Wait can someone clarify what exactly advancing means? I’m confused about the different levels. Thanks!
@ApplePie1 You will know by April if you receive a scholarship from your local lodge. Some give out scholarships, others do not. They are usually <$1,000.
@Hopefuldude Advancing just means that you made it to the next round of judging. The levels go from:
local lodges>district>state>national
Each level you compete for scholarship money and a chance to keep advancing.
Advanced from Pennsylvania! Being that there are 500 national winners, each state would have to advance more than 6 candidates, as that would only result in 300 finalists.
Advanced from California! 
How competitive is this scholarship? What do the national winners receive? I moved onto the district level in CA.
I didn’t get an email at all, so does that mean I didn’t advance?
@amynguyen2017 Not necessarily. Many people last year were not notified that they advanced until the state level. I would wait a week or two, and if you are curious still, give your lodge a call.
@math3matical Oh really? That’s so odd because I thought they sent them out all at once. And I am from Washington as well and I got super disappointed my email hasn’t arrived.
Question - S is considering applying for this scholarship next year. He will lose around 40 points due to our income. He probably will not have a part time job before he applies because he takes college classes on top of his high school schedule and EC / volunteering commitments. In addition to college classes during the school year, his next two summers are filled with EMT certification classes and a certificate in Emergency Medical Care, which he’ll complete about six weeks after he graduates HS. (His plan is to spend a gap year as an EMT to make sure premed is the way he wants to go.)
He literally does not have time to work because he is working so hard to get the job he wants during his gap year. In addition, we live in a tourist town where all of the tourist activity is in the winter. The type of place that would hire teenagers is usually laying off staff and closing up for the summer right when school gets out. Summer jobs for teens are extremely rare here.
If S gets zero points in the Work subsection, he’ll have lost 90 points before any incremental losses in the other sections.
Does he still have any hope of being competitive? He is a very strong student in all other aspects, so he’s bummed that not having a job means he probably won’t do well in this competition.
@CourtneyThurston Any thoughts?
Oh my goodness, I advance from Washington too. CHECK YOUR SPAM!! It was hiding from me in there.
@DiotimaDM Definitely still have him apply. I wondered the same thing myself as I have never had a job (for the same reason as your son) and my parents’ income is pretty high. I still applied and I just advanced to the district level. Will I make it all the way? No. But I might be eligible for local scholarships and who knows, maybe I will advance to the next round. When your son applies, make sure the essay is strong and he stresses his leadership roles as these can gain a lot of these points back. Best of luck!
Thanks, @Bwcoleman222 and congrats on advancing!
Thank you! @DiotimaDM
Still seems competitive at the $4k level. And 4,000 is 4,000 that doesn’t come out of your bank account, so I think it’s worth it. But you shouldn’t expect a top 20 win (very few people kinds of people can, though – you basically have to be super super poor, balancing a lot, diverse, etc).
I did my application in like 4 hours the day of the deadline and had to beg my mom to drive me to the post office lol. But I won at the 4k level. $1000/hr of effort isn’t a bad rate Worth trying
Additional advice – have him start a Fiverr account and have him edit essays or something here and there. Or tutor. Or whatever he’s good at. No one said freelance work can’t count as part-time work
Thanks, @CourtneyThurston! 4k would be a huge help. He’ll mostly like take an NMF full tuition scholarship somewhere, so we’re trying to nibble away at the remaining costs.
I advanced to the district level! From NJ