5 Keys To Achieving Scholarship Mastery
After hearing what it will cost to send my 3 children to state schools in the distant future (and nearly choking on my own tongue), I decided to devote over 400 hours of research into how often average students get extraordinary scholarship awards. In effect, I wanted to find out how to achieve Scholarship Mastery. Here are my findings:
The first key to receiving as much free financial support as possible is to know where to look. If you've done any scholarship searching at all you've probably uncovered the most popular scholarship search engines like www.fastweb.com, www.brokescholar.com, and www.schoolsoup.com.
The scholarship search engines are a great way to find the awards, grants, and other opportunities that may not be widely (or well) publicized. However, it's you versus the thousands of other students vying for the same awards. Choose which awards to apply for based on how well qualified you are to win them to save time.
If you believe you won't stand out among the thousands of other applicants for some of the larger awards, consider starting local and maxing out those smaller $500-2000 awards that are generally offered by local civic clubs, credit unions, employers, churches, and associations. There are two ways to find these:
The other overlooked place to find scholarship opportunities is with the Dean's office. Typically, the Dean of the Business School (or their secretary) has a 3 ring binder that is a complete listing of all of the awards offered by the school. This is the prized list that very few students know about. You may have to schmooze a bit, but there may be gold at the end of that rainbow.
Because so many scholarships require you to write an essay, this is probably one of the most important keys in the list. KEY #2: If you want to nail the scholarship, nail your story.
Your story is what makes you unique. It's the focal point of your essay. It's the fact, philosophy, quote, life experience, miracle, catastrophe, or whatever you decide that separates you from everyone else.
The scholarship committee doesn't care that your parents both worked when you were growing up and that you had a fairly benign childhood. They want to know how being a latch-key kid taught you independence and leadership skills that you've carried with you to school. They want to know what kind of a person you'll be upon graduation and what effect you'll have on the world because of your experiences and the gift they're about to bestow on you.
Catch my drift?
Dig deep into your life and figure out what lessons you've learned and from whom. Share those stories and weave them into a description of who you are as a person and why giving money to you would be the best decision they could ever make.
This is marketing, pure and simple. Not good at marketing? Consult a marketing major for help.
Key #3 is while you're writing your story, have someone in mind. It could be an aunt, a friend of the family, someone sitting close to you at a coffee shop that you've never met. Just have SOMEONE in mind while you write the essay.
The 4th Key to becoming a Scholarship Master is you have to work at it. While it is free money, you will invest some time in "making it." But here's the deal -- if you work at it and become both proficient at finding the applications and completing them, this WILL be the single highest paying part-time job you will EVER have.
Students who master the scholarship process have made anywhere from $100 an hour to over $2,400 an hour while they're filling out applications. It's pretty simple math, really. The more you do, the higher the likelihood you'll be awarded some. The higher the likelihood you'll be awarded, the more money you're making per hour.
How much work you ask? One Saturday morning a month for the semester. 40-60 hours total per semester will almost surely net you at least $2,000 on the low end. Can you make $50 an hour on campus? I didn't think so.
The 5th key is BE OPEN TO OTHER OPPORTUNITIES.
When you approach college with the mindset that you'll just borrow what you need because that's what everyone does, you'll no doubt leave school with a mountain of debt. It's a shame that it's easier to fill out a FAFSA form or an emergency student loan form than it is a scholarship application.
However, if you approach college with the mindset that you're going to get as much of it paid for as possible, you probably will. Not only will you notice more and more scholarships that might suit you, but you'll start to notice other opportunities that may help you graduate with less debt. One such student at the University of Georgia applied to be a Resident Assistant and shaved nearly $10,000 off his debt load in waived fees. This after he applied for and received two smaller scholarships totaling $1,500.
Keep positive expectancy throughout this process. While not everyone will nail every scholarship application, every award you DO receive is that much less that you'll owe when you leave the longest and most expensive party you've ever been to.... I mean... college.
