Are scholarhips really looking at EC's and leadership or just SAT's and GPA's?

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Scholarship applications are time consuming and part of me believes in - if you don't apply you don't have a chance while the other part of me questions if its worth the time.</p>

<p>Do most scholarships (Sam Walton, Big Y, Presidential at specific schools) look at everything they say they do or is it really just SAT's and GPA's. Does a student in the middle of the pack have any chance at all or is it just a waste of time? Does active involvement with school activities and community service count? I get the feeling if you don't make a certain cut they don't even look at the application.</p>

<p>I'm looking at the winners for some regional scholarships and the only names I recognize are the valedictorian and salutatorian. </p>

<p>Any thoughts or advice?</p>

2

<p>It depends. Some definitely look at EC's and leadership - and of those, some care more about the type of EC's than the test scores/gpa, while others give weight to all the factors. Some scholarships look more at test scores/gpa. Other scholarships look for other factors. There is no one answer.</p>

3

<p>In my own community within recent years, I have noticed a general trend of fairly lackluster students with amazing extra curricular involvement winning the majority of the local scholarships (nothing large, but good money nonetheless).</p>