Most students apply to scholarships after they receive an offer. That is too late. The scholarships worth winning are the ones the admissions team awards alongside the conditional offer — and those are decided by the application, not by a separate form.
We start the scholarship workstream the day we open the file. Three artefacts go in early: a CV that quantifies impact (not duties), a statement-of-purpose that demonstrates research alignment with the department, and one letter of recommendation from a referee the admissions board can verify.
On 41 of the last 52 mandates we closed, the conditional offer arrived with a partial or full merit grant attached. That is the lever — engineer the application to deserve the grant, don't apply for it as a second motion.