Getting selected for a scholarship is not the end of the scholarship process because no organization or school will freely give you a scholarship without any interview or question why you think you are qualified to be in scholarship because they want to make sure they won’t be wasting the funds for the scholarship allocated to you, if you aren’t committed enough for the terms and conditions of the scholarship.
It is believed that before you are finally given a scholarship, you will be called up for either an interview or assessment, which involves a few questions in order to make sure that you are truly the right person for the scholarship. At times, these questions might be new ones depending on the type of scholarship, while other times it might just be common questions that are frequently repeated by scholarship funders.
Here Are Repeated Questions
1. The tell us about yourself question:
This is one question that most opportunities ask their applicants because they truly want to know more about you, and of course nobody knows you more than yourself.
2. They want to get to know your capabilities, experience, value, skills, etc. Whenever you are answering this question, you are expected to be authentic and truthful about the answers that you will give to them. Don’t be humble when answering the question, but don’t brag about it; just be focused. Remember to start this question with a brief introduction.
3. What are your greatest strength/weakness? Since what you are applying for is a scholarship, the funders of the scholarship would really like to know your strengths and weaknesses because your performance during the period of your scholarship will be judged by both. They want to know what you can do very well, including your achievements, and also those things that seem to be a little hindrance for you.
4. Why should you be chosen for this scholarship? Of course, anyone applying for a scholarship should have a concrete reason why he/she should be accepted for the scholarship; it could be for your experiences, skills, achievements, abilities, values, expectations, etc.
5. What are your career goals? They really want to know after funding your education which is next step you have in mind towards your career and in this junction you are expected to tell them what you intend to do after schooling and the plans that you have sketch out for that. Be honest when answering this; don’t try to elevate or skyrocket your goals so high.
6. What mistakes have you made? The purpose of asking these question to assess how you can manage and solve problems and mistakes, they want to know if you are a problem solver and how much solutions and expertise that you can bring to the table when you are selected. So, in essence, they want to know about a mistake you have made and how you fixed it.
7. Why did you choose this scholarship programme? Just so you know, behind every action there is always a reason behind it. For you to ever apply for a scholarship, it simply means that there is a reason why you did that, and you are expected to give a clear answer on the real reason why you chose that particular scholarship and what got you interested in the scholarship in the first place. Make them to know that you didn’t apply for the scholarship for just doing sake or for trying luck sake.
8. What activities are you involved in? The scholarship funders will likely want to know the kind of activities that their applicants are involved with, whether it is genuine or not, so that there won’t be a mix-up or misunderstanding in the long run.