Boost Your Chances of Winning a Scholarship By Volunteering

Flickr user Summer in the City

Organizations award scholarships based on varied criteria, ranging from the most straightforward criteria such as academic excellence, to the most unusual criteria such as the ability to speak Klingon or making the most creative PBJ sandwich. But one criterion that is common in almost all scholarships is community involvement in the form of volunteering.

Volunteering and Scholarship Applications

Almost all scholarships clearly mention on their application page that volunteering or community service is one of the factors on which applications will be assessed. Even those that do not mention it as part of their criteria, tend to favor students who have spent a considerable amount of time volunteering.

Why Volunteering Matters

The reason behind the inclusion of volunteering as a criterion for evaluating scholarship applications is that these organizations wish to encourage students to give back to the community. To them, well-rounded students who think beyond themselves and care about others and their surroundings are a bigger asset to society and thus worthy of sponsoring. 

When you volunteer, you show scholarship committees that other side of you that cannot be assessed by grades and scores. You should them that you are caring and giving, which is exactly the kind of person they are looking for to award their scholarship to.

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