TAKE A POSITIVE APPROACH
Former GREAT Scholar, Diona Cornelio from India, completed a master’s in education, inclusion and special needs at the University of Hull in 2021. Here, she shares her top tips for a successful application...
1. Make sure you’re eligible and stick to the word limit
To get through the first round of applications, you must fulfil two simple requirements. If you meet the scholarship’s eligibility criteria and you stick strictly to the word limit, you’ll automatically proceed to the next stage, where real people read your application.
2. Share your achievements to prove your worth
Share your achievements with the people reading your application to help them know your worth and decide whether to grant you the scholarship. Don’t worry about ‘talking about yourself too much’ or ‘boasting’. They want – and need – to know your achievements. It could be something as simple as being part of the school dramatics association. Just make sure you show how this has been beneficial, how being involved has given you dierent skills and how you want to use them in the future.
3. There are no right or wrong answers
There are no right or wrong answers if you talk candidly about your experiences. Share your story, your capabilities and your ambitions in the best way that you can, and try to structure your answers in a way that makes the most of the limited space you have. Make your writing like a story that reflects all the positive ways you’ve been involved in dierent activities.
4. Talk frankly about how the scholarship will impact your life
People reading your application will want to know what you hope to gain from receiving the scholarship, both personally and professionally. Your answers are the chance for you to show them how receiving the scholarship would impact your life.
I wrote about how getting my master’s in the UK would be the first step on my journey to achieving my career goals. My course focused on job building, leadership and management. After graduating, I wanted to stay in the UK to grow my experience within the field of education before returning to India to found and run a specialeducation institution.
THERE ARE NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWERS if you talk candidly about your experiences. SHARE YOUR STORY, YOUR CAPABILITIES AND YOUR AMBITIONS
5. Show how getting the scholarship will benefit people in your home country
In your application, try to highlight how the knowledge, skills and experiences you’ll gain through your education won’t just help your own personal and professional growth but also the growth of your nation. You’ll be assessed on your ambitions, including in the longer term, and in relation to the value that you receiving a GREAT
Scholarship will add to your home community.
Beyond my career ambitions, I hope the school I want to set up will make education in India more accessible and inclusive for dierently-abled students, and not just those who can aord it. I also want to create equal opportunities for women, and other disadvantaged groups, to find stable and meaningful employment.
6. Go for it, and if it doesn’t work out the first time, keep trying
It’s normal to get intimidated when thinking about how many people can be applying from all over the world, many of whom you might feel are more deserving of certain opportunities than you. They’re probably thinking exactly the same thing as you. And if you don’t try, you’ll never know what could happen. So it’s worth taking your chances. And if at first, you don’t succeed or you don’t get exactly what you’re looking for, there are always other options that will help you to achieve your goals.