<p>Question: for those who have actually won one, how many did you apply to and how many did you win?</p>
<p>And did any scholarship not actually pay?</p>
<p>Applied to around 30, won 6 of varying amounts totaling to about $35,000.</p>
<p>I applied to 21, have received positive decisions back on 8 worth about $21,000 and am still waiting for decisions due out in next few weeks on 4. </p>
<p>Most scholarship money comes from colleges themselves, giving merit money to the students they most want to attract. You can apply for a lot of other scholarships, but it is a lot of of work. The largest ones are very competitive, so you need to really be a standout to get them. Smaller ones are often (1) a lot of work for the money, and (2) only good for one year.</p>
<p>I have won 16 scholarships so far, for a total of $46,800. Two of them are renewable, but the other 14 are one time awards. I would have won a 17th, but they ended up not awarding it to me because I already had so many others. </p>
<p>I applied to 41 (technically 44, but 3 of them were US Bank, American Fire Sprinkler Association, and Courage to Grow. Basically, you enter your name and contact info and they have a drawing, so I don’t really count these since they are just a lottery). I am still awaiting decisions on 3 of these, so the number I win could still go up. </p>
<p>If you have some desirable characteristics (minority, low income, first generation, female in stem, etc) and if you are a good writer you should definitely apply for scholarships. It’s not a lot of work because the essay prompts tend to similar. Just make a smart list! Don’t apply to a ton of large scholarships like Gates Millennium, Buick Achievers, Elks Foundation, etc and assume you’ll win a few. These are very difficult to win because the applicant pool is so large. Local/state scholarships are your best bet, even if they are considerably smaller than national ones. I only won one national one (out of about 20) but I won almost all of the local ones I applied for and they really do add up. </p>
<p>I am starting college this fall, so I don’t know if any of them will just not pay. I know two of them have already sent in checks though, and 3 direct deposited to my account almost immediately. I really don’t think nonpayment will be an issue… But late payment may be an issue if your bill is due early. </p>
<p>Wow. Thanks.</p>
<p>My D applied for three scholarships and received all three of them. One is school merit-based and renewable for four years for full tuition and fees. One is local (credit union – check your area credit unions by googling your state name and “credit union scholarship.” One scholarship is national. The local and national scholarships are non-recurring. </p>
<p>I have seen local credits unions offering scholarship money to high school seniors who have an account and complete an application and an essay in a competitive process. Hundreds of applicants for a few, one-time (~$1,000) scholarship.</p>
<p>I applied to around 40 and receive 5, but the winning factor was applying to scholarships that were local or only held in your state. Everyone applies to the big name scholarships, but with such a high number of applicants, there is small possibility of even getting past the first round (but apply anyway, you never know). I don’t remember the amount of money I received, but I received an ample amount of money from my college so adding that with outside scholarships, I had around $5,000 left over after paying tuition and room and board. Spend the greater part of your senior fall and spring semester applying to as many scholarships as you can. There is no greater feeling than working hard to apply and then reaping the rewards when the college has to refund you scholarship money after everything is paid. </p>
<p>Applied to 22 & got 5. Two were from my college -one was full tuition, the other one was ethnic-specific & should cover my loans/work study. The other three were small outside scholarships (one national, two local). Still waiting to hear back from a couple. Like others have mentioned, look for merit from your college (large scholarships) as well as local ones (less competitive; small, but they stack up). I made the mistake of only applying to 4 local scholarships -don’t do this lol. Pick the national ones carefully. It’s tough, so try targeting the ones where you think you’ll have the best odds. </p>
<p>Applied to probably 30 (Some bigger than others) and received around 8 that were not related to schools. If you have a resume made and a basic brag sheet of information, scholarships are not hard to apply for. In fact, by February I had such a system developed that I could apply for any basic scholarship in under half an hour. Keep an eye out for national essay ones, especially ones that you have a niche for, such as the Signet Classics or Jane Austen Society of North America. If you know you are a good writer, not that many people apply for those and you have a good chance. Apply for every scholarship you can, don’t think “Oh, I would never get that.” If you fit the requirements, APPLY!</p>
<p>I applied to probably around 25 ranging from local ones to highly selective national ones. I ended up getting three national awards ($10,000 total/$2,500 a year, $8,000 total/$2,000 a year and a one-time $1,000), one regional ($6,000 total/$1,500 a year) and two local ($8,000 total/$2,000 a year, and a one-time $1,000). The apps can be annoying but you never know which ones you will get so your sort of just have to keep applying.</p>
<p>I applied to about 90 and received 11 scholarships. Received merit scholarship from my college- $8000 total/$2000 per year. Also received 3 national scholarships ($2000 one time, $2000 one time, $1000 one time), 4 state level scholarships ($1000 one time, $2500 one time, $10,000 total/$2500 per year, $1000 one time) and 3 local scholarships ($8,000 total/$2000 per year, $100 one time, $800 one time). It took a lot of time and I feel that I had to dig through a lot of different scholarship search engines. They don’t all have the same scholarships. It was frustrating at times because I come from a middle class, non- minority background, and I am male. That really limited my options. Even though only 3 of these are renewable, I was encouraged to apply again for a few that I won because I could win again.</p>
<p>Thanks all.</p>
<p>I generally have to be pushed to apply because I look at the statistics and it seems futile. But it can pay off. I got about $7,000 in scholarships through my high school (some of which I applied to individually and some of which were awarded by the school scholarship committee), plus a $2,000/yr scholarship from my church and a full tuition scholarship from my university. In my 3rd year, I also was urged to apply for a national scholarship and, against tough competition, won a $15,000 federal scholarship.</p>
<p>It’s kind of like that over-used quote about how you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take: you won’t win any scholarships if you don’t apply.</p>
<p>@nanotechnology- what was the federal scholarship you won?</p>
<p>The Goldwater scholarship.</p>
<p>With scholarships you really never know and just have to keep applying. I got a scholarship that gave awards to less than five percent of applicants but didn’t get one that gives awards to 20 percent of applicants. Just keep applying and eventually it will pay off.</p>