The Scholarship Process

Information about how to apply for scholarships and the processes

involved

SCHOLARSHIPS HAVE THREE BASIC COMPONENTS MERIT FINANCIAL NEED MISCELLANEOUS COMPONENTS

Scholarships usually have one, two or three of these components. The combination and/or strength of these components will determine how competitive you are for scholarships.

Merit

Merit consists of recent or current grades Very High Merit is 3.75 and above High Merit is 3.5 Merit is 3.0 Below 3.0 --there are very few scholarship

opportunities and these almost always have financial need, gender, or ethnicity as the main component

Financial Need

There are two types of financial need in the scholarship process—FAFSA need and individual scholarship assessment

FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid (www.fafsa.ed.gov) Financial Aid Offices are required to utilize

this government formula for federal and state grant funds and student loans. The FAFSA has a formula which uses income and income taxes, number of people in the household, age of parents and many other concrete measurements.

Some scholarships utilize this formula to determine need.

Individual ScholarshipNeed Assessment

Most scholarship applications will ask for an individual assessment of your budget. This is the place to discuss special issues that need to be explained in greater detail. If there is no place for it on the budget piece, attach a copy of the explanation to the application. IF the application states no attachments are allowed you may want to devote some time to the situation on the essay, if the essay allows for it.

Miscellaneous Components

Community Service/Volunteer Work - ANYTHING you do for others - at an organization such as a school, church, youth organization or non- profit facility; helping a neighbor or relative who is a senior or disabled

Preferences - ethnic minority, first generation (neither parent has a four year degree), single parent and female are common

Outside Work - part time or full time employment

SCHOLARSHIPS ARE BROKEN INTO THREE GENERAL CATEGORIES

SCHOLARSHIPS INTERNAL TO THE UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE

LOCAL AND REGIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS

Scholarships Internal to the University or College

These are scholarship offered by the college or university and are offered in general categories

such as: Merit College or degree specific within a university General college/university scholarships available to all

students who meet the specific eligibility requirements Applications processes vary by college or university

from one application for all, an application for each scholarship or other various processes. Check with each school.

Local and Regional Scholarships

Local organizations - credit unions, churches; organizations in which parents or students are involved

Regional and state-wide organizations - such as labor unions, associations and non-profit groups

National Scholarships

These are highly competitive scholarships at a national level and more difficult to get

Apply for these if you are competitive or after you have applied for the university and regional scholarships

A STRATEGY FOR LOCATING SCHOLARSHIPS

BEGIN NOW CALENDAR ENTERING FRESHMEN LOCATE SCHOLARSHIPS DEVELOP AN ONGOING LIST OF

SCHOLARSHIPS

Begin Now

There is no good or bad time to apply as the process is ongoing

Add it to your list for next year

Calendar

Develop a separate calendar to log scholarship data. Include scholarship name, date due, a back up date of six weeks to allow time to get an application and complete it, requirements of scholarship (application, transcript, essay, references) and additional comments (web)

Entering Freshmen Locate scholarships at each college or university

you are seriously considering. Apply for any scholarships for which you are eligible by the deadlines. In most cases you will have to be accepted into the university before you can apply. There are also regional and national scholarships designated for entering freshmen students. You can receive these only the first time you are entering college.

Locate Scholarships

Begin with the college or university you are attending. Locate all scholarships for your year group, major, ethnicity or gender and any other miscellaneous ones that apply to you.

Develop an Ongoing List

Realize that the process is ongoing. Develop a year round calendar. There is one available on the Scholarship/Resource web site in the “Scholarship Process” page.

DEVELOP YOURSELF

INTERNSHIPS VOLUNTEER WORK MAINTAIN OR IMPROVE GRADES CLUBS OR ORGANIZATIONS

Good in high school great. Build on it. Otherwise this is a chance to start anew!

REFERENCES

ACADEMIC OTHER RESUME OR PERSONAL PROFILE

Provide a resume or profile (web)

Academic

One or two faculty members or teachers who know your work

Other A supervisor who has worked with you in

your work or volunteer time

Resume or Personal Profile

Give each referee either a resume or personal profile with all of your activities as each referee usually does not know all of your activities in detail