Welcome to Writing Scholarships - a newsletter with links to scholarships, grants, competitions, contests, internships, call for entries, residencies, fellowships, funding, and other opportunities for creative writers, screenwriters and teleplay writers, writing educators and students of all ages. There are geographic restrictions that govern the award of most scholarships, so the information provided is limited to the UK, USA and Australia/New Zealand.
WRITING SCHOLARSHIPS TRENDS
Scholarships have moved from being a leg up for the poor to an essential aid for a hard-pressed middle class struggling to finance the kids through college.
A quick google search yields a confusing list of options. So confusing in fact, that an industry of intermediaries has sprung up. Some may offer a genuine and cost effective service, but many prey on the inexperience and naivety of undergraduates (and, sadly, their families)
As with all commercial offers, if it looks too good to be true it surely is.
Our advice is to shortlist only those schools that have credibility, and to make several high-quality direct applications rather than dozens of resume-style mailshots. Competition for the money is a contest, and cookie-cutter approaches won't work.
In screenwriting, the creme of the crop is UCLA. However, the ratio of applicants to scholerships is rumored to be over 5000:1. There are over 200 universities offering filmmaking degrees of variable quality.
Both writingclass.com (Gotham) and writersacademy.net (ScreenDreams Writers Academy) offer scholarships for part-online classes with professional writers. In the case of Screendreams, the scholarships are funded by corporate sponsors such as AMEX and other heavyweights.
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