Something I procrastinated on until just recently was applying for scholarships to help pay for college. It's terrifying enough to complete FAFSA for financial aid, or even registering for classes. The mentality I've always held about them was that they were straight-up impossible to get, so why bother?
Since school starts up again for me tomorrow, I thought what better time than now to share some things that I'm learning about when applying for them. Maybe this will help others who are scared to begin to sum up the courage to apply for them! Below are what I think are some of the personal "deal-breakers" that will scare someone out of applying.
I am a junior for my bachelor's in Computer Information Systems, and I only started applying for scholarships this past Friday. My friend V and her boyfriend C asked to come over this past weekend so that we could work on them together.
Resources
V asked this favor of me because I had purchased a physical scholarship book for $20 called; "The Ultimate Scholarship Book 2020". While I have tried to find scholarships online before, it was a challenge to determine which ones were real, and which ones were trying to make me sign up for a service, or data mine my personal information.
I feel that one of the things that make it difficult to apply is getting resources on where to apply for them. One really amazing feature about this book (other than multiple guides contained inside) is that at the end of each full detail listing there is a code that you type into the book's website that will take you to the exact page you can apply for that scholarship! I don't have to make accounts or worry about identity theft. finding a reliable resource takes out a lot of the pain of even finding a scholarship to apply to.
Scholarship Types & Qualifications
I was skeptical at first, but there is literally a scholarship for anything that exists. As we began reading through the listings, a strange one caught our attention. Did you know that there's a Final Fantasy fan scholarship? Yes, the video game series. One of the requirements is to include an essay on one of the games from this franchise and how it changed your life. Insane.
A lot of people think that they won't qualify for any scholarships because their grades aren't high enough, or they aren't a minority. Hogwash. If you take the time, you can definitely find a scholarship that fits you. Multiple really. There is a slew of different qualifications that may or may not be required, so it's a good idea to have some information available in case it is requested.
Not all of them are going to need SAT/ACT scores, essays, transcripts, or recommendations. Some of them are as simple as entering your general information, and pressing submit. This is one of the reasons that I took so long to start, I thought that I was severely unprepared in terms of paperwork and that acquiring these things would be too challenging for me.
Letters of Recommendation
When we selected some scholarships we wanted to apply to, V asked me if I had gotten any professors that would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation. I was like a letter of what? I learned from her that there are many scholarships that ask for contact information for the person who is writing your recommendation—In the event that you become a finalist in the selection process.
School is hard enough as is. Are you saying that I would have had to do super well in a class, and been a teacher's pet in order to get a letter that will help determine my eligibility? To be honest, I had never given a thought to this before. One of the longer applications required contact information for my recommendation.
All you have to do is email your professor and ask. Surprisingly if you did okay in their class, they are more than happy to help you continue your education. I emailed two of my recent professors right away, and both of them were excited. One of them even wrote a rough draft of what they wanted to say about me! Much like transcripts, when you are requested to provide a recommendation it must be mailed without being opened directly to the committee. They will not accept them if they have been opened to prevent cheating and false documents.
Essays
You can probably apply for scholarships without writing a single essay, but you will be more likely to win one if you do! Some of the ones we applied for this past weekend required essays. Make sure you read the fine print, some of them have a word requirement, and others a character limit. This is called a "personal statement". When a scholarship requires one, they are asking you to write something from a prompt, or topic they've selected.
The shortest essay I wrote was a 140 character statement. Only half the amount of a tweet! Many of the questions for essays require some time to reflect and there are some that ask about communities you are in, hobbies, and other things about yourself. The selection committees want to get a better idea of who the applicant is. I promise you, essays are not there to punish us!
What I also learned is that you can reuse your essays for other scholarships. Many of the ones I applied to even emailed me a copy of my essay with my confirmation of it being submitted. In the emails, I was informed that I can save and use these answers on other submissions if they ask the same question. You don't have to write a brand new essay for every scholarship, and it is not cheating to reuse your answers.
Make sure to read the questions carefully! One of them asked me:
"Describe a time in your life (in school or out of school) when you found something challenging. How did you handle it?"
While my friend answered about a time about a project they did in class that was painfully difficult, my answer was about overcoming adversity in a challenging part in my life. You don't have to write a memoir, but it helps to understand the context of the question. In our case, both answers show that we understand what is being requested!
We read our answers aloud and helped each other with formatting and grammar errors. It made writing these essays more fun, and we could better understand our motivations and what we wanted to convey to those who would read them.
Remember:
• Find a trusted resource
• You will qualify for scholarships
• Invest the amount of time you are comfortable with
• Ask professors over email for recommendations
• A lot of scholarships have short or no essays
• Understanding the questions helps answer them better
• Ask a friend to proofread or read your essays out loud to yourself
There are a lot of unknowns when trying something new, and scholarships are no different!
