[Plsgs] FW: March GradFunding Advice - Scholarship Universe

Fri Mar 6 13:35:43 MST 2015

From: gradfunding-request at list.arizona.edu [mailto:gradfunding-request at list.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of Shelley Hawthorne Smith
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2015 1:23 PM
To: gradfunding at list.arizona.edu
Subject: March GradFunding Advice - Scholarship Universe

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Dear Graduate Students,

Throughout the past year, UA's Scholarship Universe has been in the process of redesigning their website. The first part of the process, the new homepage, was launched in February. Information about departmental scholarships has been included.

Ken Downs and Chris Elsner, both Scholarship Universe program coordinators, discuss ways in which the system has improved and give tips for graduate students searching for scholarships.

What changes have been made to Scholarship Universe?
The new homepage is a significant upgrade from what we previously had.  We are now able to highlight UA students, UA donors and UA scholarships. The site's page views are up nearly 250% compared to the same period last year, demonstrating the new content was much to be desired.

Visit the website here:
https://scholarshipuniverse.arizona.edu/suha

In terms of the student application (what student's see after logging in) we've started to transition to a responsive design which will allow for SU to be accessed on a much broader array of devices.  We've begun optimizing and consolidating the questions students are asked to try and make that process faster and more efficient.

We've partnered with several additional colleges including Fine Arts, College of Architecture Planning and Landscape Architecture, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Science to make many of their scholarships available in the system.  This includes a number of scholarships specifically for graduate students.

Can you explain the UA Scholarships search?
While Scholarship Universe does have a search bar to help find specific scholarships that the student may be aware of, our team does the searching for students. There are thousands upon thousands of scholarships with hundreds of variations of eligibility requirements. Scholarship Universe weeds out opportunities not applicable to the user with its profile matching algorithm. Many private websites have predefined and limited matching capability, don't have scholarships applicable to students attending UA and they most definitely don't have the UA scholarships of which students apply for directly through Scholarship Universe.

Students interested in scholarships that are specific to the UA can search under "UA Scholarships" for opportunities to which they can apply.

How can a grad student best use Scholarship Universe? How is it different than Pivot or Grant Forward?
Pivot and Grant Forward are scholarship databases with some fairly advanced search and filtering functionality - but you still have to spend time searching through them to find scholarships and you typically need to have an idea of what you're looking for.  The main difference with Scholarship Universe is that we try to minimize the burden of searching and lack of knowledge about potential opportunities. Instead we show scholarships which you're eligible for and connect you to scholarships which you may not have realized you could apply for in the first place.  Grad students should make sure that their profile information is correct and up to date to ensure that they're being matched appropriately. One of our many goals is to increase the number of opportunities for grad students, including adding opportunities from Pivot and Grant Forward to make Scholarship Universe even more of one-stop-shop service for Wildcats.

As people who spend most of their time working with UA funding for students, what tips do you have for grad students searching for scholarships?
We try to encourage students to think strategically when it comes to scholarships, and to consider three main variables to maximize their time: how much work is it to apply? How much is the potential reward? How competitive is the selection process?  The ideal scholarship would be one which requires little work, has a high reward, and is not very competitive.  Conversely, a scholarship which takes a lot of time and effort to apply for, has a small award, and has an applicant pool of 20,000 people might not be worth your time.  You can usually figure out the first two variables when it comes to scholarships because that information is generally provided.  To gauge how competitive a scholarship is though is a little trickier and students kind of need to read between the lines.  Look at what makes someone eligible for the scholarship and the amount of work it takes to apply and try to formulate an educated guess about how many people might be eligible.

If you find a scholarship you qualify for which seems pretty unique or doesn't have really generic eligibility requirements, it might be a good indicator that it's less competitive. In the near future we hope to provide users stats on each scholarship in the system, letting them know how many other users are matched to an opportunity, how many viewed it, how many marked it a favorite, how many applied for it, etc. This information is powerful and cannot be found anywhere else. It should help users extrapolate the potential number applicants for non-UA opportunities. Many of the UA opportunities share a single application so applying to one applies the student to many scholarships in many cases. This will become more apparent in our redesign process as we refine the UA application process.

Any other tips/suggestions?
At the end of the day, the more Scholarships you're able to apply for, the better your chances are of actually winning one - so we encourage whenever you can find the time, to apply for as many scholarships as possible.  Always make sure you follow the directions stipulated by the scholarship and definitely make sure to proofread everything you submit.  Try not to procrastinate as much when it comes to scholarships; we often see students who wait until the day of the deadline to apply, only to find out that they missed a vital piece of information or run into an unexpected problem and are then unable to apply for a scholarship because their problem can't be resolved on such short notice.  Finally, we understand that Scholarship Universe can be a little overwhelming at times and may be confusing if you have never used it before. So if something doesn't make sense be sure to check out our FAQs and if that doesn't help email us at OSFA-SU at email.arizona.edu<mailto:OSFA-SU at email.arizona.edu> for assistance. We look forward to helping all UA students find funding well into the future.

The GradFunding Newsletter is a service of the University of Arizona Graduate College, Office of Fellowships and Community Engagement. You may reuse this article but please acknowledge Shelley Hawthorne Smith and the University of Arizona Graduate College Office of Fellowships and Community Engagement.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the newsletter, send an email to list at list.arizona.edu (link sends e-mail)<mailto:list at list.arizona.edu> with "subscribe (or unsubscribe) gradfunding FirstName LastName" in the subject line. You may send opportunities for posting to the newsletter editor, Shelley Hawthorne Smith (ssmith at grad.arizona.edu<mailto:ssmith at grad.arizona.edu>)

_______________________
Shelley Hawthorne Smith, PhD
University of Arizona Graduate College
Office of Fellowships and Community Engagement
University Services Building #204E
888 N Euclid Ave
Tucson, AZ 85721
520-626-0870
ssmith at grad.arizona.edu<mailto:ssmith at grad.arizona.edu>

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