What major scholarships should I apply for?

Paying for College
1

I know about many of the little ones such as the Don’t text and drive one or the ones where you simply have to make an account to be entered. However, what major scholarships (such as Gates Millennium, Coca Cola scholarship, and Texas Rodeo scholarships) should I apply to? My info is below

Live in Texas and will likely receive no financial aid. (Hoping for merit though). Asian male. Premed.
Current junior class of 2016

GPA: 5.52 out of 6, 3.95 out of 4
Class Rank: 8 of 525

SAT 2200 (630CR, 800M, 770W) I am planning on taking this again to improve CR
PSAT 230 (72CR, 80M, 78W)

AP Exams (Took four other this year and will have 5 more AP classes next year)
• 3- Human Geography
• 4- Computer Science A
• 5- World History

Work Experience Tennis Coach (Self-employed, 2014-2015)
• Coached small children in tennis to help them improve their skills and fitness
Math Tutor (Self-Employed, 2013-2015)
• Tutored high school and middle school students in SAT math and classroom material

Achievements National Merit Semi-Finalist (possible finalist)
Three-year Superintendent Scholar
Three-year President’s Award recipient
Participated in a week of on-site simulated training at NASA through High School Aerospace Scholars
6 week internship for biomed engineering at UH

Activities Tennis
• Played recreationally for ten years (2005-present)
• Played on high school varsity team for four years (2012-present)
• Played USTA tennis competitively for seven years (2007-2015)
Piano
• Played for thirteen years (2002-present)
Guitar
• Played for five years (2010-present)
Member of youth cultural organization
• Improved organization as Treasurer in 2013-2014
• Improved organization as Secretary in 2015-2016
• Volunteer by completing over 50 hours of community service (cleaning up highways, beaches, serving at soup kitchens, etc.)
Member of NHS (National Honor Society, 2012- present)
Member of Mathematics Honor Society (2012- present)
• Improved organization as Vice President in 2015-2016
Member of Red Cross Club (2012- present)
Member of United Way Club (2014- present)
Member of Science National Honor Society (2013- present)
Member of HOSA (Health Occupational Students of America, 2012- present)
Participated in UIL Math (11th grade)

Total, I probably have over 100 volunteer hours

Am I leaving anything off the list?

Thanks to all in advance.

2

Are you from a low income family?

3

nope

4

You need to check the requirements for all of these large scholarships. Many are for low income students.

5

Here are the top scholarships to compete for: Coca-Cola Scholars Program, Davidson Institute for Talent Developoment, Gates Millennium Scholars, Intel Science Talent Search, National Merit Scholarship, US Presidential Scholar, Siemens Competition. The US Presidential Scholar you will need 2400 / 36 or close to it. Some of these are primarily targeted at URM students. Many colleges award scholarships for tuition but full-rides are rare. Your unweighted GPA is strong. For the scholarships above you’re going to need to improve your SAT score. You do have strong enough stats for merit scholarships at those colleges that award merit aid. Bear in mind that colleges vary widely in terms of whether they offer merit aid, and if so how much

6

Thank you!

7

Like most people on CC will tell you, the largest scholarships typically come from schools themselves, and you should apply to some financial safeties where you’re guaranteed merit. With that said, if you plan to apply to outside scholarships as well…

Excerpt from my scholarship list this year:

National Space Club Keynote Scholarship
Ronald McDonald House Charities Scholarship
Coca-Cola Scholars Scholarship
GoEnnounce “Define Yourself” Scholarship
Elks Most Valuable Student Competition Scholarship
Army Staff Sgt. Richard S. Eaton Scholarship
Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship
Burger King Scholars program
GE Reagan Scholarship
Buick Achievers Scholarship
Sodexo Stop Hunger Now Scholarship
AXA Achievement Scholarship
AXA Community Scholarship program
SAE International’s various scholarships
Women in Aviation Dassault Falcon Scholarship
Simon Youth Community Scholarship
SanDisk Scholarship
Youth Foundation HADDEN Scholarship
Tall Clubs International Scholarship
Daughter of American Revolution Scholarship
REC Foundation and Texas Instruments Scholarships
Jimmy Rane Scholarship
SAGE Scholars points
Kohl’s Cares Scholarship Program
VIP Women in Tech Scholarship
Bruce Lee Scholarship from CelebrAsian
Microsoft Disability Scholarship
Beyond the Boroughs Scholarship
Intertech Scholarship
MENSA Scholarships

And the list goes on. Feel free to PM if you have questions about any of these. The “apply to big national programs” strategy worked for me; I didn’t win any local scholarships, despite applying to many. All really depends – I can’t say there’s a rhyme or reason.

Your stats are strong, but the lack of community service may be a problem for programs like Coke & GE-Reagan. The average number of community service hours this year at Coke was ~1200 per Scholar.

8

Also, you don’t need to improve your SAT score for the scholarships above. The only huge scholarship program that weights scores heavily is Elks, off the top of my head. Yes, Coke scholars for instance tend to have high SAT scores, but a 2200 needs absolutely no improvement. More than fine as is.

9

@CourtneyThurston how many of the scholarships on your list have a low income requirement or URM? This student is neither.

10

That’s a lot of scholarships haha. I will look into those. Appreciate it!

11

As far as I remember, the only one that has an explicit income requirement is Jack Kent Cooke (must be <$95k). The rest are “financial need considered”; plenty of middle class kids win those. But you will have difficulty if you’re above ~150k/yr.

Coke is purely merit. But like I said, community service could be a very real problem there.

12

Gates is for certain minorities who are Pell-eligible.