Helpful Tips for the Scholarship Process

1.   Find scholarships that you qualify for.

• Determine what you will major in

• Decide where you are going to college  (These two are the largest deciding factors in which scholarships you will qualify for)

2.   Gather all of the important information you will need for the scholarships.

• Make a list of leadership opportunities you have had while in high school

• Make a list of your extra-curricular activities

• Make a list of your community service activities

• Make a list of your awards and honors

• Keep in mind that some scholarships will ask you for the amount of time spent doing each of these things as well

• Ask teachers, administrators, and other upstanding adults for letters of recommendations (never family members)

• Get copies of your official transcripts from the guidance office

3.   Make a calendar with due dates of each scholarship.

• It is important to know which scholarships are due early and later

• Manage your time, don’t spend all of your early time working on a scholarship that is due later

• It is important to know which scholarships require recommendations

• Don’t procrastinate, you never know when your computer will crash or you will get sick right before a due date

4.   Fill out scholarships.

• A lot of the scholarship will be typed and turned in

• Any parts of the scholarship that need to be hand written, use a blue or black pen and take your time

• It is okay to estimate things on the scholarship (time doing activities, family income, etc.), but be as honest as possible

• Apply to any scholarship you qualify for, even if you don’t think you have a financial need, many of our scholarships get a low number of applicants, and many area ones are not even applied for by students

5.   Hopefully win scholarships and definitely by grateful for any scholarship you win.

• Remember the local scholarships are given by families usually to honor family members, they have given of their own money and you need to show you are grateful for that

• Please write a “Thank You” note to the scholarships honoree’s family or scholarship committee

• You can get names and addresses from the guidance office