The key to any student getting a Scholarship BEGINS with Student Positioning
What is your daughter or son doing to standout from the rest of the crowd, for all the right reasons? Students have the greatest control over 3 important aspects of their high school experience which can absolutely give them an advantage when it comes to being eligible for college scholarships.
- GPA (usually Unweighted) PLUS taking a Competitive Curriculum (AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, etc.)
- Test Scores – ACT or SAT – PSAT
- Extracurricular Activities – What is your student doing outside the classroom?
How a student does in these 3 areas will have a big impact on their ability to qualify and obtain scholarships. But not all scholarships have the same requirements or are created equally. So where should a student begin with this process?
- High GPA and Test Scores help make a student eligible for more scholarship opportunities both at their chosen college(s) AND with outside private scholarship sources.
- A great place to start looking for scholarships is to have your student visit their High School Guidance Counselor(s) office. Often they will know of Local Scholarships of interest for which a student can apply. These scholarships may include Rotary Clubs, Elks, Kiwanis, etc.
- The next option is for parents or grandparents to check to see if their employers offer scholarships to the children or grandchildren of their employees.
- Another good source is checking with businesses where both the parents and students frequent on a regular basis such as their Bank, Restaurants, and Retail Stores etc. Many of these establishments provide scholarships to deserving students.
- If a student has been blessed with a certain talent (singing for example) or athletic ability (Football, Baseball or Volleyball etc.) it may be worth them pursuing a scholarship (partial or full) at their chosen college or university. Marketing your student’s abilities and talents to the right people at the right college is crucial to getting them noticed and positioned to compete for these scholarships.
- Finally, there are FREE scholarship search engine websites available (Fastweb, JVL Scholarships, etc.) which will help students identify other possible outside scholarship opportunities to pursue.
By approaching each of these opportunities with an attitude of being selective and proactive…..success can be achieved! But REMEMBER meeting deadlines and having all of the requirements completed is a critical last step in the scholarship process.