In submitting your scholarship application, there are certain variables you will not have any control over, and which will affect your application. These include the number of applications submitted, the quality of the other applications, and the composition of the scholarship board that makes the decisions.

Nevertheless, the good news is that it does not matter if there are a hundred other applicants, all with 4.0 GPA, community service up the wazoo, and glowing backgrounds in their respective fields. You cannot influence other people's applications in the least, so don't bother fretting about it. The only application you can control is your own, so do what you can to make you application as good as possible.

The scholarship you are applying for could receive dozens of top-quality applicants, who probably all look alike with their spotless records, or it could receive only two or three applicants, and you will never know in advance which is the case. Plus, well advertised scholarships, or scholarships from large organizations, will not necessarily receive more applications than small local scholarships. Therefore, don't sell yourself short by not applying, just because you assume the competition will be too great. Apply anyway and you might be surprised by winning.

Regardless of the unknown variables, there is a great deal you can do to improve your application and increase your chances of winning. The most important is to set yourself apart from the competition.

After reading through a pile of glowing applications that all look the same, the scholarship committees will be relieved to come across one that stands out. Even if you don't have a perfect 4.0 GPA, if you can convince the committee that you are a better choice--based upon whatever criteria they are using to decide--or at least more original, you have an excellent chance.

So do something original. Highlight an unusual achievement, describe your goals in detail and how you plan to achieve them, write an unusual essay, include a tasteful cover letter with your favorite aviation quote, etc. In short, do something different, within the bounds of taste and class--after all, the objective is to impress the committee and not turn them off or irritate them.

The goal here is to set your application apart and make the judges give you a second glance, and then a third, and then convince them to select you out of the two or 200 others. A ploy or hook is a good way to get them to give you more consideration at first, but you must have more in your application than just that hook; you must be able to continue to surprise the judges by the quality of your presentation and the content behind it. Even if you don't have a perfect record, you need to present a solid case for why they should take a chance on you by giving you their money.

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