Scholarships are monetary awards for students, which are given as financial aid to help them to further their education. These financial grants are given forever. Repayment is not required. Funds for completing education are allocated by a range of criteria, which shows donor purpose of offering this award. When it comes to applying for availing funds to cover the educational expenses, applicants are requested to follow a stepwise process. They will be required to complete an essential document list to submit along with application form.
Whether you are applying for Saudi Arabia scholarship or another standard funding program, you will need the following three documents to support your application. These documents include personal essays, transcript of grades and recommendation letters. Below I am briefly discussing these documents to give you some idea about nature and need of these documents.
Table of Contents
Scholarship/personal essays
Regardless of the nature and criteria of the program, all applicants are required to write a personal essay to display their creativity, desire and goals for applying for the scholarship. Students are asked to describe their life experiences, career goals and reasons to show why they need this monetary reward. Students often get confused while writing this kind of essay. Applicants can easily overcome these difficulties if they follow few simple tricks during writing.
- Consider using a chart to brainstorm your ideas.
- Thoroughly review and select the best idea to further narrow down your topics.
- Do create an outline to decide the structure of your essay.
- Follow this predefined outline and write your first draft.
- Ask your teacher or a friend with good comprehension to proofread the write-up.
- Don’t hesitate to correct submission.
Recommendation Letters
Recommendation letters are written by a third person and explain and highlight the reasons to show you why you are the most suitable applicant to obtain this aid. Particularly this letter emphasises the strength and personal achievements of candidates.
When they ask for personal recommendations; students tend to make a common mistake of choosing a family member or a friend for writing a recommendation letter. Instead, they should ask their teachers, employers or organizations they may have worked for to write a reference letter.
Students should carefully choose reference sources for recommendation letters to obtain strong recommendations. Recommendations are the essential part of application process. Applicants must ensure that they should ask for references in advance. Ideally, 3-4 months before the date of form submission to give the writer plenty of time for writing. Don’t delay if you want your letter ready before the deadline.
Result /Transcripts
Mark sheet or transcript is a documental record of academic grade. Applicants have to attach previous transcripts along with application form. Colleges and universities issue two kinds of transcripts to students: official (sealed transcripts delivered to the recipient) and unofficial (printouts of grades and achievements). Don’t forget to check the document requirement checklist to confirm the type of transcript required to submit with the application form. Don’t leave it for the last hour. Plan it to receive an official transcript within the deadline.
Endnote: Applying for Saudi Arabia scholarship is different from submitting a regular application form. This is why it’s necessary for students to familiarise themselves with documental requirements of the scholarship program.
