3 Smart and Easy Strategies to Win More Scholarships
by Jean O’Toole
The key to winning scholarships is just a little extra thought and strategy. If you want to win more free money for school, use these three smart tips to do so!
G
etting a jump-start on the scholarship search can help you qualify for more opportunities in the future and open the door to massive col- lege cost savings for your family. After working with hundreds of schools and thousands of students over the past decade, I have found these to be the three easiest steps anyone can take to give themselves an edge and advantage to becoming a successful scholar- ship recipient.
1. Learn about local scholarships Most school districts have a senior awards night or some other kind of annual event where scholarships from local companies, organizations, and individuals are awarded to graduating high school seniors. Con- tact your high school counselor’s office and request to be emailed the program from last year’s event. This will give you a list of all the local awards that were given
away. As these scholarships are only open to local stu- dents, you’ll have fewer competitors and a statistically higher chance of winning. Although many local scholar- ships may be smaller amounts, you can accumulate these awards into thousands of dollars, so it’s definitely worth applying.
2. Find out who won last year and why Most companies and organizations that offer scholar- ships will post on their websites who their recent recip- ients have been and why they were chosen. Many also post the scholarship winner’s submission if an essay or creative work was required. You should gather this information from your school counselor or online com- munity forums and keep it in mind as you’re applying. You don’t want to copy what last year’s recipient did, of course, but finding out what has impressed the scholar- ship committee in the past can give you insight into
Articles & Advice
what they value and look for in an applicant. It may even help improve your applications in case you’re not on the right track.
3. Find out who the decision makers are for each scholarship
Some local scholarship recipients are chosen by a faculty member or members of a school, while other scholarships may have their own committees to review applicants. Find out who the decision makers are for each of the local scholarships, then reach out to that decision maker with two goals in mind. First, you should thank the decision maker for their efforts in making scholarships available for local students; second, you should ask what they’re looking for in an ideal can- didate. Asking this simple question will already define you as motivated, determined, and driven, which makes for an incredible first impression.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
