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Five Things Students Who Win Multiple Scholarships Do Differently

#1: Recycle Essays & Letters of Recommendation

Scholarship applications usually require one or both of these. But this doesn’t mean you need to start from scratch every time. In fact, you shouldn’t!

It’s very little trouble for a teacher to tweak and send a letter after they’ve already written one for your college applications.

Likewise, if you’ve already written some great short responses on leadership, service, or your major, then you can most certainly rework and reuse these for scholarships.

#2 Have a Resume on Hand

Please don’t let this intimidate you. A resume is just a list of stuff you’ve done typed up to look nice. In fact, when you are ready to make one, here’s a resource on the 5 One-word Steps to Creating an Amazing Resume. Go ahead and print it, or bookmark it for later.

Having a resume handy will save you tons of time as you won’t have to write/type the same activities over and over or waste time re-remembering everything you’ve done. #WorkSmarterNotHarder

#3 Focus on Best-Fit Scholarships Rather than the Dollar Amounts

Plan to apply for five times the amount of money you are hoping to win. Applying for everything you can is wonderful until it’s overwhelming. Focus your efforts on doing an outstanding job where you are most likely to strike gold.

I would rather you apply for a $500 scholarship where you’re one of three applicants than a $10,000 where you are one of millions.

I’d rather you apply to 5 scholarships that are pretty specific than 500 “Enter your email address to win!” scholarships.

#4 Enlist Parents/Mentors to Help Find Scholarships

Remember those folks you jotted down to be part of your College Affordability Squad during the pre-work section? This is a way they can be an incredible asset: by helping you find scholarships.

But you gotta help them out a little. Here’s how:

Action Item:

Make a copy of Mx. Matchett's Scholarship Tracker
Head over to the "Characteristics + Qualities" tab. Write down a list of every noun that describes you. Ex. Polish, basketball player, Civil War enthusiast, veteran dependent, STEM major, cancer-survivor. Anything.

3. Send and email/text to your squad to get them in the loop.

Scholarship Tracker

Here’s an example message that you are welcome to copy/paste and adapt.

Hey [insert parent/mentor name],

I’m reading a guide on how to pay for college. I want to apply to at least 5 [or number of your choice] scholarships totaling around $4,000 [or other dollar amount] by Halloween [or other target date]. From what I’ve read, it’s going to take just as much time to find the scholarships as it is to apply for them. Would you be willing to help me look? If so, I’ve already got a list of scholarship websites and a list of words that describe me ready to go.

Thanks for being with me on this.

[insert your name]

#5 Have a Centralized Scholarship Tracker/Spreadsheet

Whether you enlist the help of others or make this a solo journey, having a single place where all your scholarship information lives is incredibly helpful in keeping you organized and motivated.

Action Item:

Create a scholarship tracker. If you’re like me and enjoy organizing things a specific way, you’re welcome to create your own database. Otherwise, here’s a link to a Google Sheets one that I think could work for just about anyone. Just make sure you make a copy, unless you’re willing to share what you find with potential co-applicants!

Scholarship Tracker

I find scholarship trackers like this one are helpful in three ways:

If you are getting help, you don’t have to meet regularly to exchange information. Your helper can add information according to their schedule and you can apply according to yours.
It helps you keep track of great fit scholarships that either haven’t opened their applications yet or that you’ll be eligible to apply for in the future.
It helps you keep track of deadlines and different pieces of the applications as you apply. There is no such thing as being able to apply late when it comes to scholarship applications and one missing item can result in your disqualification.

For those ready to take on the challenge of scholarship tracking, let’s begin with the most famous type: private scholarships. Click here to begin your journey.

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