| Habits of success | Sophistication |
| Graduate students | Study abroad | University of Hawai‘i System |
| Local Hawai‘i resources | Other resources, U.S.A. | Beware | Acknowledgements |
Since 1991, I have been advising students about scholarships and
letters of recommendation. Ever since then, I have also been writing
letters of recommendation for students, former students and colleagues.
Based on that experience, this web page summarizes advice that
students and others have found helpful. It may be applicable to your
situation — Vincent K. Pollard.
• Information on work-study jobs and student loans is available on
your campus — or at the school to which you are applying.
• Information about scholarships, tuition waivers, fellowships and
grants is not centralized. Instead, this information is typically
scattered, discontinuous and changing. Grants and other financial awards
for college students are advertised in print, on scholarly e-mail networks
and the Web, sometimes on radio and TV, and by word-of-mouth.
• To increase the non-loan portion of your financial aid
package, make the following three changes in your habits:
Habits of succeess
| 1. Initiating a
year-round effort to learn more about scholarship opportunities!
2. Devoting twenty to thirty minutes a week to this research! 3. Becoming a sophisticated consumer of advice! |
• If you adopt this approach, you will learn about scholarships well in advance of deadlines. Gaining that additional time will enable you to write — and revise — a focused, coherent application. In turn, that will increase your chances of success.
• Devoting a few hours a month to your scholarship search can be rewarded with hundreds and even thousands of dollars in scholarships and grants.
• If you already have tried the Hawai‘i Voyager library catalog, you may also use e-mail to contact the Library Reference Center in Hamilton Library with questions about scholarship directories and manuals advising you how to write a successful scholarship application.
• The University of Hawaii at Mānoa Financial Aid Services provides information on the following: Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Hawaii Student Incentive Grants, tuition waivers, schholarships, Federal Work Study, and loans.
• When you are on campus to attend class or to visit the library, stop and spend a few minutes reading bulletin board announcements about grants, scholarships and fellowships.
• Ask the secretary in the department, program, college or school in which you are majoring.
• If you hear about meetings and orientation workshops that explain how to prepare scholarship applications, find time to attend them.
• And skillfully search the Internet.
• Be aware of deadlines for scholarships administered through the UH System.
• Deadlines for scholarships administered by local community organizations vary from those by national associations.
• Feeling frustrated filling out FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid? If so, then you and your parents should read and follow up on suggestions in College Financial Aid Secrets.
• Try FastWeb for tips on applying for private scholarships.
• Scholarship applications usually require letters of recommendation from current or former teachers, advisers or other people (for example, employers) who know you well and with whom you have done well academically or on the job.
• Increase your chances of eliciting a strong, detailed, focused letter of recommendation by telling your recommending teacher what the requirements are for the desired scholarship, grant or fellowship.
• Make sure that your advisors understand your academic and professional goals. Professional associations to which they belong will send them e-mail and snail mail information about scholarships. Often they will see this information long before you will read the same announcements on a university bulletin board.
• If you are a good to excellent student, assume that you may already be eligible to apply for one or more of the available scholarships. With that in mind, ask your adviser: "Please let me know if you see a scholarship for which I should apply."
• Understand the purpose for which each scholarship fund was established. If your plans match that purpose, keep it in mind. Refer to it as you write your application. Scholarship committees are guided by the purpose for which a scholarship was established.
• Of course, it is not appropriate to tell your recommender how to write the letter of recommendation. But you can help your cause simply by giving that teacher a copy of the latest draft of your "Statement of Purpose" or a copy of any other personal essay required as part of the scholarship application.
• Also, help your cause by reminding your recommender of your most impressive accomplishment — best paper, presentation or exam — in the course(s) you took with her or him.
• If you have waived your right to access a letter of recommendation, do not ask for a copy of the letter. To do so, is dishonest and unethical.
• Many scholarship applications ask that you include a curriculum vitae. Others encourage you to do so. This is an academic resume, and it is more elaborate than the resume you might use to get a summer job.
• You will find suggestions and examples in CvTips.
