Scholarships and grants relieve the financial burden of studying, but they often come with a price. These days, many academic scholarships require taking a scholarship examination, typically to determine if you deserve the spot. Fortunately, scholarships aren’t just for academically gifted people. As long as you’re willing to learn and study, you’ll be able to land a scholarship program.
To pass your approaching scholarship examination, follow these tips on how to prepare yourself before the exam:
Set Your Scholarship Goals and Accomplish The Requirements
When you start looking at different universities and degrees, you’ll be able to get a lot of different things to help you in this regard, such as a list of scholarships and subjects that you can take up in the future. When it comes to finding the best scholarships, the list of scholarships will give you an idea of where to start looking.
From there, you can narrow your search when you learn about each of the different types of scholarships available. Typically, it’s practical to obtain scholarships offered within your academic location. For instance, if you’re studying in Massachusetts, different types of college scholarships MA are offered–ranging from merit grants to state-funded programs.
Once you’ve chosen your desired scholarships to take part in, check your eligibility and qualifications. If you’re eligible for the scholarship, then accomplish its requirements. Some of the most common scholarship requirements are:
- Minimum of 2.5 GPA or higher
- Essay requirement
- Certifications
- Letter of intent
- Financial requirement
- Extracurricular requirement
Know The Exam Coverage
You can’t step into an examination without knowing what the examination is all about. Since you’ve narrowed down your chosen scholarship, coordinate with the scholarship provider about the topics covered in the exam. This way, you’ll have a better and more effective studying path than not knowing the coverage at all.
General scholarships that usually fall under the category of financial assistance and merit grants have topics focusing on general academics. In college scholarships, most of the subjects may include high school algebra, literature, history, biology, general chemistry, earth science, and the like. On another end, if your scholarship provider focuses on certain course specializations, then the coverage may vary greatly.
With the help of knowing the exam coverage, you’ll have an overview of what topics to study during your timeframe of preparing for the test.
Review On The Fundamentals
One thing you need to know when preparing yourself for the scholarship exams is that the most difficult questions are usually derived from your fundamental and general topics. Before delving into advanced topics that’ll appear on the scholarship test, make sure to concentrate on the basics first.
Today, finding helpful resources isn’t a hard task. There are various resources waiting for you— your previous class notes, printed and online textbooks, student websites and forums, and the new educational trend–online courses.
To help review your basics, many platforms today offer online courses on various subjects. Also, there are even websites designed for taking specific scholarship exams, admission tests, licensure exams, and more.
Practice Whenever You Can
You’re not going to get better without practice, specifically for subjects that center on critical thinking, memorization, and computations, like math and science.
It’s a good idea to practice so you can ensure that you can pass any academic test, like a scholarship test. The best way to prepare is to take as many practice tests as you can afford. This will ensure that you’re well-prepared for the actual test.
If you have an extra budget to spare, which is less practical most of the time, find an instructor that’ll guide you through studying. There are plenty of instructors that’ll be more than happy to help students with questions that they have or even give some quick advice on how to prepare for the exam.
Don’t Forget To Treat Yourself
As you get more immersed in the exam preparation, you’ll barely look after yourself. Once in awhile, treat yourself to something great whenever you finish a certain chapter or get a perfect score on your assessment. Through a rewarding system, you can boost your motivation in studying, as well as enhance your confidence and self-esteem in acing the exam.
Rewards can be as little as allowing yourself to sleep for three additional hours, or as enormous as buying yourself some new clothes. Keep in mind that your rewarding system is up to you, as long as it’s effective and proportional to your efforts.
Power Your Mind and Body With Nutritious Food
Have you ever had to prepare for an exam and it has caused stress and anxiety? To become more focused and confident in your scholarship exam, boost your mind, body, and spirit through the right health habits.
Eating right is crucial for exam success. Here are some nutrients that you’ll need for your exam preparation, and which foods to get them:
- Antioxidants from fruits like berries, and pomegranates, and vegetables such as broccoli, potatoes, and spinach
- Proteins from eggs, meat, fish, seeds, nuts, and legumes
- Omega-3 from flax seeds and oil, eggs, and oily fish
- Moderate amounts of caffeine from dark chocolate, coffee, and tea
Keep hydrated and eat small, frequent meals throughout the day. Try to stay hydrated with water. Stay away from caffeinated drinks. Instead of coffee, try to sip on green tea. Instead of candy, snack on dried fruits, yogurt, figs, and oatmeal.
Get Enough Sleep and Rest For The Big Day
Most people dread their exam day so much that they end up doing things like taking a nap during the day or sleeping late before the exam day. In order to prevent this from happening, you need to make exam preparation as easy for your body as possible. Instead of sleeping during the day, you can study. This way, you have more time to finish all your tasks, instead of having to go back to sleep in the middle of the night and miss another studying session.
Another important reminder is to ensure that you get enough rest before the exam. When it comes to studying for an exam, you shouldn’t focus on one part of the problem. Focus on several different aspects. Focus on your strengths and weaknesses. This will help you learn how to tackle difficult questions easier and will also make you feel more confident about taking the exam.
Conclusion
Preparing for an examination is one of the most basic and important life skills that you should develop. Whether you’re taking a short quiz, finals examination, university admission test, licensure examination, and scholarship examination, the key to closer success is three things: learn, study, and repeat.
There’s no shortcut to passing the examination, but using the tips discussed above, you can have a better preparation approach for your impending scholarship examination.