How to write a winning scholarship essay - Gen Tanabe, Kelly Tanabe 2018

Meet the scholarship judges
Judges’ Roundtable: the Interview

In this chapter:

■ Get the inside story from real scholarship judges

■ See what the judges think are the keys to a great interview

■ Learn what mistakes students make in the interview

Meet the scholarship judges

This is the last of three roundtables in this book. In this roundtable, scholarship judges and experts provide insight into the importance of interviews and what you can do to ace them.

If applying for scholarships is like running a race, then the interview is the last lap, the last step toward winning or losing and oftentimes the most important. It is also what worries students the most. Unlike the essay which you can write in the safety of your bedroom, for the interview you actually have to sit across the table from live human beings who are watching and evaluating your every word.

The key to acing the interview is to know what to expect and then to practice. While you may never shed the butterflies in your stomach, you can calm them down. In this roundtable we ask scholarship judges and experts what they are looking for in the interview.