• no closing date atm - UTS Indigenous Education Costs Scholarship - info

• no closing date atm - UTS Australian Indigenous Education Foundation Scholarship - info

• no closing date atm - UTS Jumbunna Accommodation Scholarship - info

• no closing date atm - UTS Business Inclusion & Diversity Scholarship - info

• no closing date atm - UTS Western Earthmoving Scholarship for Construction and Engineering - info

• no closing date atm - UTS Hansen Yuncken Scholarship for Women in Construction - info

these scholarships are more like goals to get when u graduate highschool (as they are automatically given to u due to the criteria u meet + u don’t need to apply to them):

• UNSW Academic Achievement Award - info

• UNSW Scientia Scholarship - info

• UTS Engineering and Information Technology Dean’s Scholarship - info

• UTS Business Dean’s Scholarship - info

• UOW Women in Engineering and Information Sciences Award - info

• UOW Engineering and Information Sciences Scholars and Advanced Scholarship - info

okey so as i was doing this i literally realised there are soooo many scholarships u can apply to, at so many different unis + different study areas and so i may update this over time - but these were all the ones i found spending ~25 mins google searching (there are more out there!!) if ur struggling with ur google searching, comment ur interests/degree u want to study + uni options u like and i’ll find u a scholarship to apply to 😇

my top tip for googling scholarships is put the uni/course + something like “scholarships 2022 term 1 commencing student” or “undergraduate bachelor scholarships”

❗️btw, even if u apply for scholarships u don’t necessarily want - e.g. u want to go to a different uni - and u manage to get the scholarship, this is still amazing (even if u don’t take it up), cause it’s something u can put on ur resume and show ppl❗️

also before we move on… i know at first i didn’t specifically understand what these “co-op” scholarships are…

• co-op means u have a guaranteed placement at a sponsor company, where u work for “free”, having been paid earlier/throughout ur degree the scholarship money. when applying u can check when, for how long and how many placements u will have (e.g. i have two 6 month internship placements, one in my first year and one in third year at uni during my second semester - yes this means doing work + uni at the same time)

• a co-op scholarship is beneficial for getting a hands-on-experience and having guaranteed internship placements at the companies that sponsor the internship (check out the applicable info/website to see which companies and the number + duration of intern placements)

• they generally are known as gateways to easily be employable after u finish university

• however, some ppl see them as being time-wasters, they’d rather focus on studying, or want to get their own internships from other companies or even perhaps get paid more if they organise it themselves

• co-ops at certain unis can mean less flexibility in being able to do exchange or intern at other companies (during times when u aren’t on ur co-op placement) - personally, i have noticed UTS is very flexible and i can do all these things, ensuring it doesn’t clash with my own placements

STEP 2 - applying

• firstly APPLY! what’s the worst that can happen? whatever happens, it’s a super good experience and practising to express urself + learn application/interview skills

• another thing to mention is remember that the people who get scholarships aren’t already experts… else they would be working not studying! so for example if u wanna go into tech but don’t have any extra-curricular tech experience this is so so okey, just show off that u love learning & have a passion for what u want to study/what the scholarship is about!

• so when u first apply, there will be a button and then questions to answer with ur simple personal details, maybe ur school marks (just copy these from ur report), and then some quirky questions for the ppl to get to know u better & see why ur interested/a good fit for the scholarship

• u defs wanna write ur inital ideas and draft ur application up in a word or google docs so that u can utilise spell check and character/word count, get others to read through it (if u want even send me a copy and i can read through it for u!) + it’s good to have a copy to reread before u have an interview to remind urself what they already know about u and what they might ask about u

• when u first read the question, keep it simple stupid (kiss) hehe and write down the first ideas that come to ur mind as dot points… these become super helpful to refer to and can make the application less daunting by just letting ur mind vibe with the different questions

• i recommend relating all ur answers to questions back to experiences - this shows a depth of understanding and abilities that u have 💫 even if it was a bad experience, be creative and think about the good u learned from it or how u turned the situation around - also think bout how u can stand out from other students applying from the cool extracurriculars or volunteer and community work or sports/team involvement or projects or paid work or random activities/experiences u have partaken in

• basically u just wanna be telling a cool + vibey story bout urself

  • if ur rlly stuck on formatting/writing ur response, use a method like STAR (situation, task, action, result) - more info on star

  • tip: use these words in ur application - passion, dedication, effort, ambition, communication, interpersonal skills and the ability to learn quickly

  • remember - don’t be shy, they want u to show off & they want to get to know about u

• i hope this is self-explanatory - but be honest in everything u say… show off ur passion, whatever it may be 🤩

• u wanna make sure u stand out from the hundreds or even thousands of applications they get… so u can do this by showing genuine interest - do this by mentioning things u can only find by researching the scholarship (u can just spend 1 min doing this) i.e. read a story on the uni’s website about someone who did the scholarship + mention their name & how they inspired u or how u liked something about the experience they had - cause think about it, of course they just want people who are genuinely rlly interested in doing their scholarship

• in addition to showing ur genuine interest, u want to feature what makes u unique?!? this can sometimes be hard to figure out or think about… but what is something someone often comments on u being particularly good at or something ppl find unusual and unexpected about u? - can u use this cool, unique difference to stand out from others in ur application and relate it to an experience? 😎 and remember use this to weave ur funky, unique + cool personal story

• for co-ops, they want ppl who love learning + like hands-on experiences - so, u can totally directly say these things - u can talk about how u think having a hands-on-experience while learning at uni is super valuable, how it helps u learn, etc. - they also want people who won’t drop out of the co-op after starting it (as this is a hassle for them to organise), so showing passion and commitment will get u far

STEP 3 - the wait

• this can go on for different periods of times depending the scholarship and uni… some wait till ur atar, others firstly have u send a “video snapshot”, u may make it into an interview for the scholarship

• while ur waiting for a response, remember that there’s nothing else u can do & u gave it ur best shot

• u got this - goodluck!!

wow, amazing job for making it to the end of this blog!! if u have any questions or want more advice from me, send a message, reach out, whatever works 💕 my email is pineappleiceblock@gmail.com 💌

also if u want + cause if u like this blog i may write one for the next stage of scholarship applications when u get all those interviews… ⬇️

but until next time,

i send my love to u all + hope ur doing okey - i know it’s hard, but i can just see the incredible future destined for u all, keep pushing through xx :)

QUICK SNEAKY SUMMARY 🥷

1. google which scholarships u want to apply for

2. apply! just do it hehe

3. u don’t have to be an expert to apply

4. applying mainly involves answering quirky questions

5. draft up ur inital thoughts/answers in a doc

6. let ur mind vibe + write down ur inital ideas in dot points

7. relate ur answers back to experiences

8. tell a story bout urself through ur answers

9. be honest

10. show genuine interest by basically “name dropping” and doing some quick research

11. show off what make u unique

12. for co-ops demonstrate ur love of learning + hands-on-experience