Winning Scholarships

**Before reading this blog, I suggest you check out the previous posts on this topic:
Scholarships Equal Free Money
Finding Scholarships

So now that you know to which scholarships to apply, here's my final installment on how to make the application process stress-free and rewarding.

A typical scholarship application consists of the following: a logistics section (name, address, school, etc.), an activities/volunteer section, and an essays section. Of course, every scholarship will differ on application requirements.

Tip 1: If you've already done some college applications, then the activities section should be simple. Be sure to make special mention to activities that are relevant to the scholarship. For example, if the scholarship awards students based on the community service activities, then embellish your volunteer work rather than discuss debate club.

Tip 2: Recycle your essays. Scholarship committees (the people judging your application) won't know that you submitted a similar essay to them, other scholarships, or colleges. The essay topics more often than not are similar (see Essays - Choosing a Topic). Additionally, these essays will be your most polished ones, because you're constantly revising and reusing them. I used a version of my common app essay for four different scholarships that I won! This technique greatly reduces the amount of time needed to apply.

An important caveat: An essay topic you SHOULD NOT reuse, however, is the typical "Why do you deserve this scholarship?" question. Make these as personalized to the organization as possible. State character traits and cite experiences that would appeal to the committee.

Tip 3: Cater to the scholarship committee. Remember, these are real people reading your application. They LOVE to see students with an abundance of volunteer hours and substantial community service. In your essays, be sure to sound human. The people in these committees were not English majors at Harvard. Use natural language, but sound articulate; showcase your accomplishments, but remain modest.

Tip 4: The success to winning scholarships is volume. Apply to each and every scholarship you can, even if you're not fully qualified. Committee's don't get as many applications as one would think, and generally the more you apply to the better chance you have winning.

Tip 5: IMPORTANT: You don't have to have a 4.0 GPA, be the valedictorian of your class, or a nationally ranked athlete to win (although it doesn't hurt). You should however, have active participation in extracurricular activities and community service. Some scholarships, especially those in the community, love to see all students take initiative in their future.

Good luck in your applications! ~Sohan

Finding Scholarships

So now that you're convinced that you should apply for scholarships, how do you find them? There are boundless opportunities everywhere, but to which ones should you apply?

The first place to look is in your school. Visit your guidance department / counselor and just ask what scholarships are available. Usually, there are many organizations or memorials in your community that are willing support students' educations. These are the best kinds of scholarships to which to apply because you're competing against a limited applicant pool (just the people in your community). The scholarships you have the best at are the following (in order from highest chance to least, by the scope of applicants):
School > Town/District > County > State > Internet > National

This is all pretty intuitive. If you apply to a scholarship that is only given out to students in your school, you have a significantly greater chance than one that's applicable to students in your state. I wouldn't recommend internet scholarships, like "brickfish.com" and the likes. They generally have one of the biggest applicant pools, and often are not determined by merit. Some internet sites, like "fastweb.com" have potential, because they have scholarships for specific categories.

Make sure to apply to all such "niche" scholarships. For example, if your grandmother is Italian, then you should definitely apply to an "Italian-American" scholarship. Furthermore, apply to scholarships that reflect your activities. For example, there are scholarships for kids who played peewee football or were golf caddies. If you are exceptional at a sport, find a scholarship for it and apply. There are so many scholarships out there; you are most certain to fit the criteria of many.

My final advice is: apply to all of them. Even if you feel you don't fit the "niche" or activity, apply anyways. Even if your GPA doesn't make the cut, but you think that your extracurriculars make up for it, apply anyways. Even if you think your family's need for financial aid is less, apply anyways. Heck, I didn't apply to the "Woman's Club Scholarship" of a senior citizen residential area, because I'm a guy, and the "Male's Club Scholarship" application was for males only. I ended up winning the Male's Club scholarship, but a friend of mine (who is a guy) won them both! It never hurts to apply.

Remember, these applications are handled by ordinary people like you and I. They committees that distribute money are not in any sense like CollegeBoard or Harvard University. They are people who want to help kids in their community.

Also, one of the most important thing to understand is that your peers are lazy. They think they don't have time for scholarships among their plethora of extracurricular activities, college applications, school work, and sports. What they don't realize is how simple scholarships are. In the next blog, I'll tell you how to make the process easy, fast, and profitable.

See also:
Scholarships Equal Free Money
Winning Scholarships

Scholarships Equal Free Money

It's everyone's dream to make money by doing as little work as possible. In the real world there is no feasible (legal) manner in which to accomplish this. Applying to scholarships, however, is pretty darn close.

I can't promise that you'll be able to pay for a full years' tuition by filling out a few forms. I can say, though, that you have a legitimate chance at earning enough for books, the meal plan, or housing. Any amount of money you win from scholarships is obviously better than none.

So while you undergo the college admissions process, I advise that you concurrently apply to scholarships. You may think that it's an extra burden, but there's a lot of common work between the two. And think about it: if you win one scholarship of $500 by working 3 hours on its application, you've made a sizable amount of money per hour. In short, there is no reason to not apply to scholarships. The potential payoff is boundless, and they're not really that much extra effort. Check out the next blog to find out which ones you should apply to and tips on how to win.

See also:
Finding Scholarships
Winning Scholarships