Scholarships are a wonderful approach if you would like to lower the cost of your high school education. The good news is that there are countless opportunities available to students in High Schools. Research has shown that learning with a scholarship, particularly a prestigious type of scholarship, is the dream of every student.
It’s usually difficult to find the right scholarships to apply for. It’s even harder to apply for them. The process could be rigorous.
To get a Scholarship in high school, it is usually awarded by grades. That’s the most popular way to get a scholarship in college or high school.
Everybody wants scholarships and a lot of people are trying to get one almost every time. More than $6 billion in scholarships is awarded each year to more than 1.5 million students. So if you are among those interested in knowing what scholarship is, how it works, and how to get a scholarship in high school, then you are making a very clever investment of your time.
Read on to learn how to get a scholarship in high school so that you’re in a solid financial place in High School.
How To Get A Scholarship In High School
1. Don’t Delay
When you get the idea that a scholarship would be a great help to you in high school, don’t hide the idea in your head. It’s time to get into action and start going down the road of all it takes to apply for a scholarship. You don’t have plenty of time to prepare to apply for scholarships, time goes fast, so don’t delay.
There are numerous scholarships accessible to high school juniors and seniors. Many programs allow early applications, so you don’t have to wait until you are in the spring of your senior year. Why the emphasis on starting early. The earlier you start your search, the more chances you have of getting scholarship money for tuition. If your delay is because you need more time to study, then you should consider hiring tutors in key areas like Math or any other concerns you might have as soon as you can. The earlier you get into it, the higher the chance you’ll be ready by the time you take the necessary tests.
2. Research well
Some people give up easily because once they start searching for scholarships, they find out that the scholarships coming up are those for high school athletes or students who are exceptional at school. This is not true; there are plenty of opportunities for people who are not athletes or exceptional in school. The job rests on you to look for them.
There are several other niches besides athletic niches that are willing to sponsor high school individuals. For instance, if you have some exclusive talents or enjoy working on some special projects. For example, if you love woodworking, you might find an award sponsored by a company in that industry.
So don’t stop looking around, Keep at it and search until you find one that favors you.
3. Think Ahead
It would be to your benefit if you have already started planning out your life ahead of time. Early planning will put you in a position to make the right choices and decisions. When you think ahead, you can give yourself the best chance of getting a scholarship by making strategic decisions about your classes, electives, and extracurriculars.
Many scholarship programs take academic performance, sports, music, and other activities into account when selecting winners. So if you have this information while you’re a high school senior, it’s a good idea to split your time between homework and other activities, which could improve your chances of getting a scholarship.
It would make you a candidate of choice when they’re picking students to whom they want to award the scholarship. But don’t make the mistake of trying to do everything at the same time. Don’t try to keep excellent grades and at the same time be in sports and also do volunteer work. Focus on what you enjoy doing and be very good at it.
4. Make A List
Making a list of available opportunities will guide you when going about how to get a scholarship in high school. It’s important to find out about scholarship opportunities and make a list of those you’re eligible for. It’s also important to organize them based on deadlines, this way you know which ones to apply for first and the ones that could wait a little.
5. Prepare Your Materials
The process of getting a scholarship could be quite rigorous and could involve a lot of paperwork. Before you fill out your applications, it would be wise to gather all your materials together. This would help you not to waste time looking for documentation.
These are some important documents that are usually looked out for:
- Transcripts
- Community service hours
- Details on extracurricular activities
- Standardized test scores
- Personal statement/essay templates
- Recommendation letters
When you have all the necessary documents ready, you can easily complete your application process. If you come across applications that need additional documentation, make sure to get that information before submitting the paperwork.
6. Fill Out The Applications
Most scholarship applications are online, even though some require you to submit a hard copy. Remember not to overlook small errors and typographical errors when you fill in information like your name, date of birth and contact information, so double-check everything before submitting it.
If you stumble upon an application that requires essays, personal statements, transcripts or other documentation, take your time and carefully go after them one at a time.
Don’t try to do it all at the same time. When you go through your application process carefully, you won’t put yourself at risk of getting rejected because of a small error. Remember, whatever is worth doing is worth doing well.
7. Continue Searching
The easiest way to start looking out for a scholarship is on the Internet. There are scholarship websites with reliable information. Apart from getting scholarship information online, you can also get it from your high school counsellor, the library and local community organizations.
