I am a freshman and I want to get more information on scholarships.There are so many of them and I’m having a hard time figuring out which ones are worth considering applying for. I know its early, but I would like to start collecting information.I am good at art and I am a straight A student. Any suggestions?
Also, how do I get to know about what awards or competitions are available in order to apply. My school counselors are not very helpful.
HS fresher or college?
Your job now is to get the best possible grades. Then you need to also get the best possible SAT or ACT scores.
Once you have those, your college choices will be a little clearer.
The very best scholarships come from the colleges themselves.
Are you a low income student? Are you a URM?
HS freshman? And are you looking at merit scholarships or scholarships based on financial need?
The low-hanging fruit is check if your parents’ employers have scholarships, possibly based on PSAT scores, and then again, also study for the PSAT a lot and do your best on that. It will open opportunities for you.
If you are good at art, are you targeting art schools? Have you entered contests? There might be some opportunities there, and in addition to a public HS, public vocational high schools might have information on pursuing art in college.
Do you know how much your parents can pay each year for 4 years of college?
Do you plan to get a summer job?
Do you have older siblings?
I suggest you keep a notebook of all the awards you win, all your community service hours, art work, writing samples. Then when it is time to fill out applications, you’ll have all the information in the same place.
Some schools (or even a school in your city) have local scholarships listed on the website. You can look through those and see what you will need to apply for some when you are a junior and senior. One might require 100 service hours and another might require a drawing to be submitted. You can work on those way in advance. They might ask you to list all the awards you received for best history paper or outstanding singing voice. There might be something that is actually easy to do like attend 6 fine arts performances in the city and save the ticket stubs or Playbills, and you find you need one more or can’t remember if you went to 4 or 5 plays as a freshman. Just look at what those local scholarships require and keep a record.
I have to apply for merit based scholarships. No, I don’t have older siblings. I’m not sure how to access awards. My school just has end of the year awards. Can you name some websites or links that would direct me to scholarships and awards.
“I suggest you keep a notebook of all the awards you win, all your community service hours, art work, writing samples. Then when it is time to fill out applications, you’ll have all the information in the same place.”
This is excellent advice. Can you please provide more details on how to go about doing all of the above. For example, for community service hours, is it what you do at school(y school hasn’t mentioned anything yet), or do you participate in anything outside?If yes, where and how did you apply. Sorry if I’m asking too many questions. I’ve been trying to do some research, but I haven’t found direct answers yet.
Are you looking for random awards…or are you looking for awards related to things you are doing?
I would suggest that you find areas of interest, and look for opportunities within those areas.
We started a Word document when our kids were in 9th grade. We listed all activities, and the time frame (e.g. Cross country September to November). We listed all ECs (e.g. Played in civic theater orchestra). We listed all community service and the hours (e.g. Tutored elementary students 2 hours a week). We listed awards. In our kids’ cases these were for things they did (e.g. First trumpet all state orchestra).
My daughter’s high school had a list of local scholarships on its website. It was a few years old, but it did provide information. If your hs doesn’t have such a list, look at other schools in your area. The one for our school included a lot of scholarships that our kids didn’t qualify for (for schools in neighboring counties), so I think it was a list made available to all the metro high schools. There were probably 300 scholarships listed, and I think one of my kids qualified for 5 or 6 of them, mostly because she is Asian and attends school in the same state as the HS; my other daughter, an average student and white, qualified for not one single one. Many of them were for children of military members, or children of employees of specific companies, or children of a specific race. You just have to go through them all.
Many were for freshman year only, but some were renewable. Expenses are higher for freshmen (set up costs like laptops and dorm items) as usually you can live cheaper after the first year, so it is not a bad thing to start with a little seed money.
You can also go to the library and find books about scholarships and how to apply. Many of those are for top students or students who fit into a particular category (talent, beauty, community service, boy scout, good citizen) but you have time to investigate and mold yourself into that niche.
Have you asked your parents how much they can pay each year for 4 years?
Do you plan to work in a paid summer job the next 4 years and save your earnings for college?
Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely look into other school websites.Also, the word document idea is great.
To tutor elementary kids , how did your kids go about getting the opportunity? I would appreciate guidance on how to get community hours, plz be specific.
Are you a freshman in HIGH SCHOOL???
check with the guidance dept at your high school, and think about calling the local elementary school principal.
Your local library children’s dept may also be a great resource to get you in touch with families of elementary school kids - often I see HS kids in my town helping younger kids learn to read at our local library. But it doesn’t have to be just reading - we have a program where HS kids volunteer with younger kids doing art projects at the library. If your library does not have a program like this - then start one.
But don’t do things like this because you are trying to get a scholarship or award - do them because there is a need tor them, and they will make a difference in a child’s life. If you do them for the wrong reason, you won’t put the same effort into it, and it will seem like a chore instead of an opportunity to truly help. The recognition you get is just a nice by-product.
My kid tutorsd as part of a junior achievement program run at her HS. Check to see what opportunities are available at your school. Other community service ideas…volunteer at a soup kitchen or some other civic organization.
One of my kids is a musician, and his community service was playing the National Anthem at community events.
Yes, I am a freshman in high school. How about other community service options like volunteering at a hospital?
Volunteering at a hospital would be fine. But you may find that some hospitals restrict volunteers under a certain age.
You can volunteer almost anywhere…ask around in your community.
Ask your art teacher about contests you could enter.
http://www.pta.org/programs/artsineducation.cfm Does your school’s PTA sponsor Reflections, an arts recognition program?
With HIPAA (patient privacy act) the ‘candy striper’ at the hospital has disappeared like the good newspapers they used to give out…generally you will have to go through a fairly detailed training to understand what you can/can’t do/ discuss, get a Tuberculosis test (on them), a Flu shot if you will be volunteering in winter, and possibly make a 6 month minimum commitment…because it takes a lot of time to train a volunteer these days. Not that it’s not a good cause, but look before you leap.