• Consult how-to-do-it manuals like Anthony Rebecca, The Curriculum Vitae Handbook: Using Your CV to Present and Promote Your Academic Career (Iowa City, Iowa: Rudi Publishers, 1994). Its call number is LB 2331.72 .A58 1994. You will find this book in the Main Reference section of Hamilton Library (first floor).
• Effective recommendations are tailored to an intended audience. With that in mind, normally avoid asking your recommender to send out a letter previously written for one purpose in support of an application to a different scholarship committee this year.
• The Letters of Recommendation Service maintained by the Law School Admission Council is a partial exception to the advice offered in the previous sentence.
• If you have arranged for confidential recommendations to be sent to a credential service, you might do two things: 1) If you have more than one objective (for example, admissions, scholarships, and jobs), request a separate letter for each one; and 2) as you proceed in your academic or professional career, request that those letters be updated and replaced.
• Along the lines of the above considerations, below are eight questions I ask students when they request a letter of recommendation:
| 1. To whom
should the recommendation be addressed? 3. Is there a form to be filled out? 4. Should I return the completed letter to you? Or should I mail it directly to the scholarship/grant/admissions committee? 5. If this application is related to academic work that you began or continued while in a class with me, can you summarize how this project has developed subsequently? For example, has the experience caused you to think differently about the same issues than before? 6. Will you give me a rough draft of the statement of purpose or personal essay that you are writing for the scholarship, grant or admissions committee? 7. Is there anything else I need know about this application? 8. Is there any accomplishment of yours that would be helpful for me to mention in my letter? |
• Most teachers will accommodate last-minute requests. But earlier requests facilitate the writing of more thoughtful recommendations.
• Focus solely on what you can do to write a strong, clear, relevant application. Do not waste time speculating about what anyone else might be doing.
• Some factors are beyond your control. So, whenever possible, apply for more than one scholarship. Your extra effort is an "insurance policy" because one never can be 100% sure which application will be successful.
• Graduate students should read, internalize and apply advice from Adam Przeworski and Frank Salomon. In the opening paragraph of "The Art of Writing Proposals," they explain:
A proposal's overt function is to persuade a committee of scholars that the project shines with.....conceptual innovation, methodological rigor, and rich, substantive content. But to make these points stick, a proposal writer needs a feel for the unspoken customs, norms, and needs that govern the selection process itself (1988; revised, 1995).
• Students writing M.A. thesis proposals should consider "Guidelines on writing a research proposal" by Professor Matt McGranaghan.
• And peruse Sonja Brodt's Preparing for Research Abroad (1998).
• Do you want to earn academic credit for courses taken in another country? You may be eligible for scholarships administered by the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa's Study Abroad Center!
• In contrast to virtually all other fine programs at Mānoa and elsewhere in the UH System that send students abroad, Study Abroad academic credits are automatically entered on your UH-Mānoa transcript. UH-Mānoa students in the Study Abroad program do not have to worry about transferring credits. At the end of the semester, they become part of your academic transcript.
• Students on other campuses in the UH System (UH-Hilo, UH-West O‘ahu and the Community Colleges) may take advantage of this opportunity to earn transferrable UH-Mānoa credit.
• Students from other UH System campuses who would benefit from UH-Mānoa financial aid to cover costs of studying abroad should apply to be admitted to the UH-Mānoa as a student-at-large. Doing so does not require that you drop out of your current program. The process is not complicated. And if you choose to take this route, Study Abroad Center staff will assist you in the registration process and, if necessary, walk you through the steps.
• Also, students from schools outside the UH System may earn transferrable UH credits while taking classes through the UH-Mānoa Study Abroad Center. Schools on the continental U.S. often provide aid for the students of theirs who study abroad in classes offered through the UH-Mānoa Study Abroad Center.
• For strategic and tactical advice on applying for a Fulbright Student Grant, graduating seniors and graduate students should read Vincent K. Pollard's "Fulbrights for seniors, grad students."
• The UH Office of International Education lists many scholarships for which U.S. citizenship or permanent residency is not required.
