Nobody likes to waste time, right? You want your efforts to be repaid and you must remember this mantra when you are searching and applying for a grant. Too many students make the mistake of going head first and applying for all the scholarships that they can get their hands on without even taking a look to see if they are worthy of their time of not. So, here are the three things you need to look for when applying for a scholarship.

Number one is to research the Institution that offers the grant. Is it legal and trustworthy? You can check it on search engines or go deeper than that, but make sure that you will be working with the right people.

Number two is checking what the grant is all about and if you like it. It is very important to like the subject and to be into the field that they are offering a grant or a scholarship for. There is no point in studying chemistry if you absolutely hate it only because there is a scholarship on that subject. Do not do that.

And the third and most important thing is to check the eligibility criteria. There is a lot of documentation to be done for each scholarship and if you don`t check if you are eligible you might work for nothing. Go through the conditions and see if you have the right nationality or residence. Make sure you have the financial need that they are looking for and please check if you GPA is high enough to get that scholarship or grant. Check if you have the motivation to study for that course that you might be taking and see if you have the adequate college preparatory work. These are not the only conditions you have to fulfill and you only get the full list if you look for it.

All this work, small work, will save you a lot of time and effort in the future so make sure that you do it. In getting a grant preparation it is as important or even more important than actually applying. Focus your effort on grants that you really want.

Applying and getting a bursary is not that hard, but actually finding the right bursary for you can be a little more difficult. Bursaries are offered if you are in financial need or if you are really good at athletics or some educational topic, so there is not much to do there than present the facts in a good light or pay special attention when you fill out the application.

The bursaries are however different. Not all of them offer the same amount of money and you should also pay attention to the length of the bursary. To understand where you can start looking for bursaries you must understand who is giving them out. Most of the time you`ll be able to find a bursary offered by your universities. If you are not yet at university is a good practice to see what independent or state universities offer bursaries for students that need the help. You may want to choose a certain university instead of another as it will be free for you to study there. Bursaries are also offered by institutions and they target different criteria. This is when you will need to choose them according to what you are good at.

The best way to find bursaries is to go ahead and ask about their availability at each big university in your town or the town where you want to go to study in. The university officials will be able to tell you if they have any available bursaries and what are the requirements. Phone or email local institutions to see if they are currently offering bursaries and if they are associated with any universities in the country. Go firstly to the institutions that treat subject in which you are interested.

Use the internet to your advantage, but be smart about it. Search for bursaries in your town or on a certain subject. A “biology bursary in Washington” will probably get you better results than a general search on “bursaries in the USA”.

Go on student forums and look for threads related to bursaries or ask others how they managed to get a bursary. You will get loads of useful information this way. Ask around and make everyone know that you are interested in getting a bursary. You never know who might know about one or who might be able to give you a hand.