Video: Tips for the Scholarship Application – Queen’s Major Entrance Awards

Posted by Joshua
November 10, 2008

Series: Tips for the Scholarship Application
Name: Queen’s Major Entrance Awards
Length: ~38 minutes
Requires: Adobe Flash Player
Important Links: Scholarship Website, Application Form

NOTE: It may take a minute or two to load depending on your browser.

Additional Info. on the Creativity / Original Thinking Section

I have been asked about whether doing a collage (like I did) is still a good or bad idea. I think doing a collage is a great idea, and I wouldn’t worry too much about other people doing something similar. However, I think it’s really important that you have a theme or concept behind the collage itself – that is, while there is some creativity involved in the way you construct the actual collage, I think the even greater creativity comes from the theme/idea behind it. And I would say the same thing goes for whatever medium you use for this section, be it a collage or not.

For example, for my collage, I called it “The Artist” because I wanted to convey the idea/theme that humanity is inherently artistic and creative, and so all of us are artists in our own right, despite the traditional themes normally attributed to the idea of an artist. That is, that athletes, for example, are just as much artists of their craft as painters are. That I’m not an artist because I draw and paint, but I am an artist because I am human. While I’m sure the judges liked my collage, I think they were more impressed by the deeper meaning I had behind it.

So as long as you have some important theme (a theme that should be obvious, unless you plan on writing a paragraph like I did), I think doing any type of collage is fine – and given that you have to do this on the paper, a collage might generally be one of the easier and better ideas.

Questions?

If you have any further questions about the Queen’s Major Entrance Awards, please leave a comment, and I will do my best to answer them!

Related Posts:

High School, Scholarships, Video

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Comments

Hey
First of all, this is definitely a huge help! Thank you so much!
But i were to compose a song for the creative section and just paste the score on the application form would i need to write a paragraph? And would that even be a smart choice since they don’t want cds i don’t know how they’ll hear it.

Comment by Michelle on November 23, 2008 @ 7:47 pm

Hey Michelle,

No problem! I’m glad you found the video helpful =)

I like the idea of displaying the score on the application. I do think a paragraph might be nice for your idea. Because it is a musical score, the theme, emotions, etc. might not be obvious to the reader, especially if they are not musically inclined. So a paragraph that sort of goes through all that would probably be good for the reader.

Comment by Joshua on November 23, 2008 @ 9:57 pm

Hey! Thanks so much for taking the time to help people like me :) I’m kind of confused about the creative part…like are they expecting me to actually create it fresh on the page? or could i take something that i’ve already done before and take a picture of it and paste it on? (and write an explanation). If you could reply really soon that would be great!!!

Comment by Jianan on November 24, 2008 @ 4:27 pm

hey its me again =D
um do u think it’d be better if for the involvement section to write a paragraph on a fundraiser i participated in but didn’t hold a large role or a sport i’ve been playing for a LONG time? Does that section even have to be on volunteering?

Comment by Michelle on November 24, 2008 @ 5:25 pm

Hi Jianan,

No problem! =)

I don’t think you have to create it “fresh” on the page if you don’t want to, as long as it clearly shows your creativity. You want to make sure that whatever idea you end up choosing, it “demonstrates” your creativity and that you don’t end up just “describing it”.

Comment by Joshua on November 24, 2008 @ 6:35 pm

Hey Michelle,

The involvement questions asks: “Describe your involvement in a school or community activity in which you made positive contribution to an individual, your school or your community.”

I think it might be hard to answer this question using your sports experience, but I could be wrong. If you have a clear theme behind how your sports involvement resulted in a positive contribution to someone else, then I would probably choose your sports experience.

Good luck!

Comment by Joshua on November 24, 2008 @ 6:40 pm

Hey it’s me again – I have a feeling I’m gonna flood your page with comments tonight >.<

I’ve just realized, I haven’t been to any conferences!!! What should do I do?