• The University of Hawai‘i Foundation Scholarship Search database lets students search by campus or systemwide.
• A wide variety of SEED ("Student Excellence, Equity and Diversity") scholarships are available to students at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. For example, "Bridge to Hope" scholarships assist single mothers. The adviser for this program is Theresa Bill.
• UH undergraduates may compete for ASUH Research Awards. Undergrads engaged in research projects who need money for conference travel, equipment, translation services, art supplies, xeroxing and other research aids should apply. During the year, there are several funding cycles. These one-time awards are usually for a maximum of $750.00.
• Early in the year, undergraduates pursuing research projects should apply to the University Research Council for an Undergraduate Summer Research Award.
• The Undergraduate Honors Program at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa lists Awards for Undergraduate Research.
• Scholarships are available for students at the University of Hawai‘i - West O‘ahu.
• Numerous scholarships are offered by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation. The main application period runs from late November until the end of February. Download the Hawai‘i Community Foundation's Scholarship Seeker's Guide.
• Parents, students and educators should also visit College Connections Hawaii.
• Five other types of local organizations offer scholarships and grants:
Labor unions.
Ethnic groups.
Civic associations.
Businesses and business associations.
Churches and other religious organizations.
• The American Council on Education (ACE) offers basic advice to students and their parents. See the ACE's College Is Possible project.
• Over 7,000 scholarships and several fellowships are offered to students of African American and other historically disadvantaged ethnic heritages by the United Negro College Fund.
• Seven out of ten college students receive financial aid without joining the military.
• If you are a military veteran, make an appointment with the appropriate campus counselor. Be sure to get all the benefits to which you are entitled!
• But if you are not a veteran, avoid making a hasty decision. In the past, you might have been advised to request signed, written documentation for claims about educational benefits and other issues made to you by any Armed Forces Recruiter. While that may have been wise advice in previous years, today it may not be sufficient to protect you against unscrupulous salespersons. "Douglas Smith, a US Army spokesman, said the job of recruiters is not to make promises but to show applicants possibilities and career options." Speaking on the record in mid-May 2005 for a reporter from The Christian Science Monitor, Mr. Smith stated:
"As for a recruiter making promises and not following through, the recruiter's not in any position to promise anything. We hope that all our recruiters are communicating honestly with our applicants," Mr. Smith said. But he added, "In the contract [between the new soldier and the Army] it says, "Anything the recruiter may have promised me is 'moot'."1TOP OF THIS PAGE.1Doug Paton, "Rift over recruiting at public high schools," The Christian Science Monitor, online edition, 18 May 2005.
• Did the Recruiting Officer tell you how many veterans received full educational benefits in recent years? If not, find out how low the percentage is. Consider the following shocking summary from a veterans' benefits study:
Although most recruits sign up for the GI Bill and demonstrate their commitment to education by accepting a $1,200 reduction in their pay, according to one government study, fewer than 50% of veterans use their GI Bill education benefits.22Anthony J. Principi [Chairman], Congressional Commission on Servicemembers and Veterans' Transition Assistance, Report to the Chairmen and Ranking Minority Members, The Committees on Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services and National Security, The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, 14 January 1999, Chapter 1: "Education," page 20.
• Veterans entitled to military educational benefits may be disappointed if their benefits are subtracted from the amount awarded by other scholarships and fellowships for which they qualify.
An earlier version of this web page appeared as a handout accompanying
a presentation by Vincent K. Pollard for members of the Philippine
Languages and Culture Club (PLCC), University of Hawai‘i at
Mānoa, Spring 1992 Semester.
An excerpt from this web page has been published as "Eight Self-asked
Questions for Better Letters of Recommendation," Kapi‘o News
Press [Kapi‘olani Community College - University of Hawai‘i
System], vol. 39, issue 1 (23
August 2005), p. 2.
© 1999-2008, Vincent K. Pollard. It is prohibited to include this website's content in passworded or
fee-for-service electronic databases. If your website uses "no-frames"
html web pages, linking is allowed.
Acknowledgements
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modified, 6 April 2008.
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