How to Juggle Part-Time Work and Scholarship Applications

Having a job and applying for scholarships are both worthwhile pursuits that can result in huge payoffs. A part-time job can help you pay for your student life experience, while scholarships will offset tuition costs. Managing both, however, is not as easy as it sounds. You need a strategic plan that enables you to succeed. We’re highlighting everything you need to know about balancing work with scholarship applications below.

Why Balancing Work and Scholarship Applications Matters

There’s a reason so many retailers and food services provide student discounts: being a student is expensive. For that reason, many students seek out part-time jobs to help them pay for school. But working part-time shouldn’t come at the cost of searching and applying for scholarships. At the same time, your scholarship search shouldn’t be so all-consuming that you don’t have the bandwidth to work throughout the week. As a student, you will inevitably learn how to balance your responsibilities and working a part-time job, while searching for scholarships will bring you one step closer to achieving success in this skill.

Time Management Tips for Balancing Work and Scholarship Applications

The right strategies can help you streamline your scholarship application process as you put in the hours at your part-time job. It will take time management, dedication, and organization.

Create a Realistic Schedule

First, write down all your responsibilities: attending class, studying, working part-time, and applying for scholarships. Then, create a weekly schedule that you will actually stick to. Avoid budgeting 20+ hours per week for part-time work. That will conflict with attending class and studying, not to mention applying for scholarships. The beauty of working part-time as a student is that many employers understand the pull to work but also to show up well for class and studying. Start small with your hours, between 5 – 8 hours per week, and then build from there. As you create your schedule, include scholarship application deadlines and set weekly reminders a week prior. This will prompt you to start working on applications that you haven’t already started.

Treat Scholarship Applications Like a Class

Just like you will block time for classes, studying, and working, you also need to block time on your calendar for scholarship application work. Fortunately, this won’t take up as much time as your other commitments. Some weeks, you may be able to work for an hour; others may allow for five or more. Take the scholarship application hours week by week, but make it a goal to dedicate some time to it.

Use Tools to Stay Organized

Thankfully, we live in an age where it’s easy to outsource your calendar, time management, and reminders to apps on your phone. While you may have to manually input information, these apps can help to facilitate a more streamlined approach to balancing your student life. Some helpful calendar, time blocking, and reminder apps for students include: • Sunsama – Provides a task manager, calendar, and daily planner to keep students organized. • Todoist – Allows students to set up a to-do list on a project-by-project basis (or by homework, work, and scholarship buckets) and check things off as they are accomplished. • MyStudyLife – Synchronizes across devices and helps students block time to create schedules, sends reminders and task updates, and includes a Pomodoro timer to help boost focus.

Make the Most of Scholarship Application Time

Think of the time you spend applying for scholarships as time you’re investing in yourself. You don’t know if it will pay off, but when it does, you’re reassured that the time was worth it! Use your scholarship application time wisely. Set goals for yourself, like applying to 1-2 scholarships per week. Maximize your chances of winning by applying to more scholarships each week, if possible. you can. Finally, apply for a variety of awards, like quick and easy scholarships as well as essay scholarships.

Apply for Scholarships That Match You

The best way to make the most of your scholarship application time is to apply for scholarships for which you qualify, and the easiest way to find scholarships for which you meet the requirements is to use a scholarship matching service, like Fastweb. The process is simple: fill out a profile on Fastweb and tell us about your GPA, test scores, intended major(s), schools of interest, extracurricular activities, and more. Our matching algorithm will connect you with scholarships from our database of 3.4 million, resulting in awards that are perfect for you. Essentially, we take the search out of scholarship search.

Prioritize Quality over Quantity

Now that you’ve strategized on when and where to apply for scholarships, you need to think about the “how.” While you should set a goal to apply for 1-2 scholarships per week, you shouldn’t sacrifice quantity over quality. There may be scholarship applications that you are qualified for that require more work, like essays, video submissions, or original art. In those instances, put in the work necessary to cultivate the best possible application. Oftentimes, the scholarships that require the most work have fewer applicants and larger scholarship winnings. These are worth investing more time and effort into, so make your applications count.

Break the Application Process into Small Steps

An easy way to break up the scholarship application process is to group each scholarship as its own entity and then break down the steps. For example, XYZ Scholarship has multiple application components necessary to enter, so break them down into tasks like this: • Form • 1,000-word essay • High school transcript Check each task off as you complete it. It has been proven that checking tasks off a list releases dopamine, resulting in feelings of pleasure, satisfaction, and motivation. Ultimately, this strategy will lead you to complete more scholarship applications and keep you organized. PRO TIP: Many of the above student apps come with task manager functionality. Utilize these functions to help you navigate your scholarship applications as well as your homework, extracurricular involvement, and volunteer time.

How Part-Time Work Can Lead to Scholarship Success

Your part-time job offers more than just a paycheck to help pay for college. You’re also gaining experience, which can be invaluable to your actual scholarship applications. First, having a part-time job will make you look like a student who can balance different responsibilities, exercise excellent time management skills, and accomplish goals. This is the prerequisite many scholarship providers have for the students they seek to recognize and award. Part-time jobs can also provide valuable experiences and acquired skill sets that are worth highlighting in scholarship essays. For instance, an interaction with a customer can lead to a compelling lesson learned. Or a new skill can reflect what a student has learned while working. Finally, some scholarship applications may ask for a letter of recommendation as part of the requirements. An employer can provide a great recommendation for a hard-working, loyal, and well-rounded student employee.

Key Takeaways for Juggling Work and Scholarship Applications

Balancing school, work, and scholarship applications can be tough, but navigating it well is possible with the right plan, tools, and attitude. Use apps and other resources to set boundaries and reminders to help you stay on top of your personal workload. As you consider applying for scholarships, start work on each application as soon as possible and keep a steady pace throughout the process. Also, keep all your scholarship application materials, as you may be able to reuse or slightly modify them for others. Paying for school with a part-time job and/or scholarship winnings is worth the investment. It can result in less financial stress during and after college, setting you up for success right after graduation. Get started on your scholarship search with Fastweb. Create a free profile now to see which scholarship opportunities you match to.