How to Write a Study Plan for a Scholarship

What to Write About

Explain your main educational goals. Begin by talking about what you want to study and why you want to study it. For instance, you could discuss the degree you want to achieve while you're in China or the program you hope to complete. For instance, maybe your main goals for studying in China are to gain a bachelor's degree in business and learn Chinese because it's becoming a global language. You could write, "My main two educational objectives are to gain a bachelor's degree in business and to learn to speak Chinese. Chinese is becoming a global language, so I feel it's necessary to learn it."

Explain why you chose a particular school or program. It's not enough to say what school you want to study at, nor is it enough to say it's a good school. Rather, you need to provide reasons why that school is a good fit for you or the thing you want to study. Personalize your response. Did something inspire you to study business? What was it? Discuss why the school you choose is a good fit for you to study that one thing. For instance, you might write, "I was born in the United States, but my grandparents on both sides are Chinese. I chose this business program because I want to connect with my heritage, improve my Chinese, and eventually, help establish better relations between China and the U.S. by improving trade relations."

Discuss your future research if you're a postgraduate student. If you're going to be working on a PhD, then you need to delve into what you plan to do for research, particularly if you're doing scientific or sociological research that requires test subjects. For example, you might say, "As a PhD candidate, I plan to conduct research on how ancient tradition and ritual influence contemporary Chinese culture, which will include a literature review and extensive interviews with historians and a small sampling of the Chinese population."

Narrow your research to show you're serious. Often, PhD students take on too many variables in their research. You don't have to cover every aspect. Narrow down to just the most important ones, the ones that are integral to your topic. That will help show you know how to do research well, making you a better candidate. It can help to draw a conceptual model. Start with the antecedents (the causes) and the mediators (the processes that change the antecedents). Finish with the outcomes. Draw lines between them to help you see which variables are more central to your problem. Consider asking peers or professors to look at your research proposal. They may be able to help you narrow.

Talk about how your studies will help your long-term goals. Once you've established what your immediate goals, discuss how you see the program helping you with your future goals. That way, the scholarship committee has a better idea of who you are and why you are picking your particular major, school, and location. For instance, you might say, "One of my long-term goals is to open an import business from China to the United States, and learning about business in China will be essential to making my endeavors a success."

Explaining Your Plans

Establish how you plan to meet each goal. The scholarship committee doesn't just want to hear about your goals. They want to know you have a plan in place for achieving them so that you're not stuck over there with no way to achieve what you set out to do. Go through your goals one by one to help the committee see you are ready. For instance, if you plan on doing a PhD where you'll need participants, discuss how you'll find people for your study. You might say, "I plan to put out an ad to gain participants for a focus group, as well as contact historians by phone and email for interviews."

Talk about how you plan to overcome obstacles. With any study plan, you're gong to have obstacles in your path. The scholarship committee will be impressed if you can anticipate some of those obstacles and offer a short solution for how you plan to overcome them. For example, you might write, "I anticipate the language barrier will be an issue at first. However, I plan to work hard early on to learn the language, and I am already taking intensive classes now."

Establish the methodology you plan to use. If you're applying for a PhD, you need to be more specific about your research than with other levels of study. Include what methodology you intend to use for your research. The scholarship judges want to see that you have a detailed plan and that you're serious about your project. To help you choose, do a thorough literature review. Look at the research that has been done in the area you plan to study. Note the primary methods used to do the research and the pros and cons of each. Choose a method based on what you think will work best for your research.

Establish your sampling strategy if you plan on using one. The sample strategy is how you plan to choose a part of the population to represent the whole in your research. The strategy you choose is usually determined by the type of research you're doing. The scholarship committee will want to know about it to make sure you have a plan in place for your research. For instance, you might use simple random sampling or systematic sampling when the whole population is similar based on the variables for your study. On the other hand, a stratified random sample is often used when you have people who are different from each other based on your variables.

Concluding and Refining Your Writing

Wrap up your study plan with a short summary. At the end of the plan, reiterate why you want to study at your chosen program, and repeat why it is important for meeting your goals. Also, add a few words about how the scholarship can help you achieve your goals. For example, you might write, "Thank you for considering me for this scholarship. If I receive this award, I can focus solely on my studies. I will work hard to implement my goals of learning Chinese and gaining a business degree at a Chinese university, and your trust in me will not be wasted."

Write plainly and eliminate jargon. Someone who's not in your field should be able to understand your study plan. That means you need to avoid using jargon and work on explaining your research as simply as possible. You don't need to write as if you're talking to a child. However, you should write so someone outside of your discipline can easily understand your plan.

Be as detailed as possible. Of course, you're not writing a dissertation in your study plan. However, provide as many details as you can about what you plan to study and how you plan to go about it. That way, the scholarship committee has a better understanding of who you are as a scholar, which can help you stand out among the candidates. The space for the study plan on the CSC application is only a couple of lines. However, the application suggests you attach more paper as needed.

Have someone proofread the study plan after you. After you've gone over your study plan thoroughly looking for typos, have someone else read it, too. They'll likely catch things you'll miss. It can help to have a professor or teacher look at it, as they've likely read similar plans before.