Comment by Jianan on November 27, 2008 @ 3:45 pm

And, if it’s not too much to ask, could I get a quick peek at your essays when you applied? I just really want to get an idea of what a scholarship winning essay and a regular essay is!

Comment by Jianan on November 27, 2008 @ 3:54 pm

Hey Jianan,

Have you been to anything remotely like a conference? Any event with workshops or keynote speakers? I don’t endorse lying, but I think it’s okay to be creative/flexible with the items you include. Some events might not have the word “conference” in their official names, but are pretty close to being conferences.

As for my essays, I actually don’t have my Queen’s one on file for some reason, but in general, I won’t post or give out any essays I’ve used. I don’t think it really helps much, because either (1) some students will probably plagiarize it and (2) it isn’t helpful for the most part because it’s easy to apply some of the things I do in the wrong context if you don’t understand why I wrote what I wrote. That’s why I’ve written articles about how to write your essays, but not actually use mine as an example.

I would be happy to take a quick glance at your essay if you want to send me a copy by email, but sorry, I don’t feel comfortable sharing my previous essays.

Good luck!

Comment by Joshua on November 27, 2008 @ 4:14 pm

Oh, right. I see what you mean! It would be GREAT if you could take a glance at my essays, I will probably finalize everything hopefully by 10 (I hope that’s not too late for you!)

And sadly, yes. I can’t think of ANYTHING that constitutes as a conference during the last two years. I’ve done a fair amount of that prior though but it’s not like I can put those on. Will they notice if I only have awards and competitions? I’m reading it again and it actually says “awards, competitions, OR conferences”

Comment by Jianan on November 27, 2008 @ 4:26 pm

Hi Jianan,

I’ll do my best to give some advice if you send something tonight.

And you’re right, it says “or” conferences, so if you don’t have any, just fill up the boxes with awards/competitions. I don’t think it matters too much to be honest.

Comment by Joshua on November 27, 2008 @ 5:19 pm

Where would i send you my essay for you to proof read?

Comment by Andrew on November 27, 2008 @ 7:41 pm

Hi Andrew,

I don’t really proof read essays, but if I have the time, I don’t mind glancing at essays and providing feedback.

You can email me at medhopeful@gmail.com if you’d like.

Comment by Joshua on November 27, 2008 @ 8:45 pm

I just had a quick question. I’m taking AP grade 12 classes online next year rather than going to an actual high school so am I still eligible to apply for these scholarships?

Comment by sandra on June 25, 2009 @ 1:58 am

Hi Sandra,

Unfortunately, I’m not sure how taking AP courses affects scholarship applications. I’d be surprised if it does, but I would suggest you email the scholarship organization/program directly to ask.

Comment by Joshua on June 26, 2009 @ 12:19 pm

Hi Josh! Do you know if the questions are the same each year?

Comment by Sarah on July 3, 2009 @ 12:03 pm

Hi Sarah,

They’ve remained the same for the past several years, so I would expect them to still be the same this fall, but they could change anytime I guess.

Comment by Joshua on July 3, 2009 @ 6:16 pm

Hey Josh!
I’m currently filling an application out for this. I’m a bit concerned because I don’t feel that my awards (ie. school awards versus community/national awards) or community service experiences are very impressive, but my leadership abilities at school club have been good. Would they balance out?

Comment by Kat on October 27, 2009 @ 5:46 pm

sorry its me again !
would it be harmful if I talked about negative experiences I encountered through leadership? or would it be alright if i also mentioned how i grew from the negative experiences?

Comment by Kat on October 27, 2009 @ 5:55 pm

Hi Kat,

For your first question, I don’t think anyone can really answer it accurately (because only the judges would know), but I would just say to put your best foot forward because you can’t change what you’ve done.

As for your second question, I think mentioning some obstacles along the way is great, and you should definitely talk about how you overcame them.

Good luck!

Comment by Joshua on November 18, 2009 @ 8:23 pm
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