The majority of scholarship deadlines are closing in and in the rush to get things finished, students may overlook one key to-do in their application process: proofreading.

Nothing says slacker like typos, misspelled and missing words.

Proofreading is more than running spell check or giving your essay the once over. Spell check doesn’t pick up on words that are spelled correctly, but used wrong. Words like "they’re" "their" and "there" are commonly misused words and could cost you college cash.

Your essay is not the only thing scholarship boards look at: what do you think your chances are of getting the scholarship if you can’t even spell your name correctly? It happens, trust me. Go over your entire application thoroughly. Check the school codes. One digit off could be the difference between scholarship monies going to Athens State University (code #001008) and Auburn University (code# 001009). Sure, they are both in Alabama, but who wants the trouble of having to go back and get things switched?

Quality proofreading is simple:

• Print it out. Proofread old school: print everything out, take a pen and have at the entire application. You’ll be amazed at what you catch when the information is in your hand versus on the screen. And remember, this the same way most committees will see your work. Don’t forget to recycle the paper afterward.
• Read it out loud. Sure, you may feel like a nut, but better to feel like a nut in the privacy of your own home than look like an idiot in front of a national scholarship committee. Reading things out loud allows you to find anything that sounds awkward or needs further tweaking. Your brain plays tricks on you when you read to yourself because it knows what you are trying to say. Saying it out loud, your ears hear what you are actually saying.
• Use fresh eyes. Take a break from the application and come back to it with fresh eyes. Let it marinate a day or so. Which means you can’t wait until the last minute.
• Use someone else’s eyes. Ask someone you trust and who can string two sentences together without using, "like" or "you know what I’m sayin’" to read over your entire application.

Go the extra mile. Take time a proofread, please…or resign yourself to giving the committees a good laugh at your expense.

Posted Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:00:08 and filed under Scholarship Tips. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.