Personal Statement for Scholarship vs. Grad School Application

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ray77

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Hey guys,

I recently received an acceptance from a Clinical Psych. Ph.D program! Now I'm looking for scholarships to apply to help pay for everything (it's funded, but the stipend isn't the greatest lol).

I don't think this has been asked, but when writing a personal statement for a scholarship application how much content can be recycled from the one I submitted when applying to grad school? Obviously they'd be catered a little differently (one focused on the school, the other the scholarship), but both would describe research and professional experience.

Thank you!

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What kind of scholarship are you applying for? If it is outside of the clinical faculty I would think you could recycle as much as you wanted- different people would be reading it. Actually either way I think you can re-use whatever you want/find relevant to the specific application. I would probably just make it a little more different if someone from clinical faculty was part of the scholarship committee but that sounds unlikely.
 
What kind of scholarship are you applying for? If it is outside of the clinical faculty I would think you could recycle as much as you wanted- different people would be reading it. Actually either way I think you can re-use whatever you want/find relevant to the specific application. I would probably just make it a little more different if someone from clinical faculty was part of the scholarship committee but that sounds unlikely.

It's for a memorial scholarship given out by my undergraduate institution (which is not the one I'll be attending for graduate school). Only two faculty read it to help me with revisions (both of which are writing me second LORs for the scholarship) so I don't think I'll have to worry about people recognizing it on the scholarship committee...
 
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It's for a memorial scholarship given out by my undergraduate institution (which is not the one I'll be attending for graduate school). Only two faculty read it to help me with revisions (both of which are writing me second LORs for the scholarship) so I don't think I'll have to worry about people recognizing it on the scholarship committee...
How can you get a scholarship from one institution when you're attending another?

Aren't institution-based scholarships to pay people attending one of their own programs?
 
How can you get a scholarship from one institution when you're attending another?

Aren't institution-based scholarships to pay people attending one of their own programs?

Most of them are like that, but our school has one that's for a graduating senior going into a clinical or counseling program wherever. It's a one-time award type of thing, and it's not for a whole lot of money either.
 
Most of them are like that, but our school has one that's for a graduating senior going into a clinical or counseling program wherever. It's a one-time award type of thing, and it's not for a whole lot of money either.
I suppose I should also specify that I'm graduating this May, and haven't left my undergraduate institution yet.
 
Congratulations on being accepted to a Ph.D. program!

When competing for money it’s always helpful to show that you have a good plan for it. For example, you might explain how the funds could help you attend a training workshop or conference in your field during your first year, or start up your own research project. I suggest you make the case that you will use the money toward something that goes above and beyond what your usual tuition remission and stipend would cover.
 
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Congratulations on being accepted to a Ph.D. program!

When competing for money it’s always helpful to show that you have a good plan for it. For example, you might explain how the funds could help you attend a training workshop or conference in your field during your first year, or start up your own research project. I suggest you make the case that you will use the money toward something that goes above and beyond what your usual tuition remission and stipend would cover.
That's a really great point! Thank you for bringing that up! I'll try to strike a balance between showing why I'm qualified for the application and using the money for good haha!
 
Scholarships often have listings of things they want. e.g., "please make sure your essay covers your research interests, your career goals, and the value of your research to the community."

In that case, you should write an essay with three headings:
1. Research interests
2. Career Goals
3. Value of My Research to Our Community

because I guarantee the evaluators have a little excel spreadsheet that says,

Research interests X/10
Career goals X/10
Value of Research to the Community X/10

I would not recycle a grad school application except for an extremely generic application that has no funding priorities at all.
 
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