Written by: Jessica Swendiman
Scholarships. The mere sound of that word used to make me cringe as visions of personal response essay questions, my parents’ tax returns and rejection emails swirled around in my head. I’m from a middle class family and never thought I’d even be considered for a scholarship, so why do all the work of applying? Because I’ve been there, I’ve done it and I can tell you that, on average, it took me the length of an episode of Friends to apply for each scholarship. And that application time got shorter and shorter the more I applied (copy and paste, anyone?). It wasn’t until graduate school that I actually started doing this, mind you, because I hadn’t yet realized one essential detail: if you don’t apply, there’s a 0% chance you’re going to get the money. Applying alone increases your chances. Submitting a thoughtful and thorough application increases them even more.
So, what’s stopping you from applying? A couple things: time, not being impoverished, not being a minority, having all of your appendages, average grades, limited community service and no melodramatic near death experiences, to name a few. That’s why I am here to debunk the 4 most common myths associated with scholarships and convince you that you should not be paying for your own education.
Myth #1: Scholarships are only for minorities and students with economic hardship.
As my father would say, this is a bunch of bologna. True, FAFSA and other government scholarships you hear about in high school do require you to provide your parents’ tax returns, but this is an extremely small number of the scholarships available to you. If you do have economic hardship, you should definitely apply to these types of state-wide and federal government financial aid programs. Even if you don’t consider yourself strapped for cash it doesn’t hurt to apply–millions of scholarship dollars go unclaimed in the United States every year because not enough people apply for them. Stop by your campus career center this week and ask for a list of available scholarships; they may also have a list of scholarships for which you don’t have to prove financial need.
Another common excuse is that scholarships are only available to minorities. While it is true that many scholarships are offered to minority students, tons are also offered to the general student population–search ‘non-need’ or ‘merit’ scholarships on your school’s site to see if they have a listing. If you’re not a minority, ask your Career Center about scholarship opportunities that don’t have ethnicity or other minority requirements. And if you’re what many institutions consider to be the opposite of a minority–a white male–take a look at The White Man’s Guide… on Collegescholarships.org. Also check out The Scholarship Page, which is sort of like Craigslist for scholarships – no paid inclusion, no scams.
Myth #2: You have to have good grades to get a scholarship.
Simply not true. At all. As you begin to apply to scholarships you’ll find that many are more interested in progress you’re making as a student than in your GPA. Many scholarship committees are more impressed by a student who has raised his GPA from a 1.5 to a 2.5 than in a student who’s always had a 4.0. Scholarship committees are looking for academic promise and strong character; they are usually more likely to help someone who is struggling to better himself than someone who seems to have little problem maintaining a strong GPA.
If you do have a high GPA, bravo. You have succeeded at something that challenges a lot of people. In order to make yourself more attractive to scholarship committees, consider getting involved in your school beyond academia; join a student organization or lobby for something you feel passionate about. In order to stay competitive you need to always keep pushing yourself to that next level.
Myth #3: Scholarships are painstaking and require a lot of paperwork and writing.
There are scholarships that require a lot of writing and usually, the ones that require the most writing are the ones that reward the most money. It’s a pretty reliable equation: more writing = more money and less writing = less money.
However, as you begin to immerse yourself in the world of scholarship application forms (most of which you will do online–easy), you’ll realize that A LOT of them ask pretty much the same questions. So save your personal responses and feel free to use them again and again. It’s your writing and this is not for a grade so copying and pasting isn’t cheating, it’s just smart. And if you’re having trouble filling that blank white page with words that form actual coherent thoughts, check out SuperCollege.com’s 10 Steps to Writing the Perfect Scholarship Essay.
There are also tons of scholarships out there that don’t require much writing at all. Keep in mind that a board actually has to read these applications; they don’t want to read a hundred 1,000-word responses to “Tell us about yourself” any more than you do.
Myth #4: You can only apply for scholarships before college/at the beginning of the year/on Tuesdays at 4pm during a solar eclipse.
Unlike everything else in college, there is no schedule for scholarships. Application deadlines come up all year round. Many students think there is a very small window to apply for scholarships, but they are usually only considering the government ones. Plenty of private organizations like Rotary, The Lion’s Club and private campus donors award scholarships throughout the year. Head to your campus Career Center to get a list of scholarships and due dates.
My First Scholarship Success Story
It was a Sunday night and I had a week’s worth of lesson plans to write for my class. It was 11:51pm. I was stressed to the point of breaking and knew I wasn’t going to finish grading all the essays I had to grade, figure out something to teach the next day and get a good night’s sleep before waking up at 5:45am. In short, this was not my finest moment.
As I was shuffling through the tower-of-Babel-sized stack of papers next to my desk, I came across an announcement for a scholarship I’d heard about months ago. The bold type at the top of the sheet let me know it was due tonight. At midnight. I hadn’t even thought of applying. Who on earth would give me a scholarship? The only requirement, I started to read, was that you went through a period of hardship. Ha, I thought, have I ever!
More to vent out my frustrations with teaching than to actually try to win this $2,000 reward, I started writing. I didn’t edit, I didn’t plan, I didn’t think about the consequences of my actions, I just wrote. I sent the message at 11:59pm. Embarrassed at how candid I’d been in a message to my superiors and exhausted, I went to bed and completely forgot about the whole thing.
Three months later my teacher education program held a banquet at which this scholarship was to be presented. I had COMPLETELY forgotten I’d even applied. And you know what they said after they called my name? “For the one woman in here who wasn’t too scared of us to be honest.” The best 8 minutes of writing I’ve ever spent. Period.
All right ladies and gentlemen, you no longer have any reason not to get out there and start applying! If you’re still not convinced, take a look at my dumbstruck grin after I won. And think about what you’re getting your parents for the holidays, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Sweaters? Campus Sweatshirts? Gift Certificates? Hugs? Wouldn’t it be nice instead to get to say “Hey, I’m giving you two thousand dollars this year!”? Just something to think about.
