Scholarships: What I Know
So far, I am debt free (but I am still broke). I always wanted to be able to help other kids get to to college debt free too. Now that I am a senior, people are starting to ask me to help their children that are applying for college. I’m not sure if I can really help but I do know I can tell them what I know, which is why I am writing this blog. Throughout this post I will talk about what I know while sharing my personal story about obtaining scholarships.
Apply to them all and see what you get.
While exhausting, the more scholarships you apply for, the more chances you have of getting some. You can’t win if you don’t apply.
What do I need to know before I start looking and applying for scholarships?
Before you apply to scholarships, you need to know yourself. Many scholarships are identity based and these identities may be keywords when you search for scholarships. All scholarships are not identity based. Here are some things you need to know about yourself first:
Age: This is especially important for people that are older. There are scholarships for non-traditional students (students that did not go right from high school to college).
Grade: There are scholarships that only certain grades (junior, senior, college freshman, college sophomore, etc.) can apply to. If you start looking up scholarships when you are younger, than you can make a list by grade. This is better than being a senior and being upset that you found a scholarship only Juniors can apply to.
Race/Ethnicity: There are scholarships specifically for certain groups of people, mainly because they are not represented as much in certain fields. I, for example, looked into scholarships for African Americans. This mostly works if you belong to a group that is not the majority. I am not sure if there are scholarships that say they are specifically for White people. If you are White, you may want to stick to looking up key terms related to other identities. I received a scholarship based on my race. There are also other scholarships that may seem race-based, such as a MLK scholarship, but they are most likely more based on your commitment to diversity and the service you have done, not race-based.
Gender: Same concept as above. There are scholarships specifically for certain groups of people, mainly because they are not represented as much in certain fields. I looked into scholarships for women in STEM. I believe there are scholarships for specifically men, women, and other non-binary genders.
Sexuality: Similar concept as above. I do not think there are scholarships that specify it is for straight people, but there may be scholarships for non-straight people, especially if you want to study something related to sexuality. I identify as a straight person, so I cannot speak with certainty on this identity and scholarship availability.
Hometown: Rep your set. My hometown, Saginaw, MI, has a foundation called Saginaw Community Foundation that links you with scholarships dedicated to people in the area. Your city might have something similar. There may also just be national scholarships that are offered to people from bigger, more known cities. Just because a scholarship is based in another city doesn’t mean you can’t apply to it (unless it says it is specifically for those city members). I received a scholarship from an organization based in Detroit.
Field: Knowing what you want to study can be helpful. I know if you are in high school you may not know. It is okay to change your mind as you go. If you think you want to go into STEM, look into scholarships related to that. I received a STEM scholarship. If you want to go into Art, or Medicine, or any other field, look into scholarships related to that. Many scholarships are one time offers (not for all 4 years) and they probably won't mind if you change your major your sophomore year. If the scholarship is offered all 4 years, they may care about that.
College: Where are you going? I looked into scholarships before I knew exactly where I was going, but some scholarships are specifically for students going to specific colleges. Also your college may have a database of scholarships you can apply to within the college. Some colleges may also offer you scholarships that you did not apply to. That is because some scholarships do not have a separate application from the college. When you apply to the college, you may be applying to some scholarships and not even know. I received large scholarships from my university that I did not have a separate application for.
Family Dynamic/ Background: Single parent household? Orphan? Homeless? Low income? First in the family to go to college? Parent an alum from the college you are going to? All of these (and more) may be the main focus of some scholarships. I received a scholarship for being a first generation to go to college and for being from a low income family.
Academic Standing: Merit. There are scholarships for people that did well in school. Knowing your grades, your cumulative GPA, and your class ranking may help you find scholarships for you.
Extracurricular Activities: Clubs, sports, part-time job, anything. There are scholarships for people that play certain sports and that were in certain clubs. Some jobs even have scholarships for their employees after they work a certain amount of years, especially big companies like Chipotle, Burger King, etc. You can also look at big companies to see if they have scholarships for non-employees.
What materials do I need to apply?
This will vary depending on what you are applying to. I needed my transcript, a resume, my class ranking, my mom’s tax information (do your FASFA ASAP too), sometimes an essay (they will specify what it should be about), and a person to look over my grammar for the essays.
Who can write my letter of recommendations?
Your letter of recommendations should not come from parents or family members. Either you have built close relationships with adults and this will be a breeze, or you don’t have close relationships with adults. If you are thinking about something that needs a letter of rec, the sooner you build relationships the better.
Counselor, principal, boss, volunteer coordinator, mentor, coach, teachers…
Any adult that can talk about who you are as a worker, student, leader, and most importantly, a person. You want a solid 3 people that can write you one. If you are lucky, you can have 2 back-ups too.
Do not ask someone who you don’t know well.
No letter of recommendation is better than a bad one. Hopefully if someone doesn’t think they can write you one, they will say no, but that is not always the case. You will have to officially ask someone to write you a letter of recommendation. You should tell them as early as possible (at least a month in advance if you can) and give them materials that will go with your application (Cover letter, CV, resume, transcript, essay) and a list of other things that may not be in your application. If you want them to focus on the clubs you are apart of, tell them that. Chances are, this person only knows about a part of your life, so the more you can provide, the better the letter will be. Some may even ask you to write a sample letter that they will edit. Keep in mind these people may have more people asking for letters, so the easier you make it for them, the better. I gave my recommenders a gift after I was accepted to whatever I was applying to. You do not have to do this, but if you can, it is a nice gesture (Handmade gift, gift card, card, etc.).
I may start a new tab on my website with links to different scholarships for students. I will update this blog post with a link to it if I decide to provide a list. Would a list be helpful? Let me know.
Leave a comment if you have any advice for high schoolers looking for scholarships, if any of these tips helped you, or if you have any more questions. Also feel free to reach out to me via email if you want me to look over essays or anything.