FYI community college students transferring to a 4-year university next fall: the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation UT scholarship application is now open until December 15, 2015.
Go apply.
Hello… I’m in the process of applying for the undergrad transfer application. I’m both nervous and excited… Any advice on what to and what NOT to do on the application?
I won the JKCF transfer scholarship last year, and these forums were a great resource (especially while we were stuck waiting months for the results).
My top 11 tips:
- Don’t be a used car salesman. You don’t need to pitch yourself in a way that seems forced or contrived. The scholarship review committee reads thousands and thousands of applications; they'll sniff it out instantly.
- Everyone who applies will have great grades/test scores/honors status. Do not focus on these. Focus on the things that make you unique
- Do not I REPEAT DO NOT assume they want a cookie cutter student. They want a DIVERSE pool of winners. Don’t focus on what makes you a textbook good student. Focus on what makes you an atypical, unusual person (ie: I've got ADHD that medicine has zero effect on. I talked about all the tricks and games I invented to adapt to to 3 hour lectures). If you are a nontraditional or older student with lots of life experience, that is a huge asset.
- You don’t have to say you’ll be a doctor or an engineer. You don’t have to say you’re going to change the world. You can list your future aspirations as being a kindergarten teacher, a fashion designer, an artist, a nurse, a dietician, etc. It helps especially when your past projects/work experience/volunteer efforts have helped build on this. JKCF doesn’t invest in majors or proposed majors; they invest in human potential.
- You do not need to list 348724 activities that you done or clubs you’ve been involved with. You don’t ever want to list something and only scratch the surface. Pick the few things in which your involvement was deep and profound. It’s better to make a genuine impact with a few special things than wave a membership card for a zillion clubs.
- Life experiences are so important. This doesn’t mean your application reads like a bad lifetime movie script or treat JKCF like the victim olympics. How to blend your life story into a narrative that shows how you became who you are, what obstacles you have overcome, and how they play into your life goals is really important. Remember, no one is going to give you a scholarship because bad stuff happened to you (nor is it a requirement to list some major trauma), and if you want to express how you struggled through a dark time in your life, do it a meaningful way that blends together with academics, extracurriculars, and passions to create a comprehensive overview of who you are right now.
- Use all of the allotted word count. If you are more than 50 characters under, add more. You have a very limited space in which to show the entirety of yourself and your potential, and every available opportunity should be used.
- Try to sound natural in your responses. That doesn’t mean using hashtags and txtspeak, but don’t use this as an opportunity to whip out your thesaurus. Have a writing/english professor read it. You don’t need to sound like a textbook; you need to sound genuine.
- One of the things that helped me in preparing my essays was to make lists. One was of all the cool accomplishments (academic and personal) that I ever had. As I wrote my responses, I sprinkled these accomplishments throughout rather than simply presenting them as a big flat blob paragraph. I did the same thing with life struggles and obstacles. Save these lists and use them for step 11!
- Mistakes and flaws. You have them, and it’s okay to present them. I didn’t talk about how I was simply a victim. I also talked about some of the dumb things I did and the bad choices I made. I felt this truly made my application stand out.
- Your recommenders. Don't pick the people with the most impressive titles; pick the people who know you best, can speak to your abilities, and do it EARLY. Pass off your lists and highlight/star the ones you've incorporated into your essay responses. You and your recommenders should be on the same page about who you are and where you are going.
@nekozuki Thank you for sharing your tips. Question, how long did it take you to find out the results?
A long time. I didn’t find out until April 29th (the website said March). Don’t let that stop you from applying to the colleges of your dreams. I made that mistake and once I won the scholarship, all the deadlines had already passed so I could only go to my local university instead of programs I really wanted.
How much is it and how long? How do you apply? And this is for 16-17 year? @nekozuki
@courtneykur it covers up to $40,000 per year (usually up to three years) toward completing your baccalaureate degree at a four-year institution. details and how to apply are available at http://www.jkcf.org/scholarship-programs/undergraduate-transfer/
the scholarship would be applied toward the 2016 fall semester (unless the recipient defers).
you can also tune in for the webinar november 2. information is available in the link i provided.
@nekosuki Did the scholarship cover most or all of the cost of attendance?
Yes, libellule13, it covered all of my cost of attendance. This includes tuition, books, housing, transportation, and general living expenses as determined/calculated by your individual college (up to 40k/yr). There is also an option to continue on for grad school at 50k/yr for four years, but that is a separate internal process within the JKCF that I can’t speak on (I’m a new scholar).
@nekozuki I plan on submitting the application sometimes this week. I wanted to do the Nov 2 webinar first since I missed the last one. I am really nervous for some reason lol…
@optimisticky @nekozuki i read through the thread u guys had last year nd it was awesome tht the whole group stuck it out with each other like that. hopefully this thread gets tht many ppl on here too bc when i asked abt the scholarship on my campus, nooobody knew what i was talking abt 
is it if you’re starting at a 4 year university fall 2016? or applying during fall 2016?
@thisisnotaname we all side eyed at each other at scholar’s weekend. not really. i don’t actually know who these people are?? i am an inveterate loner.
yes, it’s weird to me that there are community colleges in the U.S. that haven’t heard of this award.
@josh2633 you must intend to start Fall 2016.
@optimisticky yea there are regular situations where scurrying back nd forth looking purposeful is the move but getting $$$? tht calls for pretending there’s smth super impt on the floor the whole night !
but rly i have a question. how did u get the essays written +revised, etc at the same time as studying for finals nd all tht bc im trying to apply for sum other scholarships too nd its giving me heartburn
did u time manage or did u just get it all done at once or
@thisisnotaname it’s not pretending. we’re legit.
we got totes.
in my opinion, the essay topics are not intended to disrupt your other learning. i wrote an initial response in a day, and returned to it a few days later to make some modifications. for others, that may be not be the best use of their time. but it should not interfere with your semester.
we should be fluent in our own lives. it’s important that scholars can lucidly and easily communicate their goals and experiences.
Hey @optimisticky I am also applying to the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship.
yes! @tallkekepink95 one more person to wait the next few months with 
i would have just turned this page into a daily journaling of my feelings lol @optimisticky thanks for the advice, pls send good vibes my way!!
I submitted my application yesterday… The wait begins
Likewise my friend, for the next few months this is our journal of feelings. This scholarship is not very known at my college either. Over the summer by searching over 100 scholarships, I finally found out about the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship. Sending you so much luck my way!
i am so happy ya’ll are using this space to chronicle and record your feelings. the forums were really helpful to me last year. what are your stories? where do you come from? who are you?