The first key to receiving as much free financial support as possible is to know where to look. If you've done any scholarship searching at all you've probably uncovered the most popular scholarship search engines like www.fastweb.com, www.brokescholar.com, and www.schoolsoup.com.
The scholarship search engines are a great way to find the awards, grants, and other opportunities that may not be widely (or well) publicized. However, it's you versus the thousands of other students vying for the same awards. Choose which awards to apply for based on how well qualified you are to win them to save time.
If you believe you won't stand out among the thousands of other applicants for some of the larger awards, consider starting local and maxing out those smaller $500-2000 awards that are generally offered by local civic clubs, credit unions, employers, churches, and associations. There are two ways to find these:
- Google "your town name" followed by civic club scholarships, past scholarship recipients, kiwanis scholarship, rotary scholarship, etc.
- Do it the old fashioned way by calling the civic groups, clubs, and organizations in your area and ask if they have any scholarship opportunities.
The other overlooked place to find scholarship opportunities is with the Dean's office. Typically, the Dean of the Business School (or their secretary) has a 3 ring binder that is a complete listing of all of the awards offered by the school. This is the prized list that very few students know about. You may have to schmooze a bit, but there may be gold at the end of that rainbow.
Because so many scholarships require you to write an essay, this is probably one of the most important keys in the list. KEY #2: If you want to nail the scholarship, nail your story.
Your story is what makes you unique. It's the focal point of your essay. It's the fact, philosophy, quote, life experience, miracle, catastrophe, or whatever you decide that separates you from everyone else.
The scholarship committee doesn't care that your parents both worked when you were growing up and that you had a fairly benign childhood. They want to know how being a latch-key kid taught you independence and leadership skills that you've carried with you to school. They want to know what kind of a person you'll be upon graduation and what effect you'll have on the world because of your experiences and the gift they're about to bestow on you.
Catch my drift?
Dig deep into your life and figure out what lessons you've learned and from whom. Share those stories and weave them into a description of who you are as a person and why giving money to you would be the best decision they could ever make.
This is marketing, pure and simple. Not good at marketing? Consult a marketing major for help.
Key #3 is while you're writing your story, have someone in mind. It could be an aunt, a friend of the family, someone sitting close to you at a coffee shop that you've never met. Just have SOMEONE in mind while you write the essay.
The 4th Key to becoming a Scholarship Master is you have to work at it. While it is free money, you will invest some time in "making it." But here's the deal -- if you work at it and become both proficient at finding the applications and completing them, this WILL be the single highest paying part-time job you will EVER have.
Students who master the scholarship process have made anywhere from $100 an hour to over $2,400 an hour while they're filling out applications. It's pretty simple math, really. The more you do, the higher the likelihood you'll be awarded some. The higher the likelihood you'll be awarded, the more money you're making per hour.
How much work you ask? One Saturday morning a month for the semester. 40-60 hours total per semester will almost surely net you at least $2,000 on the low end. Can you make $50 an hour on campus? I didn't think so.
The 5th key is BE OPEN TO OTHER OPPORTUNITIES.
When you approach college with the mindset that you'll just borrow what you need because that's what everyone does, you'll no doubt leave school with a mountain of debt. It's a shame that it's easier to fill out a FAFSA form or an emergency student loan form than it is a scholarship application.
However, if you approach college with the mindset that you're going to get as much of it paid for as possible, you probably will. Not only will you notice more and more scholarships that might suit you, but you'll start to notice other opportunities that may help you graduate with less debt. One such student at the University of Georgia applied to be a Resident Assistant and shaved nearly $10,000 off his debt load in waived fees. This after he applied for and received two smaller scholarships totaling $1,500.
Keep positive expectancy throughout this process. While not everyone will nail every scholarship application, every award you DO receive is that much less that you'll owe when you leave the longest and most expensive party you've ever been to.... I mean... college.