By Sophie Johnson, Social Media Editor
As I was going through the grueling process of searching for scholarships and signing up for countless websites, I began to make a list of questions in my head. I decided to write them down and ask Sophie Shaw, the college advisor, for some advice. I typed her answers so I could assist my peers with their scholarship application process because I know how irritating it can get.
When can you start applying for scholarships?
Now, most scholarships are open to high school seniors, but many are also open to high school juniors and there may be a couple for even younger students. Especially if you’re a junior you should start looking into it.
How does that work for sophomores and juniors?
You could start just by simply Googling scholarships for high school juniors, scholarships for high school freshmen, things like that. There are also some websites that can help you search for scholarships and you can enter in your grade level and it will filter it for you.
What are the different types of scholarships?
Usually you have two kinda general categories. So you have merit based scholarships that will be based on things like a talent you have or grades. If you got an athletic scholarship for example. Then you have need based scholarships, that’s based on your families income or your income. Scholarships could come from either the specific college or institution that you’re going to, so an institutional scholarship. But they can also come from outside sources, different organizations, churches, anywhere.
Where can you find them?
Many scholarships are available online, there are some that still do paper applications. So you can still find those posted in the board in the counseling center. There are some that have deadlines coming up, so students should stop by and apply. But a lot of them are online. It can be kind of overwhelming to search for scholarships online because there are so many out there and not all of them are going to be worth applying for but it’s really just a matter of kinda putting in the time. There are websites like fastweb.com, scholarships.com, things like that where you can do searches. Also CFNC has a good list.
What are usually the deadlines for scholarships?
Some of the more competitive scholarships are due in the fall of your senior year, but then there are lots of other scholarships due all the way through the summer even after you have graduated. So the deadlines are all different.
Should I submit anything with my application?
Most applications require basic demographic information. A lot of them also require an essay. Some may ask for things like if you’re applying for an art scholarship, examples of your art. For an athletic scholarship of course you’ll have people have to come see you play. Letters of recommendation, test scores, things like that. It’ll all depend on the scholarship and the things they ask for.
What effect will outside scholarships have on my financial aid package?
So usually colleges do take those into consideration when they’re planning for your financial aid. So if you’re offered for example $5,000 in a loan and you have a $3,000 grant. If you get a scholarship, what they’ll do is, they’ll use that scholarship to replace some of your loan. So you’re still keeping the grants, the free money, but it may reduce what you’re offered for a loan. There may be some cases where colleges will try to reduce your grant money, most colleges wouldn’t do that and you can kind of argue with the financial aid office about that. But generally speaking they may reduce your financial aid but it would be reducing any loan money that you’re offered. You can also defer a scholarship if they are saying they will reduce your grant money and try to use it the next year.
Is there an advantage of looking for smaller, more bizarre scholarships? Opposed to the large popular ones.
Yes, because some of those smaller ones go a whole year and nobody applies for them. So even if it is 100 bucks then may as well apply for it. I mean there are some strange ones that don’t get some applicants this year and so the money gets wasted. So yes absolutely apply for the smaller and bizarre ones.
Can I apply for scholarships if I’m not currently committed to a college?
Yes, most scholarships have some kind of stipulations, like some may say “you have to go to a private school” or “you have to go to a public school.” But some are totally wide open. Some are specifically for four-year, some are specifically for community college, some are for technical schools. So it helps if you have some idea of where you want to go. But there are some that are totally wide open.
How does the scholarship provider choose a winner?
All of them have different criteria. Some of them just read your application and go from there. Some of them you make it through that round and maybe you do an in person interview or a phone interview or something like that. Some of them even have applicants go to sorta big events or conferences. So it’s depending on how competitive it is or what you have to go through basically.
Is there a limit for how many scholarships you can apply too?
No, just apply to them all. The limit is only the time you have to spend applying. So if you have the time, go ahead and use it to search for scholarships.
Do you have any tips for applying for scholarships?
I would say for underclassmen it’s a great idea to start looking for scholarships since you don’t have to worry about college applications yet. For students who are seniors and are kind of in the thick of the college application and financial aid process, you want to kind of find a good balance of your time. Especially many students now are finished or about to be finished with their college applications so if you have a little bit more time than you did in the fall then this is a great time to go ahead and start looking for scholarships. Again there are some posted online and some that I send out in emails and found in a Google Doc that Mrs. Wheeles shared at the beginning of the year too.
What are some other common questions you get about scholarships?
Most of the questions I get are just about “is it worth applying to a scholarship?” and that really has to be based on like I said the time you have to put into it. I think any amount of money it’s worth applying for but it is a matter of how much time it’s going to take and are you already having some trouble in some of your classes or are you behind in your college applications. You gotta prioritize, but in terms of whether it’s worth it or not, it’s kind of a personal decision or how much time you have to spend on it.
For more questions, Sophie Shaw can be reached at Shawso@daretolearn.org.
Senior Sophie Johnson can be reached at johnsonso0628@daretolearn.org.