New opportunities become available all the time, so it’s worth it to set aside some time every month to look for any additional opportunities.
8. Don’t Miss Deadlines
When you miss deadlines, you are reducing your chances of getting a scholarship yourself. As you research and look for scholarships, organize your list according to deadlines. When you do this, you will use your time effectively and in a well-planned manner.
9. Apply For Different Opportunities
Don’t just apply for one or two scholarship opportunities; apply for as many as you can. And even when you’ve applied for them, keep searching for new ones. Scholarships vary in terms of application requirements and monetary amounts. Normally, if a scholarship is worth less, It is easier to apply for, while the big ones take more time. So mix them, apply for the small and easy ones and also apply for the large and difficult ones.
10. Try Scholarship-Specific Search Engines
You would end up making things very difficult for yourself if you decided to explore scholarship opportunities by just typing the word “scholarships” into Google. What would be your result? Well, thousands of search results will come up and they would most likely be irrelevant. It would be a much wiser idea to Invest your time and energy using a few online scholarship search engines and it is much more convenient. Websites you can use include the following:
- Fastweb.com
- CollegeBoard.com
- CollegeNet.com
- ScholarshipMonkey.com
- InternationalScholarships.com
- FastWeb.com
11. Join Member-Based Organizations Like NSHSS
When you join organizations with people of like minds, it opens up a world of possibilities for landing scholarships. Because most of these organizations offer exclusive scholarships only available to members, the chances of winning are dramatically greater.
An example of such an organization is The National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). Members of NSHSS are eligible to apply for scholarships in the areas of academic excellence, entrepreneurship, leadership, literature, medicine, music, STEM, sustainability, visual arts, and much more. As a member of this society, you can also explore opportunities to study abroad, get involved in summer programs, and even attend graduate school.
12. Check Out Local Businesses And Non-Profit Organizations
Some Non-Profit Organizations and local businesses have many opportunities to help individuals who are not able to fund their tuition. They organize scholarship opportunities and interviews and select those they think and have assessed as needing it more.
13. Work On Your Essays And Personal Statements
Many scholarship applications require essays or personal statements. Before writing, it would be wise to seek guidance from those who have gone through the process before and succeeded at it. You could also ask for advice and feedback from your teachers, counselors and mentors. Remember, these essays are your chance to stand out from other applicants.
14. Gather Letters Of Recommendation
Some scholarship opportunities require recommendation letters. Gather as much as is needed from teachers, coaches, or even community leaders. Remember to inform your recommenders about the deadline of the application, so they won’t be the reason you missed a deadline.
15. Organize Yourself
Don’t be everywhere at the same time. Organize Yourself. Keep yourself on track. Mark your calendars, noting when you should do all you need in the application process. You could decide to create a calendar or spreadsheet to help you stay on top of application requirements and submission dates.
16. Don’t Give Up
It could turn out to be very frustrating and annoying when you start applying for scholarships. The process could be rigorous, but don’t let that demoralize you. Instead, apply, apply and keep applying. Don’t give up.
It may seem tiring, so you will need a bucket full of patience and resilience. But just take it one step at a time. And if one or two don’t work out, apply for more. When you finally get one, you will forget all the pain it took you.
17. Highlight Your Achievements
There has to be a distinguishing factor between you and other applicants because there are thousands of you. When applying for scholarships, highlight your accomplishments. This would help set you apart from other applicants. This could include outstanding grades, leadership positions in clubs or organizations, or even volunteer services, achievements in sports, art or music awards.
18. Talk About Your Challenges And How They’ve Shaped You
People are drawn when they come to know that even though you’ve had challenges, you’ve allowed them to shape you. So when you talk about your challenges, also talk about how they’ve shaped you.
When you focus on the passion that your life challenges have ignited in you, you will be able to show the scholarship-giver how you will positively influence the world.
Conclusion
It’s important to remind you that you should start looking for scholarships early. In fact, the earlier, the better. Plan and make decisions that will positively affect your life tomorrow and put you in a position where you could be selected for a scholarship opportunity.
Also, remember to search strategically and prioritize so that you’re not overwhelmed by the number of applications. Lastly, keep searching each year and don’t give up, your resilience will pay off.
