Scholarships
What are scholarships?
Scholarships are financial aid awards given to students that do not have to be paid back. Scholarships are awarded based on academic achievement, financial need, and other criteria.
Helpful tips for your search:
It's never too early or too late to apply for scholarships! You should continue to apply throughout high school and college!
Create a separate, professional email address for your scholarship applications.
Try searching Google with keywords to pare down your results: "Scholarship" + "Your major" + "Your unique interests/skills," etc. (You fill in the specifics to you).
Organize your scholarships in a Google Spreadsheet to keep track of deadlines and requirements! Click here for an example you can use! (Remember to save a copy to your own Google Drive before editing, please!)
scholarship search links & Resources
Resources:
Updated Guidance Scholarship Listing
Search Links:
Maine Community Foundation Scholarships
CollegeBoard Scholarship Search
JLV College Counseling Scholarships
Scholarships for Minority Students
Types of Scholarships
1. ELHS (Local) Scholarships: Generous donations from the ELHS Community make these scholarships possible for local students. The ELHS Community is incredibly giving and donates money to scholarships that are awarded to seniors each spring. The application forms for these scholarships will become available in the spring of your senior year.
2. Scholarships awarded by your college or university: This type of scholarship might include a Merit Scholarship, Trustee Scholarship, Presidential Scholarship, Athletic Scholarship, Music Scholarship, etc. Sometimes you send in an additional essay to apply for a scholarship at a particular college, and sometimes you are automatically in the running just by submitting your admissions application. Some colleges will only consider students who apply before a specific date to qualify for institutional scholarships. At some colleges, SAT scores alone can qualify you for a Merit Scholarship, but most colleges look at a combination of GPA, level of coursework, and test scores. Be sure to check with your college admissions office about applying for these scholarships.
3. Outside scholarships: There are many state and national scholarships that students can apply for each year. There are many other scholarships available nationally--you can search online for these scholarships. Some of them are extremely competitive.
Please come to the Guidance Office to pick up any paper scholarship applications, if applicable.
BEWARE OF SCAMS!
One thing to remember: NEVER pay a website to perform a scholarship search for you! Businesses that claim to find students scholarship opportunities for a fee are typically scams, and will, at best, yield results comparable to the many free scholarship searches that are available.
Don't waste your time applying to "quick/no essay" or "sweepstakes" scholarships - those winners are chosen at random - they are simply collecting your personal information to sell to others!