|
Keep in mind that you
will not be eligible for every scholarship that comes your way. It is the
responsibility of the applicant to carefully read all eligibility
requirements of each scholarship to determine whether or not he/she is
indeed eligible to apply.
 Organize
yourself! Don't try to apply for every scholarship at one time.
If
you have
a lot of scholarships to apply for, organize them by deadline dates and
complete them in that order. Do not expect scholarship organizations to
accept your application after their deadline date. It is your responsibility
to manage your time so that you can complete the application and collect the
necessary attachments. Use a calendar and write the titles of the
scholarships you intend to apply for on the dates that you should mail them
or return them to the designated person (not when they expire). Punctuality, as well as following instructions, is
part of the criteria by which your application is evaluated.
Compose
an essay using the prompt, What are my goals for your future? Try to
write a good essay that is no more than 300 words in length. Have your
English teacher critique it for you. You can use this for many different
scholarships. It's surprising how many
scholarships require essays about the same subject(s). With just
a little tweaking, you can create several versions of the same
subject to satisfy the word requirements or subject requirements of several applications.
Get
several letters of recommendation from teachers, employers, and people
in the community and/or church. If you were in some sort of volunteer
program, get the person in charge to write one for you. Come by the
Scholarship Drawer to get the
Student Data Sheet. Complete it, make
copies of it, and give it to the people you ask to write letters of
recommendations for you. The information will assist them in describing you
to whomever the letter is addressed. Make copies of all of your letters of
recommendation. You can use them for the scholarships that require them.
Tip: Request that the people composing your letter of
recommendation omit a date on their letter so that you can use it well into
the future.
Sign up for your transcripts in the
Registrar's Office by signing your name on the form affixed to the door.
Transcripts for scholarship applications are FREE! You can request
several at a time (about 3-5) to keep on hand for future applications.
Remember that the information on your transcript such as credits and
class rank will change at the end of the semester and again at the end
of the 5th six-weeks. Don't request so many that you can't use them
before they become outdated! Tip: Please
allow 24-36 hours from the time you request your transcript until you
pick it up.
An Extremely Important Tip: If you discover some information
is missing from your transcript, such as a credit earned in middle or
high school, test scores (PSAT, SAT, ACT, AP), credit received through
credit by exam, credit by acceleration, etc., please make the error known
to the registrar so that it is resolved ASAP. It may take time to
investigate the reason for the error and you must resolve it before
graduation!
Make
sure that you read the instructions on the scholarship applications
carefully. Here is something you may not know. When an organization sends
LHS an application, they usually attach a cover letter addressed to the
counselor with an explanation of the judging criteria. Most often “how well
student follows directions” is one of the judging criteria. Watch for the
obscure instructions throughout the application. Many students miss these,
and, consequently, their applications are discarded.
Type
or print the
application in BLACK ink. Why black? Because it
photocopies better than blue. Many times your application is copied and
sent to several judges for their perusal.
You
may encounter an application that asks you to submit your high school
resume. What is a high school resume? It is basically a list of
important information about you that you want judges to know about you
when considering you for an award. From a scholarship judge’s perspective,
the advantage of using a resume is that it is a quick method of noting the
applicant’s strong points. While the essay can reveal a great deal about
you, it can take the judges a great deal of time to pick out the important
points. The resume is a quick way to present your strengths,
accomplishments, etc. to the judges. The resume should list background
information, academic information, career goals, community service, hobbies,
and any other information that you think might set your application apart
from all others. The Internet is a great resource for creating a resume.
This
is the most important tip to remember: Don’t
forget to continue to apply for scholarships and other forms of financial aid after
you enroll in college. There are actually more funds, foundations,
endowments, etc. set up by college alumni to assist students already
enrolled in an institution. You should keep in touch with the financial
aid officer of the college or university that you attend. The financial aid
offices at most major colleges publish a newsletter that contains
scholarship opportunities. Find out how your college publicizes these
opportunities.
Another great source of help for composing scholarship winning essays and
resumes is
http://www.scholarshiphelp.org/.
|
