Applying for scholarships can be a taxing endeavour. The variety of awards available, and the volume of students applying for them, can be overwhelming at times. But, getting your applications in is very important and help is available.
There is over $5 million in scholarship money available to Bermudian students every year, and not all of it is claimed. For every award that goes neglected, unapplied for, and unclaimed each year, another Bermudian dream is deferred. Don’t defer your dreams. Get applying, and get moving on your future.
Recommended by the highly esteemed Ms Arlene Brock, the team of young intellectuals at Longtail Learning are already impressing some of Bermuda’s top academic minds. The company was founded in March 2023, and is all about enriching the local community with high quality tutoring, mentoring, and general academic guidance.
The Longtail Learning Team are more than happy to share their expertise with the students who are beginning to think about the scholarship application process.
“For the most part, applications are done online. The majority of scholarships are available through bermudascholarships.com. However, sometimes you have to go through the company or entity directly. For example, The Bermuda Hospitals Board Scholarship is not on the Bermuda Scholarships website. If there is a company you are interested in that you cannot find a scholarship for, search up the company and ‘scholarship,’ and there may be one available.
“From past experience, there are a few applications requiring documents delivered in person, so check application descriptions thoroughly.”
One of the biggest pitfalls of applying for scholarships is missing the deadline. Don’t miss the deadline. The vast majority of scholarship selection committees will not even open an envelope that arrives on their desks late. The Longtail Team offered a strategy to keep in mind:
“We recommend aiming to submit at least a couple days before the deadline. Your application will not be accepted if it is late. It is necessary to take your time with these applications, so start early. Make sure you write down all your deadlines, so you are not scrambling to obtain documents last minute, and you’re mainly doing final checks in the last days before the deadline.”
Be as organised as you possibly can. Always be aware of deadlines. Put them in the calendar on your phone; set alerts five days before a deadline; set reminders to collect required documents in due time; and always double check everything in your envelope or electronic file before you press that submit button.
There a certain ‘golden rules’ that every applicant should be mindful of as well. These revolve around allowing your personality to shine through in your application package, having integrity, and generally presenting a case that will make a selection committee want to invest in you.
“Be genuine. Do your research. Apply to as many scholarships as possible, and don’t be intimidated. Do not reuse the same essay for a different scholarship. Do practice interviews and have others read the documents you plan to submit.”
The team at Longtail Learning have you covered if you need further guidance, and especially if you don’t think you can afford tutoring, or academic support beyond public school.
“Longtail Learning is a free service made up of university students who have recently been through the scholarship application process. Over the next four to five months, our goal is to streamline the process and provide guidance from our past experiences. We will be posting weekly on our Instagram – www.instagram.com/longtaillearning/ – and creating informational documents, including guides for the required documentation, a master spreadsheet for all available scholarships, and sample templates.
“Further along the process we will be doing interview prep and mock interviews. We are, however, always looking to be efficient, and greatly appreciate feedback on what we are currently offering and what others would like to see more of. While we plan to act more like an information bank, we are also able to do individual or group mentoring sessions.”
Well that’s just about the perfect resource for Bermudian students who look at the wealth of scholarships on offer and get confused and overwhelmed. That’s right. You’re not the only one!
